I recently met a gal locally that is into chickens.
She bought some Ameraucanas from me.
She recently got these Black Copper Maran hatching eggs
from a well known Maran breeder. Heres a link to her website:
http://www.bevsmarans.com/
Well anyhoo if all goes well with this hatch I will be getting a
couple chicks from her!
Check out the quality of the hatching eggs!
Woo-Hoooo!
holy cow! i mean chick ^_^
Wow. They look like chocolate eggs.
Incredible--that is what everyone is looking for!
OMGoodness! Those eggs are beautiful! I was just
looking at an auction for 12 chicks yesterday, and
the bid was already at 200 + shipping! Wow! I wish
I had some of her eggs, Rose! Do you have a clue what
she is feeding her hens??
These are beautiful!
that almost makes me wish one of my 4 girls is a roo.. well almost
truest
I have no idea what she feeds her Marans, just that she does selective breeding for the darkest egg shell color. You might be able to find more info on her website but I know genetics plays a far greater role in egg shell color than feed. I can't make my Ameraucanas eggs more blue by feeding them anything special.
I'll check out her website, Rose. I had just thought
that perhaps feed did play some role, as I have read
posts at other sites where some posters had said
their hen's eggs are darker early in the season, and then
lightened, and some said feed could affect them to a
degree. I agree that breeding for it is the biggest factor
by far.
Through some combination of genetics, diet, hormones, low-stress, and healthy light exposure, some hens produce more "paint" more consistently than others.
marans r all choclate layers copper blacks r the darkest layers of that breed, they r not normal brown egg layers. i have 2 cuckoo maran boys and 3 girls i hatched a few weeks ago. u can tell sexes by the lighter ones boys and blacker ones girls. i'm waiting on a dz copper black eggs to be shipped to me. they r very hard to get and price is costly especially on ebay now. usually $85-150+ for 6+ eggs. i lucked out with a private breeder. i got mine for $65 for the dz includeing express shipping. i can't wait till they get here!!! most peoples waiting list r a year long or longer to have eggs available which makes it harder yet to get them. i'll post a pic when mine come in. they r not from bev she had to long a waiting list so i went to someone else but he got his stock origionally from her.
silkie
Now I want some!!!
Bev has a long waiting list, she is supposed to have the best of the best! I am J E A L O U S!! Maybe next year............
And the brown on a marans egg is a wash unlike other brown eggs, if you can get one fresh out of your hen you can wipe of the brown. I have left finger prints in eggs by picking up eggs just laid.
Coooool. These are interesting to me, apparently
to a lot of other folks, as well.
my black copper marans eggs were shipped to me yesterday, they r scheduled for delivery on thurs. i'll take pics for ya when they come in.
i'm excited i can't wait!!
silkie
ps. did ya find out if ur getting chicks yet? crossing fingers u get copper babies too!!
Absolutely beautiful.
Unfortunately luck was not with me this time.
Only 3 out of the 14 eggs hatched. :(
Silkiechick please note!
The gal that hatched these eggs has since found out that the pores in a Maran egg are smaller than other breeds eggs so hence these didn't dry down enough.
Apparently you have to incubate them at a lower humidity setting.
Anybody here familiar with this re. Maran eggs?
No, I'm not- but I would think that Bev would be
a good one to ask that question- seems she would
tell anyone getting her eggs that, but I didn't see it on
her website anywhere. Some TAC eggs can look
like they have little or no air cell after incubating, if they
are handled roughly, the cell is ruptured, and the air
leaks out with the pressure from the growing chick.
It leaves them with nothing.
What are TAC eggs?
Hi Cottage_Rose. If you read this thread it will give you a pretty good idea of what it is. It stands for "tremulous air cell". I think manieiac came up with the abbreviation.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/816145/
CR, yes i have this problem with Buckeye eggs. had better luck this time hatching under a hen and in a 50rH incubator...
hmm... i hatched out cuckoo marans eggs with no probs. i hatched 5 babies out of 6 eggs last one internal pipped. it might depend on the incubator ur useing also. i have sportsmans it is way different than hatching with foam bators and is more stable to work with, it doesn't flex temp and humidity. if she used a foam bator that's very possible.
i was debateing on letting broodies hatch them or half under broodies and half in the bator. i have 4 broodies still sitting. i got at least 12 eggs comeing if he didn't add any extras and provided none break along the way. mabe i'll splist them up a little 3 each under 2-3 of the girls and set the other couple incase someone leaves a nest or the bator fails just to be on the safe side. i just checked tracking and they r in pa already so definately should have them tomarrow.
