Got my Funny Farm Trio of Marans!

My babies are here!!!! Came on the day they were supposed to just a few hours later and thanks to the PO scaring me, I am never getting live birds mailed in again. They told my mom that the birds were LOST. They also told her that there was no other shipments coming in today so theres no way they'd be in today. Well I talked to several people who have recieved birds in the mail and they reassured me that there was always more than one shipment to a PO in a day....so I had mom call back and sure enough they then said that yes there was. Like two hours later they call my mom and say my birds are there! So hubby and I rused down and picked up my babies!!!! They are in the gangly stage so right now they do not look impressive but if you know marans you know they are nice! Great leg color, NICE feathered shanks on the cockerel etc. I am VERY happy with them! I reccomend Funny Farms Marans to ANYONE! :) She has a few different colors and what not. If you'd like her contact info please contact me at monarc23@yahoo.com I am happy to point customers her way! These birds are from Wade Jeanes C1 line :)

I also got in over 100 assorted colored coturnix quail eggs from a seller I buy from a lot! She ships SO if you want her info too again email me! :) She sells on ebay mostly. GREAT packing etc you wont be disapointed that's for sure. She threw in 12 button quail eggs so now im hatching those again lol! Looking for a home for them but not choosing a home until they hatch that way I dont disapoint anyone :). The eggs below this tray is over 30 RIR eggs hatching for a lady who bought from me once already, and to my friends who are going to buy and resell them :)....getting over 100 more for them this weekend (sunday prob).

Getting 13 marans eggs from a breeder!!! Some of the eggs are old though and coming from Cal. so im trying not to be too hopeful/excited but some are new so i'll atleast have some in a decient hatch. :D They prob won't be here tomorrow but the next day. I BETTER get the coturnix eggs I bought from a company...they cashed our mula, but that was days ago and still no eggs...these eggs are very important to me color wise so they better get here! *grumbles* lol!

Welp that's about it! I'm pretty happy so far lol!

Getting 100 Coturnix eggs from one breeder and..

24 red/red tuxedo/red-golden coturnix eggs from another!!! Also on monday my 9 marans eggs from a BYC breeder I won the auction for her eggs will be mailed out, and probably too will be the eggs from the BYC breeder I hatched out my first two marans from again! As too will probably be my trio of young marans! Can you say excitedly BUSY!? *on cloud nine* Hubby is a SAINT!!!!

Speaking of my saint, lol, not this upcoming tuesday but next tuesday we'll be going to the hospital to get a growth taken out of his neck...it's 4 inches long by 3 inches wide. He's had it for a year... the surgeon thinks it's just a subacious cyst which is expected but it's going to be removed and tested anyhow which is good because I want to personally know he's okay. It's going to be gross for me but iim going to be in the room with him while he gets it done (the surgeon allows lol) but i wanna be there for Ronnie while he gets it done. He's got a fear of needles and it's on his neck... yucccgghh! I'd be freaked out and I know he will be too when the day comes. The surgeon freaked me out a lil bit explaining how much it's going to bleed and what not... but he'll atleast be at the hospital and in good hands :)

I sold all my excess chicks today, and used that money to buy the 100 coturnix eggs. The reds I begged hubby for and he said I could but no more which is fine with me! LOL! Tomorrow we're pickingup 5 doz RIR eggs so i can incubate and sell some more. :) So now all that's in my brooder is 3 coturnix chicks, 2 marans crosses (one orpington, and one ee), and 4 pure black copper marans! :D *celebrates* NOw if only my coturnix quails outside would start up egg production and i'd be in business! LOL!

Shippin Marans and Picked up Marans! :)

Soo! I got two more BC marans today! Both are a week old from my friend Sam and her Fiancee Kevin :) I now know boths lines! :) The one with the yellow band is from Wade Jeane, and the one that's not feathered on the legs (shanks) is a valentine (sp?) lined cutie. I vent sexed both and it looks like 2 hens! I hope so because I'm getting a roo sometime next week lol! Tho if ones a roo or both is I'm sure I'll want to keep them anyhow though I can't be roo heavy. I thnk they're both hens though... I'm not a pro at vent sexing but that's my oppinon so far on birds venting. :)

Tomorrow I send out a money order to "Funny Farms" to get myself a trio of BC feather shanked marans of Wade Jeane lines. :D A cockerel and two pullets! :D They lay on the 7 on the egg chart (and she showed me a pic to proove it NICE)! I wont show the picture here though as that's her picture not mine and it has her name on it so rather than use it without her permission and no one really reading this blog anyhow I'm happy to not post it and just look at it in my email files. I deffiantly reccomend her birds so far as of egg color and smoothness of dealing with her! :) I will update this when i get the birds. They're being overnighted to my moms work whenever she gets the mula. :) I am so excited about it! I was nervous at first because if it was to be shipped right to the house then it would be 2 days before they got out of that box and that's just sad to me.

