Just a bit chicken chatty

Have a few questions that are all over the board so thought I would just make a random thread.. and run with it.
I have a cuckoo marans that I am thinking is a roo.. actually I have 4 and not a one of them looks alike.. other than they are black with white spots... but all are different shades of black.. and different amounts of white, different shades of pink, pale, red combs.. one has no tail, yet a hump.. and all her poo collects.. but I am dilligent.. now she has no collecting feathers back there.. I cut them ALL off.. tired of wiping my chickens butt 3 xs a day.

Anyway.. heres freckles.. if he is not a he.. then she IS a cross dresser!

Have I mentioned I do not think marans are pretty birds? They don't stand out in the crowd either.. no fancy tricks.. they don't trip each other, no fighting... Freckles does make sure everyone gets into bed safe & sound every night and is the last one in the coop and turns the lights out.
BUT... If they give me pretty eggs... they can stay.. It is nice to have a couple of peaceful birds you can count on when you need a quiet moment.

Ok.. next topic... ME

Me is not looking to good.. he is breathing funny.. and yesterday.. (no laughing) was barking at me... sounded just like a dog bark.. or a seal.. you know that ark.. ark.. ark.. I have it on video.. if I can cut it, I will post it to my webpage..
He is breathing like an old man.. especially when he runs to greet you from across the yard.

And of course what good is ME without U, she is a bit better, not as large.. and not in such a hurry... he gets first dibs anyway so why rush.

U is lower, ME is blurry

frans530--Yes, based on the color I would say Roo! I have one that looks like it is a similar age--it is light too, but its comb is larger, then I have a younger one that I think it is also a roo, although it is a bit darker. The first time it was easy to sex them because I had one of each, the roo Eiffel and the pullet Schnitzel (aka Pip) and the color difference was notable.

This time, just a roo, and, as I said, he is a little darker--but both my roos have been HUGE. Eiffel was twice the size of Schnitzel , and my younger Marans roo is almost twice as large as the Barnevelder roos he hatched with (and Barnevelder are not small). Very bold birds the Marans roos--Schnitzel was very shy and retiring, but Eiffel is totally out there. The younger one even more so. Always at the front of the pack and pecking at everything.

Let us know how they end up-I would love to see a picture of all of them. Marans are fascinating. Very different from the other breeds I have. Wonder if it is because of the reputed use of game birds in the original mix?

I spent a little time outside this morning with just the 4 of the marans in the run and me.. snapping pictures of them, and of course talking to them.. Freckles still has the roo tendancies.. he wants to be higher than the rest.. will not "cuddle" with the other 3.. he is up on the roost while they are either on the bench or making a hole in the straw. There is one that is a bit A.D.D., pacing & jumpy.. doesn't hardly settle down at all, no matter how long you stay.. and oddly I notice that one has a redder face and yellow legs and feet... wonder what the mix is there?
I have to resize the photos but will post them later.. It was interesting.. I think I will do that with all the different breeds.. just seperate them and spend a little time.. breed on me and see some of their little tendancies without the crowd.

Meanwhile... did you ever just happen to take a really nice picture and you didn't even mean to?
This is the best photo I have taken in a long while.
Ali.. Americauna.. been the fav right out of the box, but we don't tell anyone else that...shhhh
My own little eagle

oh, fran you are getting GOOD at this picture thing!

i would have said Freckleswas a she by the tail and comb, but then roo by behavior, so i will go with catscan on this.

my seven year old has an eerie talent for sexing. he KNEW the RIR was a hen becasue SHE LOOKS LIKE ONE. i had never told him of the curly tail thing in the pekins, and one day he said, "that one talks different and has a larger head, it must be the male..."

so,. post pics of all your marans and let Peter decide LOL. he doesn't even know about tail feathers, combs & wattles, feather sexing, crouching, behavior, etc. he just looks and he KNOWS...

i was just laughing when i read now for hte next topic ME, thinking OH NO, what is wrong with fran LOL

now give that poor thing some raw milk so the tail feathers can grow back out...

Sorry tf, you get the younger kids, I have the grown ones and a teen who knows some silly song names ME & U (not the one we know) It is kind of a cute song, but she bought the cornish with her dad and they named them before they ever came home...


But hey, thanks for worring about me... ;-)

wouldn't happen to be "Me & U, in our sport utility vehicles.... we'll be the he-roes!" from Veggie Tales a Snoodles Tale, would it?