provided the hatch goes good, when they r old enough to breed i'll be selling their eggs for hatching so by then if ya don't have any let me know we' ll make sure u get ur coppers one way or another. here is a pic of one of my cuckoo marans boys. i hatched 2 boys and 3 girls.
i think it also depends on how the hen was raised, their diet from a young eggs affects the pourisity [is that a word?] of their eggs. i have hens i didn't raise who are on the same diet as adults, but lay different eggs...
if i were to get those eggs, i wouldn't trust them to an incubator, i would hope for a broody hen...
tf
the only eggs i've ever had a prob with hatching r seramas we had to do that with them if not most die before the egg pips for no reason. i'll look at the pores when they come in. lol, i told mike for that price i'm not trusting them to my bator. even though i got them cheap for marans eggs still they are very hard to get i don't want to risk them not hatching. he said he trusts his bator better than my broodies. i said well i trust mother nature most. he said ya till it gets off a nest and kills ur eggs. ugg, men. seriously though if i slip the eggs in and take out there not hatching ones i don't see a prob with it. i got 3 hens in one nest on 7 eggs still and one in another pen on air. he's freaking they will fight over them and break them or abandon them.
the eggs they have in i split them so there is 3 in one nest and 4 in the other and i added more bedding today they freaked out diveing back in to get on the eggs so i don't think i'll have a prob with them breaking broodiness. the other gives me this look when i snag her eggs like come on mom please let me hatch them,lol. i think if i added another nest box or 2 and gave them each some eggs i think they would be fine no probs. what do u guys think??? personally i usually bator hatch them not let them set but they have been hatching a speratic hatch so i've taken the babies that did hatch so they don't abandon the nests and they haven't yet, still setting. i honestly think the girls would be safer to hatch these what's ur opinion???
those are absolutely fabulous Cottage Rose. One of my cuckoo marans gets close to the dark chocolate but not like those!
my opinion on men or on your broody girls? LOL...
trust YOUR instinct and give your DH something else to do, and don't ask his opinion again, since he will likely give it anyway!
my broody hens set together, never fighting, taking tunrs, scooting the eggs over to a more comfortable spot, etc. they hatched one and didn't fight, didn't abandon. one pipped but didn't make it. the next pipped and i took it in, still didn't make it. so i took all their egg on night, and the next morning took them 15 chicks i hatched in the bator. they were ecstatic and still are. best moms ever!
i made suer they had food and water in reach. Apple would get up to go relive herslef everytime i opened the door. Pansy always pooped by the nest and i had to clean it up. they got goat's milk too. the problem with the eggs they were setting on was the sporadic way they were laid, and i didn't mark them... so i will do better next time. i think the other hens are about to get the bug LOL
tf
If you have a sportsman bator, I would hatch them
in it, Silkie. It's your call, but I guess my worry
would be the jostling around and unpredictability..
If the hens have done a good job before, then bet they
could do so again. What works this time, may not
the next, and vice versa. I am incubating 7 out of 12
mountain quail eggs, and I understand the anxiety you
have for the more expensive- I guess if I had a banty
cochin or silkie, I would let her do the work.
well i got my eggies in a little bit ago. i'm a little dissapointed but excited also. i got 3 pics for ya. first the ups man brought them 2nd day ground not express usps so that surprised me. packing job was great!! i opened the box with papers all over and there was a box inside. opened it and there was a note and lots more paper and 5 silver things i was like what the heck,lol. they were wrapped in metalic bubble wrap to keep the x-rays out, that was kool didn't know they made such a thing. i'm unwrapping and digging i get to the next layer there is 10 more. HOLY COW!!! he sent 15 eggs WOOT!!!
the note, it answers ur question and one of mine.
heres what it said-
i hope these eggs make it to u in good condition. some of them r a bit pale but it is only because the hens laying them have been going at it for a while. the genes r very good and u will have some very nice birds from them.i also wanted to let u know that u may want to keep ur humidity a bit lower when incubatin. i usually run mine at between 35-45% as they do not seem to dry down as quickly as the other breeds. i would not worry to much about the air cells seeming small as they tend to open up well during last few days of incubation. please let me know when and how they arrive and i wish u the best of luck.
