Hello All and Many Many thanks for all the welcomes
Pottsie asked about Marans. I have only ever kept the traditional English Cuckoo Marans, and have found them excellent utility birds. The best of mine lay about 6 eggs a week.
The flavour of the meat is excellent and it is a nice white colour with a fine texture. In fact I think the birds were originally valued as a meat bird, and it was only later the colour of the eggs was a factor. The cockerels dress out at around 5.5 to 6 lbs and the cocks a bit bigger.
The good things about them are-Beautiful egg shell colour - it always makes eating a boiled egg that much nicer
-Lovely deep orange/yellow yolks and a very good flavour. I kept some Marsh Daisies for a while, and they were run together with the Marans, and had the same food, but the yolks were much much paler.
-Because of the thickness of the shell the eggs keep fresher longer, and the yolks stand up much higher than normal eggs. Also they are safer when travelling, or in the fridge due to the extra thick shells
-I don't find them "peckers" and in nearly 30 years of keeping them I have never had an instance of feather pecking or bullying and I always run different ages together. The adolescent cockerels are kept together and again no fighting, but there are no females with them.
-My cockerels are calm and quiet, though I have heard that others have had trouble with aggressive males. I wonder if it is the ones with a more "gamecock" look such as the Copper Black Marans that perhaps have retained more of the genes of the fighting cocks from which the breed was developed that have given them this reputation. My current cockerel always talks to me and normally gives me something even if it only a bit of straw.
-You can eat the surplus males.
-They are very hardy, and don't mind the wet having originally been bred in swampy area
-Long lived and very healthy, and have a long laying life
-Very good and careful broodies (I have even seen the cockerel brooding half grown chicks on the perch at night
-Not flighty and can easily be penned in or out of places as they dont fly well.
The not so good things about them are-They won't lay as many eggs as a high laying hybrid such as Warrens
-The cockerels won't grow as fast as Ross-Cob type meat hybrids
-They eat more than the modern smaller hybrids
-They are not very good winter layers unless you give them some extra light
Over the years I have tried many varieties of hen, but now I only keep Marans AND I JUST LOVE THEM.
I could go on
But for more Marans stuff check out my site
All the best
Sue
Topic: Hello from DarkBrownEggs (Read 3658 times)