Oh no, tf. I am not saying that it is a roo. Only that the color is like my Marans roo's. Actually, in every other way it looks like a pullet to me.

The problem with Marans is there are different Cuckoos. In Britain they recognize "Dark Cuckoo" which correlates with what we usually call just "Cuckoo" and "Silver Cuckoo" which is generally lighter. It isn't standardized in the US since they aren't recognized by the APA or the ABA (although I'm sure somewhere I read they were or were about to be by the ABA). All we label them as is "Cuckoo/Silver Cuckoo" without making a distinction.

Unfortunately it is only with the "Dark Cuckoo" that the sex-linked color is apparent in chicks. Mine are all Dark Cuckoo and the roos are much lighter than the pullets--even as adults. Since we may be mixing the colors here it may not be as easy to tell the difference with everything that is labeled Cuckoo.

Probably behavior is best. My pullets (two different blood lines) are very shy, the roos very bold. I think Kelly (Photographer) said his Marans roos were very cocky as well. My roos are also very large and heavy bodied. Much more so than the pullets.

Looking forward to your pictures, frans530. I don't think they are the most attractive birds either, they remind me of Nightjars--but they are very interesting.

Nightjars?

well, OK so i stand alone to say based on behavior Freckels is a roo. but i do have an alpha hen like that, two actually...

tf

We had a Nightjar come down our chimney when I Iived in Plano TX. They are very strange birds. They fly around like swallows, only at night. Very dense bodies and dark mottled feathers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightjar

h, we have the whippoorwills, funny a chicken reminds you of them LOL. so you've lived in Plano too, well that IS hot and dry, and NO LAKE!

we are very ag oriented here. lots o fcommunity ag colleges, plus two majo r Ag Universities...

Oh T... you made me and dd laugh again and she rolled her eyes at you.. haha your turn..

YOU & ME by the Plain White Ts

"You & Me, we like the same kind of music, thats why we make a good You & Me."

well, i personally like the oldie better. "You and me, so happy together! I can't see me lovin nobody but you, for all my life!"

OMG, googling and there are LOTS of songs titled you and me!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_and_Me_(song)

seriously, you have never seen the silly song on Snoodle's Tale? how pathetic, you MUST get out more!

This message was edited Jul 3, 2008 6:11 PM

OK< totally forgot about the one by lifehouse, didn't even know it was titled that!

gee fran, you really picked some popular names for your cornish!

there is even a children's book called you and me, about a goose and her gosling!!!

http://www.bordersstores.com/search/title_detail.jsp?id=55135360

This message was edited Jul 3, 2008 6:14 PM

Frans tell your kids that the Plain White Tee's Delilah song is AWESOME! Tf we have Whipoorwhils (SP?) here and they make one of the most peaceful sounds in nature. Those and the Bobwhite quail. Oh and frogs and cicadas (SP?). Ok I'm done lol! Sorry but all those sounds remind me of my childhood and summer : )

WOW... so does all this mean that someday when I get a goat, I may go out to the yard and find my marans nursing on my goats... lmbo...!

I remember whipoorwhils from when I was a kid in SC in Merles Island... bird sounds, salty night air, long moss hanging from the big trees, mickey spillane telling the neighbor kids stories.. when he was in a good mood.. when not we were chased with the threat of being bagged and put away in the canvas tent... never to be seen again... and the old haunted houses... oh the whipoorwhils and salty air....

owwweee and I would name it smoothy..
I am looking for a nubian... but tx ??? long drive tf.. only if gas comes down to under 3.50 then we have a deal.

i could meet you in OK, say, Norman, at L2G2s... ;-)

haven't picked out the Daddy yet, Frosty and Creamy are the girls. Frosty's mom was Little Bit, and Creamy's mom is Peaches and Cream. don't recall Dad's name... anyhow, when i do pick a beau, it will be the same one, so their kids will be cousins and half siblings...

There ya go, we can sit out and watch the new chicks, do a little fishing. Eat some good food. Just have a good ole hen cackling. DH will NOT stick around for that. Will give him a reason to go out with the guys, like he needs one now!!!!!!!!

we start cackling, my DH will just go to the other side of your pond... or use ear plugs LOL

had a goat friend come by, she raises boars. brought me the neatest thing, a pack saddle for goats! made of wood! DH will build a matching one. won't that be fun, someting to do with those yearlings, besides keep them out of the lilacs... anyhow, her son sure knows how to handle goats, and seemed interested in the chickens, and bored with summertime.... so i am just thinking...