Very interesting.
ok, so my thoughts..... all made it safe and sound so i'm thrilled with that, i was on egg shells till they got here and i got 3 extra eggs!!! awsome that he got special bubbles to protect from x-rays, i didn't know we could do that i always worry about that so i know they r safe from that.
the color i'm not worried so much about cuz i know the older layers lay lighter and as u progress through season they lighten also so i expected that and they r actually a little darker than pics show since my flash is so bright. the only thing i was a little upset with was all the scratches on some of them but i think it may be from moveing them around in nest before they dried, not sure. do regular eggs get that to? i've never noticed that before, is it just more noticeable with the choc eggs? does that mean they were jostled quite a bit i should be worried?
he answered the humidity question for us so is it safe to broody hatch or should i put them in the bator? since there is 15 my thoughts was to do 5 in the sportsman, 5 under one broody and 5 under another broody and move the 3rd broody to another breeding pen to be safe and replace the eggs they r on now that won't hatch. do u think that would give us a better chance at a good hatch rate? or should i do all broody or all bator hatch? and the air cell statement kinda freaked me out is he refering to tac eggs or something else? i'm nervous don't want to do anything wrong so i need advice,lol.
truest,
put me on ur egg list for the mountain quail for when ur breeders r old enough to lay. would love to have some!! they r gorgous birds!!! so glad i'm not alone. normally i just bator hatch eggs but i'm worried to mess these up. it was hard hatching seramas but these have to have an even lower humidity.
don't worry about the scratches. you can scratch the pigment off any non-white egg. the darker the egg, the thicker and more eaily scratched pigment.
big congrats!
yep, i would roll the dice and do 5 each way...
CR, how are yours doing now?
thanks TF i was really worried the scratches could mean they were scrambled inside from the hens tossing them around, that is a relief to know. i guess i collect mine enough a day that i've just never left them in long enough to notice it. thanks but as u can tell i'm one nervous momma this time,lol. i'm going now to take 10 over and eggs from yesterday for the girls so they each have a nest of eggs. i'll keep 5 marans for here for the bator.
how r my what cuckoo marans? if that's what breed u ment great. i posted a pic above of one of the boys from the first hatching. i think 4 are feather shanked one is not. there is 2 boys and 3 girls.
CR=Cottage_rose...
TF
Scroll up and see my update.
lol, woops i'm used to seeing my initials, sorry i should have looked closer.
cottage,
no worries! if u don't find some by the time these r big enough to lay i'll have eggs then to share with ya or whoever still needs them by then. most people have a waiting list a year or more long and some i found even a 3 year waiting list for, that's just crazy!! if i don't hatch at least 1 male and 1 female i'll buy chicks from someone or more eggs to make up the difference so i have at least a quad or small flock of them for breeders. we'll make sure we all got coppers to love and spoil!! i won't have a waiting list so we just got to wait till they r older which is shorter waiting than all those waiting lists are. in the meantime if u get eggs or peeps also let me know. if we both have them when they r older we can swap eggs so we both have 2 bloodlines going. i'll keep ya posted how it goes with these, pics and when they r older when they start laying incase u are interested eggs still when they come of age.
well they r set under broodies and part of them in the bator keep ur fingers crossed!!
i knew only three hatched ;-( but was hoping they are doing well, and maybe we could get a picture? harde to believe today is only the 22nd, so i guess they haven't grown that much yet huh ^_^
Oh, you bet Silkie! I will start a list today- I know
yur not s'posed to count before they hatch, though
LOL. You will be at the top of my egg list for the
mountain quail. They are also known as the 'singing
quail'. I haven't heard them yet. They are kind of special,
and need very low light in the brooder to keep them
from picking, they pick more than other birds. Mine are
due to hatch on June1st. Developing really well, good
air cell size.
Sounds like the person who sent your eggs took very
good care with packing them. That tells a lot about a
breeder- how they care for their birds. Not saying
someone who packs average doesn't take good care
also, but seems like an indicator to me. In reading
about the marans coloring of eggs, it is described like
the eggs go through a paint tunnel before it's laid. I
just got a new hen's coturnix egg today that was round
and pale blue, instead of pale blue background with
brown speckles. I'll post a pic as soon as I figure out
what's up with my puter. I hope you get some great
birds with this hatch, and that the humidity isn't much
of an issue. Very nice for them to tell you about that.
Update...
I've been in contact with Bev and she is going to
send me 15 hatching eggs! :)
They will be from her black and blue coppers
and wheaten and blue wheatens.
I'm not real keen on hatching out
chicks this time of year but when the offer from
Bev came through I figured I didn't want
to miss the opportunity to get some.
Wish me luck.
I will post pics of the eggs when I get them.