So basically without even purposly doing it, I'm landing in on a lot of Wade Jeanes birds. I notice wheaten in a few of the chicks already, and that confirms with what i've read about Wades birds throwing wheatens. It doesnt bother me one bit though. I'm focusing on egg color first, and as long as im honest about the eggs i DO sell, I don't see an issue with it. If anyone does its as simple as they don't have to buy from me. I have heard anyhow, that the darkest laying marans were birds that were gangly and not to standard so I think we all as novice breeders of marans have along while to go before we get anywhere pivital with them anyhow. Feather color comes last to me, first and foremost is egg color, as to my knowledge that's the defining thing in this breed is that their egg color is 4 or above. :)

Bye Bye Ameraucanas Hello Marans

As the title states, my remaining trio of Ameraucana chicks are going to my buds who I've been swapping/selling to. I get 2 BC Marans for the swap! The one chicks sire is directly from Wayde Jeane which is pretty cool as from what I have read he's a pretty *top breeder*. The other is just a normal line I guess nothing notable atleast not that I know of yet. The chick to the left IS the son of the Wayde Jeane roo I'm getting! It's hard to see but his shanks are feathered so he's perfecto! Sam if you read this you are AWESOME for giving me just THIS cutie let alone TWO cuties! I am stoked!

I also attended my first online auction and won the auction! For 6+ (supposed to get nine yay) BC marans eggies from another BYCer. OH boy oh boy! Great looking birds and at this moment I forget where the lines are decended from but it's either Wayde Jeane again or Bev Davis but it's not a direct from them but close enough that the color in the egg is great as are the birds! :) Marans are not APA showable yet, but theres enough of a rave about them I think they will be. Heck even supposedly Martha Stewart won't use any other eggs for cooking other than the marans egg! Dunno why tho cuz that I know of theres no better or lesser nutrition in marans egg than in other eggs, but I just guess they're just more asthetically pleasing. You'll never see marans eggs in the grocery store that's for sure! *giggles*

I hatched out a TON of Rhode Island reds and golden comet mixes yesterday into today. All are going to their new home on sunday. I'll appreciate the brooder space that's for sure! RIRs are some of the most cutest chicks ever, but I have no room for them with me focusing entirely on marans. They just won me over those lil sweet hearts! I have WAY too much to learn about marans still... I am deffinatly a novice and will be for a very long time to come im sure. But I am pretty good at knowing what to look for, and since theres no showing marans just yet, I don't feel like I have to be in any sort of hurry to produce my own "perfect birds". Anywho theres no such thing as a perfect bird...not even in the show world....but we can try to get it to that point as much as we can....I am excited to be apart of it. :)

I bet in a year, looking back on this post as long as everything goes well I'm going to be shocked at all I know "now" and didn't know 'then" :). Happens with every hobby I do. That's why I love hobbies. A fun learning experience in the making. :)

Niki

Black Copper Marans Chicks!

Well, I never wanted to join a fad... and the fad lately has been Black Copper Marans and their eggs. I am the type of person I go to the beat of my own drum when it comes to hobbies. However, when I took interest in producing olive colored eggs by breeding dark brown eggs to blue eggs (ameraucanas) when I saw another BYC member offering EE crossed marans eggs and orpington x marans eggs I jumped on the offer! I got in that offer as well PURE marans eggs! I was excited and curious to see what all the fuss was about. Well when I got the eggs I was stunned! You cannot understand the full beauty of quality Marans eggs until you see them in person! Pictures never do them justice!

I was going to swap these eggs to a new coming friend of mine, however after not having a good enough hatch of Ameraucanas and marans I decided rather than to swap now to swap later with their eggs. I hatched 2 Cree Farm Ameraucana chicks, 1 blue one black...a small percentage hatch but I had a heat spike early on in their development and I think that had something to do with it. THREE BC Marans, and 4 either pure orpingtons or orpington x marans crosses (i cant tell just yet lol), 1 deffinate orpington x marans cross (furry feet black and red), and a EE x marans! :) They are all beautiful and wonderful I am soo happy to have them!

My plan is a pure BC Marans pen, and a Ameraucana pen. AND the crosses, I plan to keep hens from them and put them either in with the marans or the Ameraucanas depending on my goal. :) That way i can play with genetics of egg color while ALSo breeding pure birds. :)

I am soo happy with my Crees and my Marans from a wonderful lady! You know who you are! *hugs* Supposedly im being graced with more Marans eggs from her in the future...If it happens OMG YAY! If not I am more than greatful for what I got. I owe her a bunch of coturnix eggs for this so believe me Im really anxious for them to start up production! LOL!

SPRING-A-LING

AHH! The weather today was PERFECT! WARM and breezy!!! Tonight too is wonderful! I'd love nothing more than to sit out there on the porch and enjoy it but our looney bin neighbor was shooting AT his dog a few hours ago (police were called- but nothing was done about it) so I only went outside after that to potty my dogs and hurried back in the house.

