I hatched out 4 maran chicks. They are 3 weeks old now and they are HUGE!! They have HUGE feet. We call them "The Dinosuars". They were stomping all over the 2 silkies that hatched wtih them. I finally moved the silkies to another brooder yesterday. The Marans are very skittish too. Have lots of feathers and are growing great! But is it just Marans that are this big and nervous? Or are all heavy breeds like that?

Just curious.

-- J Flynn (flynn4@netzero.net), May 10, 2002

Answers

J, you might post this on The Poultry Connection( www.poultryconnection.com ). there you'll find poultry folk with some experience. Hope this helps, LQ

-- Little Quacker in OR (carouselxing@juno.com), May 10, 2002.

J. My marans are not any larger than any other chick. I think yours probably just look huge compaired to your silkies. I have some in with some barnevelders and welsummers. The marans are feathering out the fastest. Mine do seem a bit more nervous than my other breeds, but I know of marans that are very gentle. I think they out grow the skittish stage when they start laying. Best wishes!

-- cowgirlone in ok (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), May 10, 2002.

Our Marans are in with some Barnevelders and the Marans are much larger. And yes there feet are also huge. I suppose they adapted those to handle the wetlands where they originated. Do your Marans have feathered legs? The French strain does but the English strain doesn't. We have some of both. Still waiting for our first egg. They are about 4 months old. Both the Barnys and the Marans were really skittish when they were younger but have settled down now and are relatively calm.

-- fang in tx (fang@goquest.com), May 10, 2002.

I know my girls and their rooster were fairly skittish when I first got them a little over a year ago, but they are just as much my babies now. I also have eight of their kids that I hatched out a few weeks ago. I have mine in a brooder with some cornish cross and one polish chick who desided to hatch at the same time. Next to the polish, they are HUGE, but next to the cornish, they look very normal in size. Best of luck with yo9ur new babies! Toni

-- Toni (mothergoosefarm@hotmail.com), May 10, 2002.

J

I have Reds, Barred Rocks, Delawares, and Jersey Giants. Compared to the other 3, the Jerseys grew much faster and it wasn't very long, maybe 3 weeks, before they were huge. At 2 months they were twice times as big as the others and greatly resembled baby emus!!!! All legs and feet sooooooo big they were tripping on them! They too, of all 4 breds, are much more timid. I had to constantly remind myself of their age and that they were still "chicks" and needed to be treated as such. Jerseys are said to be the largest of all the breeds. I can believe it! But they tend to be "gentle" giants. Maybe because they grow so fast we loose track of the fact that they are so still young. Don't know.

-- dottie (mother-ducker@webtv.net), May 10, 2002.