advice on maran cockerel

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advice on maran cockerel
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lassemista

Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 608
Location: suffolk

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 5:13 pm Post subject: advice on maran cockerel
I have been intending to get a cockerel to produce some table birds from my black rock hens. I have just been offeres a maran (cross?). He looks a big chunky bird, but then it's quite cold and he may just have fluffed his feathers up. They also have to get rid of a light sussex cross. He looks a lot scrawnier but he is younger. Any advice? Andrea.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 5:26 pm Post subject:
Dont bother. Tried it with a BIG marran & a few others but you still get a bird that takes 20 plus weeks to get to half the size a meat bird will weigh in 6 - 10 weeks so costing you double or more in feed. Justme PS as the BR are a hybred the offspring with be a right old mix not marran x BR.

lassemista

Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 608
Location: suffolk

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 5:27 pm Post subject:
Further thought - if I do have him how do I introduce him to the girls? Andrea.

Bovey Belle

Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 77

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 7:41 pm Post subject:
Introduce him as you are putting the others "to bed" for the night, they will settle down together in the darkness and by the next morning, he will be one of the flock. Leastways, that's what we always did with our birds, and never had any problems.

lassemista

Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 608
Location: suffolk

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 7:44 pm Post subject:
Justme - Are you saying that anything crossed with the BR will take too long? Do you keep separate flocks for meat and eggs? Plan for introduction sounds good - the farmer who has them said just bung them in and let them get on with it! Andrea Last edited by lassemista on Sat Dec 09, 06 7:46 pm; edited 1 time in total

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 7:46 pm Post subject:
Mr cockreal this is you harem. harem here is Mr cockreal. Seariously just put him in he will sort the rest. Expect some disruption a sthe pecking order will change & he will be chasing em for a bit (of the other lol). Justme

lassemista

Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 608
Location: suffolk

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 7:48 pm Post subject:
That overlapped with my edit - you are truly a farmer, Justme !!! Andrea.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 7:50 pm Post subject:

lassemista wrote:

Justme - Are you saying that anything crossed with the BR will take too long? Do you keep separate flocks for meat and eggs?
Plan for introduction sounds good - the farmer who has them said just bung them in and let them get on with it!
Andrea

Yes we run sepperate flocks for meat & eggs. Well in reality we run multi egg flocks & do meat birds when they fit in to the rotation. As we do about 50 birds for meat at once you dont have to do it too often. remember you can start to take them to eat from about 4 weeks (ok they are small but still worth while) and by 12 weeks they should all be in the freezer. If you dont have the buildings to process 50 at once start doing a few each week from 6 weeks. The first ones will make nice small ones & the last ones full sized family roasters.

Justme

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 7:52 pm Post subject:

lassemista wrote:

That overlapped with my edit - you are truly a farmer, Justme !!!
Andrea.

Er no. Only been doing smallholding for just over 2 years. Was in army then catering & then computers (catering to computers seems a popular career change) (as does ex military to downsizing)

Justme

lassemista

Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 608
Location: suffolk

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 8:15 pm Post subject:

But I know from reading your posts here and in the other place that you take it very seriously, and do lots of sums and things. It must be in the genes.
If I'm honest I'm only playing at it - I enjoy animals and I love food more seriously than is good for my weight. I like the idea of being wholly responsible for it. Who knows whether I will find the actual experience rewarding.
I won't be giving up the day job, so perhaps it doesn't matter too much if the birds take longer to get to eating weight - I'm only thinking of perhaps 6 a year - I've not really got that far.
But your answers are always thought provoking,
Andrea.

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Sat Dec 09, 06 10:05 pm Post subject:
Also - just a random thought which might be completely inaccurate - but I think that BlackRocks tend not to go broody so you might need to use an incubator? I could be wrong but someone will correct me (Lovely birds Black Rocks we had one)

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 06 12:07 pm Post subject:

I'd go for the maran I think, if the LS is a cross, it might be crossed with something small! But as justme says, any pure bred bird (or pure-bred cross) will take longer to fatten than a purpose-bred hybrid.

Black rock hybrids are bred to be egg laying machines, so they are quite scrawny - but it's worth experimenting with a cross and seeing what you get. As Ruby says, they tend not to go broody, so you might need an incubator, or maybe a silkie or something like that to hatch them for you?

Maran's and LS are traditional 'utility' birds that fatten well if you're prepared to wait for them - and they also lay reasonably well (about 200 eggs a year I think, but it might be a bit more or a bit less) if they're from a strain that has continued to be bred for 'utility' rather than for looks.

We've just got some barnvelders and some speckled sussex, which are both utility breeds - they're fourteen weeks now and I am eyeing the boys up to see whether they're fat enough to eat, but I don't think they're quite there yet.

Hope this helps,

- Chez

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 06 12:43 pm Post subject:

Pure Maran cockerels take forever to fatten up.
If you want to breed some table birds then Black Rocks are a lousy starting point.
If space permits, keep two hens that are of a table breed and run something like an Indian Game Cock with all your birds. You should be able to tell the eggs from your new birds and only incubate those if you want something to eat.
As to which hens to get, I'm at a bit of a loss because there aren't really any traditional birds that do the job. A good commercial strain of Light Sussex are the only breed that I can come up with,.
Has anyone else got any other ideas ? You'd only have to keep a couple to provide a family with chicken for dinner.

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 06 12:54 pm Post subject:

Traditionally didn't people kept a rhode island cockerel with light sussex hens, because of the sex-linked colour thing? They boys take after their mother and are silver at hatching so you can take them off and fatten them; and the girls look like dad and are good layers.

'Good layers' compared to other traditional breeds though, rather than compared to modern bred-for-purpose.

I think it depends on what one's hoping to get out of it - I like the traditional breeds and to feel that I'm contributing to their survival; and I only have a few, so I don't have a massive commercial impetus or a need for them to fatten particularly quickly.

And at the end of the day, you can eat anything, (even black rocks!). I've still got six pekins cockerels that we're growing on - there's not much on them, but I'd rather have pekin curry than wring their necks for no reason.

Marans are supposed to produce a nice white fleshed carcass, but I've never eaten one myself.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 06 2:19 pm Post subject:
Years ago I kept a maran cockerel until it was massive, it was nearly as big as me When I got the clothes off him I was really disappointed. he was a wimp of a bird and I'd really shovelled the grub down him. I keep and show game birds and I do eat the rejects but if I wanted to keep birds solely for the table , I'd go for Cobbs or these new fangled Sassos that have become all the rage

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