Other than that drama all is well here. The coturnixs are starting to crow and chase the ladies outside so eggs should be SOON! I got my serama, cochin and duccle eggs from California today! They were shipped out on thursday...I seriously thought my luck they'd be here on tuesday not sat! :D I was so excited! I havent heard back from the breeder yet on which eggs are which as only some were labled. Theres 11 eggs total...she is SOO awesome for all she gave I cannot wait to repay her with coturnix eggs! :D I'm paying her shipping for these eggs, but I'm also sending her eggs like she did me. There was some colors of coturnix she paid for from someone else and didn't get all the color she hoped to so I'm happy to supply when they start up. She's going to be my egg tester for my first offical batch of available coturnix eggs. I'm gonna hatch the first few to get some colors then I'll split up the pens and give her all that I collect for 2-3 days that should give her a huge variety! I can't waiiit!

I'm now on the look at for my CALL DUCK and or Black East Indies bantam eggs, both are gorgeous small ducks that I've wanted both since I've seen. It's hard finding the black east indies which are what I want the most! :D

In my brooder I have Bronx a black Ameraucana cockerel that may carry the lavander gene, Mouse a blue looking Easter Egger Bantam hen, 1 tuxedo chick from my rosetta coturnix hen Rosie, 1 pharoah coturnix chick from her as well, 2 jumbo browns from a breeder on BYC, and a curly coturnix hen from another breeder on BYC as well.... I'm really excited to breed those into a separate line as people who learn about the curlies really want them. I think they kinda look like a mess to me but maybe I can breed them to look uniform and not so Messy! LOL!

I stopped using the bedding stall dry today, it was making the entire house dusty. I'm now using Kaytees natural lavander stuff...oo it smells good and is pretty with real dried flowers in it! I hope it keeps the smell down because then it'll also keep the dust down! :D

Updates :)

My quail outside are starting to crow! Eggs should be very soon! :D

I sold SEVERAL of my chicks, some I hatched only to sell others, I decided to sell after my hubby got a day taken off of his weekly work hours because of the economy. I sold my remaining langshang chick, 3 of my 4 black ameraucanas (I kept the best looking one that I'm pretty sure is a roo? i hope so but if he's a hen oh well i'll just keep a roo from my other eggs). I've made a TON of money so far! I had no idea I could make that much money on chicks and birds. Wow. I most deffinatly paid for all the feed i've used so far and then some. If I keep this going they'll have paid for our incubator too! LOL! Ofcourse that's all litterally paid for but ya know what I mean...to almost profit status. :) Way better than breeding stupid rabbits that get sick with unavoidable illnesses that don't go away and breeders ignore and give to everyone elses rabbitries... I may own one as a pet again someday but NEVER ever again breed them.

I'm going to be breeding Ameraucanas in Blue Black Splash and Lavander, as well as Seramas in any color (as they produce any color they dont have fixed colors), and probably Millie Fluer Duccles and Bantam Cochins! I'm not sure in what colors yet, however I'm getting them from a wonderful breeder in California along with my serama eggs! I am soo excited! That breeder will be then getting coturnix eggs from me to test. :D Then Catawba coturnixs will be in Cally! Unlike other bird breeders I get excited when I know what state they go in. :)

There are SOO many snob breeders in Ameraucanas, it reminds me of breeders in Holland Lops! I will NEVER be one of those stuck up snobs. I enjoy educating others when they ask, and atleast in birds, it has its perks to help people, not to mention it's good for the overal well being of the breed to educate people who ask for help.

I will be getting my WHOLE flock- even my coturnixs tested for Bird Flu and all other illnesses that are testable here in a few weeks. Then I will be an offical bird/egg seller and I will know for sure my birds are healthy! :) I also learned that what I thought made sick birds so sick the only thing to do was cull them is untrue! It IS treatable unlike in rabbits! :) So that's wonderful to know as well. None of my birds have been sick, but it's good to know if it ever does happen I dont have to go out and kill all the poor babies. :)

I have like 6 coturnix chicks in the house, with more due to hatch here shortly. The one is most deffinatly a curly coturnix from a breeder who went out of business. So this bird is my only curly gene-er lol. So she will go in my experiement pen so I can keep an eye on if the breeding produces more curlies. I personally dont like the curly coturnix but there seems to be an interest in them...so I might as well breed for them on the side for others who like them.

I now have something like 5 different strains (aka lines) of coturnix quails from all over the US. Makes me so excited for the future! :D

We were working on moving, but since hubby got a day taken away from his weekly hours we had to cancel everything. sure it sucks, but what can ya do. We'll just save up MORE and wait until the economy hopefully gets better. :)

well that's all for now! :D

niki