MORE marans, and updates on red coturnix

To the left is a true red coturnix, to the right is what I'm calling an "Orange tibetan" the oranges were litterally ORANGE at hatching their down was gorgeous! Now as they feather out they have like an orange lacing it's really pretty. The reds have an almost baby blue lacing whic his really pretty to see. I only have two true reds, 1 red tux, and 1 red golden. They are the starting point of my red flock. I hope to breed red tuxedos with such a contrast of color it leaves you breathless of how beautiful they are! That's what I love about white on any color it just brings out the color! This picture though does neither color any justice! Suffice to say true red coturnix look like smooth milk chocolate, and the orange tibes are a normal tibe with orange lacing. I also have red tibes whic basically omit the orange for red. I didn't produce ANY of these colors, however the name "red tibetan" and "orange tibetan" I have made up because they have no color name and it suits them well.

I have in my incubator, over almost 2 doz marans eggs, half of which are hatching NOW, and the other half which were just put in yesterday! Something like 7 BC marans, and 3 BBS marans (clean legged on the BBS). They are for a color project I will be doing! My BC marans flock is growing and it just swells my heart with joy!!!

Not only that, I have several turkey eggs in the bator, as well as ringneck pheasant eggs, guinea eggs,a nd ofcourse theres ALWAYS coturnix eggs in the bator. Oh and Blue Laced Red Wyandottes!!! :) I am blessed.....nothing else to it. I have such wonderful people in my life that I just owe so much to....I hope to repay each and everyone of those someday somehow! Thank you to all who read this who know the thank you is JUST FOR YOU!!! *hugs*

I will have to wait a few more days and take a picture of my growing marans outside BOY are they gorgeous!!! Esp the Funny Farms Cockerel "Boots" he's just stunning!!!

Well I want to end this here and glue my nose back to the window on my incubator (bc's hatching is the highlight of my day)! LOL!

Red & Red Tuxedo Coturnix In Da Bator

That's right folks! True red and red tuxedo coturnix finnally in my bator! 28 of them if I'm not mistaken. They were a lil pricey (but basically the same price as mine--yes I consider mine pricey compaired to mass producing breeders but I also look at quality over quanity) but well worth it! :)

I have a pretty bad sinous headache right now so if I don't seem as entusiastic as usual or quick instead of rambly like normal....the excedrin hasn't kicked in yet haha.

Starting to get a steady stream of customers interested in my coturnix eggs that should be going full force here in a few weeks *yay*. I'm getting 3-5 eggs a day now. Two from my A & M pen, 1 from my golden pen maybe two but it's hard to say because of when I collect them, and if I'm not mistaken 2 from my brown pen. Now everyone just needs to start layin and I'll be getting something like 12 a day. Would be more but my tuxedo and golden pen is low right now (youngsters and eggs developing on the way to change that).

Also planning on getting ANOTHER set of pens here soon, making or buying them. Making them myself would be best, but buying a pen from someone else would be easier ofcourse..but not really as we have no way to transport it here unless I bug my mom which I hate doing lol! Our jeep just isnt meant for lugging home scratchy wirey pens it barely fit my huge incubator! :)

I got some secrets in the works only a few know about in reguards to coturnix.....so just keep your eyes out. They're not here yet, but will be. *makes evil sneer*. Suffice to say it'll be some great new genetics.


My marans are growing like HORSES....I'll have to add a picture of them...well I have pictures of them from a few days ago I can add when a redtailed hawk swooped down on me and them while out in the fence (hawk didnt notice me until it almost pounced on the chicks that were on my lap and legs *faints*). It luckily noticed me there at the last second and had to fight to get air to get away from me. I would have punched it had it had any sucess at my chickies! :( Protected species...protect my poultry *growls*.


That's a picture of Boot the Funny Farms Cockerel from the C1 bloodline of Wade Jeane (sp?) everyone spells that poor mans name wrong...I probably am too so... there. LOL. A chick from my friend Belinda of Ninjapoodles (screen name and her dog breeding website name if I'm not mistaken) who I thought may be a pullet and most deffinatly is a cockerel. I finnally named.. "PokerFace". I love the new song pokerface by Lady Gaga, and since this cockerel bluffed me...it sounded appropriate. :D



Heres PokerFace just about 2 days ago walking around on my incubator top. Still sorting out his baby fluff, and looking oh so handsome! He's goin to be a gorgeous roo! *love* That creepy looking blue thing in the back is a caramic (sp?) castle tower (like what the witch hides the princess in) I made in highschool artclass...it makes a great paperweight! :) It's actually quite cute but looks pretty funky there and if anyones as curious as me you may have wanted to know what in the world that was. The pointy things are whitetail antlers.


Lets see and heres more pictures of the Funny Farms Trio. First is of Boot again, if you look closely in this pic you can see the coppering coming in on the back of his neck...he has more now but its' not been nice enough to let them out for pictures and such since this day. Well I take that back there was one nice day but I just penned them out and didnt baby sit and take pictures had too much else to do. You try having hundreds of eggs in your bator, some of which were "sold" and that are now available again because I never heard back from some people *pulls hair out* lol and having to rush around and make for sale ads everywhere and tell me if you always have time for piccies! :D Cleaning brooders daily takes me about a half hour, turning eggs about 6 mins, feeding them all, another half hour, collecting the bit of eggs, house chores, yelling at the cats to get off counters, feeding again, changing waterers, posting ads, yelling at the cats....yeah it makes for a busy me. :D








That's Scoot, she's an angel I love her to peices! Always wants to be right with me first to me everytime as long as she can battle the others to get there in time. :D



This Boogie she's a bit shy but Scoot is making her come around with me. She all but smothers me if I have mealwormies to share. :)













And even though it's not as pretty this small....while up there that day a quail feather blew out of one of the pens (prob brown pen more than likely) and landed on some leaves so I took a piccie. :D
I will update pictures when buttons, coturnix, bobwhites, rhode island reds, and crosses hatch.......im going to be engulfed! LOL!
And last but not least! My buddy Brian finnally made a blog himself and heres the link to it if you'd like to keep up with another birdie entusist! :D http://bsafflesfarms.webs.com/apps/blog/

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!