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More hens
Topic Started: Jul 17 2010, 02:54 PM (714 Views)
Phaedrus
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No Chris. I haven`t got round to putting a light in yet. The days are too short for them to lay now. :shrug

If I fit a light to give them 12hrs of light a day, I think they may well start to lay. If not, Its going to be the end of February before they start.
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Phaedrus
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Finally got round to cleaning out the hens. It was delayed due to Christmas and the bad weather. It was a big smelly job :)
All done now with fresh wood shavings and a new nesting box lid fitted to the older house.
I was surprised to find these two little gems. One in the main house and the other in the nesting box.
The first one is marbled with a hint of dark brown here and there. The second in an unmistakable Marans egg.
I noticed a few days ago Mabel (the largest Marans) has developed a nice red comb. Looks like she has come into lay :)
Well done Mabel :clap :clap
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chrislane62

Tell us how they taste when you get round to it.
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Phaedrus
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I will. I have been told they are very nice. :)
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Phaedrus
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Just got in to find another Marans egg in the nesting box. It appears Mabel has got the hang of it :)
Here are the 3 she has laid so far along with one Matilda laid this morning and a 50p for size.
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Checked against the Marans breed club colour chart and they are grade 4. You cannot claim pure Marans unless you can produce a 4. :thumbsup


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Gina
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Very good Trev :thumbsup
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Phaedrus
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They`re getting darker! A very smooth dark egg today (a 5 or 6 maybe?) from Mabel and Matilda laid as well this morning. Interestingly they were both laid in the same nesting box :)
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chrislane62

Very nice, but remember they are for eating. Don't keep them about for show until they go off.
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Gina
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Yes, I was thinking that too. Lovely eggs though, I'm not surprised if you think they're too good to eat :lol But you do have a photographic record :)
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Phaedrus
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We had fried eggs and chips tonight. I had one of Mabels`. Very nice :thumbsup
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Phaedrus
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I gave some eggs to some friends today. Just a couple of Matildas` "normal" eggs and a couple of Mabels`. One of my friends has had quite a severe stroke and has trouble speaking and remembering words. She can`t say very much. When she saw Mabels eggs she was delighted and exclaimed " My Goodness!" "Well well well!" "Look at that"! It was really funny....It made my day :)
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Gina
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:) :)
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Phaedrus
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It looks like 2 (or maybe 3) of the 4 new girls are laying now. :)
I realised the speckly eggs (in the middle of the bowl in the photo above) are from one hen and the smoother darker one (upper right in the bowl) is from a different hen. We are getting a marans egg every day. There are two distinct shapes of the smoother darker eggs so it looks like these are from two different hens.

Matilda the black rock, is like a machine and lays a big "normal" egg about 6 days a week.

You would think an egg is just an egg and they all taste the same, but they don`t. The marans eggs are very nice indeed :thumbsup
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