Yesterday I told you all about the new breed of chicks I got, now today you get to see for yourself that they do indeed exist (in case the video didn't convince you).
I would like to introduce you to my 4 Black Copper Marans chicks. (although one of them may be a Black Copper Marans/Lavender Orpington cross).
I won't be naming the chicks until they've developed a bit of a personality. If I were a parent I would wait until my child was the age of 5 before I named them. Until that point I'd call them Whiskerbuttons and carry them around in a bowling bag.
Here they are ... my new chicks.
Notice the furry/feathery legs. I love those little feathery legs. I could just eat em. And in fact have on occasion.
That's the actual shell this chick hatched out of. We recreated the moment for you through the magic of photography and a particularly slow afternoon.
I have high hopes that this one is a gal. Rumour has it that the boy Marans get their tail feathers more slowly than the hens. And this one started sprouting tail feathers almost immediately out of the shell. That would mean I have at least one girl in this group of 4.
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Below you can see the actual shells my chicks hatched out of. The woman I bought the chicks from gave them to me. So I can expect my chickens to lay this colour egg or darker, or lighter. It's a crapshoot really.
These eggs came from the middle of her hens' laying cycle which means they're lighter than they are at the beginning of the laying cycle. They're a fairly dark egg and because the rooster also came from a dark egg, chances are I too well get nice dark eggs.
You can see the brown egg that I normally get from my one brown egg layer (Walnut). It's more pink than brown really.
So once I get to add the Marans eggs into the mix in 6 or 7 months I will have a mixture of eggs that look like this.
From left to right these eggs come from Walnut, (my soon to be Marans), Cuddles and Cheez Whiz. You can see how the Marans egg is shiny compared to the other, more flat looking eggs.
That's it for the chicken coverage for this week, but I'll of course be posting photos, videos and updates in the weeks to come.
If I have time that is. Watching baby chicks romp and sleep is awfully time consuming.
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I have one black copper maran I've raised the past month from a week old. It ended up being a sweet young roo. Does a rooster have any affect on colored eggs? I'd think not until perhaps I hatch some chicks from him fertilizing. I'm selling all my polish white egg layers so I'll only have americana and easter eggers for him to breed with. The woman I bought him from told me I couldn't breed with other maran because they all came from one bloodline. What was she talking about?
In recognition of the chocolaty eggs, I nominate the names: Hershey, Nestle, and Godiva. Plus for the copper part--Patina.
But like all commenters above--what cute chick hineys!
LOL, good idea! ~ karen!
Those are some very gorgeous chikadoodles Karen!
Those are very cute. I won't be surprise if one of them is actually a baby penguin.
I wondered when someone would hit on "Fuzzybutt" for a name... The chicks are really cute, and look good and healthy, which is even better.
Hey Karen, might you put out the coop cam? Those babies are so entirely sweet! Love to see them in action :D
I can't believe I'm loving chicken butts but these are so.....cute.....
I just realized.........they're born with FUR!!! kitty chicks kitty chicks
I can't even take the cuteness.
ZoooooMG! They are so cute! Congratulations!
They are so adorable. You will have to post pics when they are adolescent and adults.
I vote for one being named French Toast. I read on an Australian blog about somebody's chickens and that was the name of one of them. I thought it was THE perfect name for a chicken. Maybe for the Black Copper Marans?
You did good girlfriend..
Why oh why are fluffy butts of chicks so darned cute? And those leg warmers - LOL - I'm having Flashdance flashbacks.
They are sooo cute. Congrats. I am happy for you. I look foward to more posts on them and watching them grow. How exciting!