Show me your Cock and Pullet

With Adelle gone, and six roosters left in my brooder, it wouldn't take a rocket scientist--or even a chicken farmer--to know I must take action if I mean to have any eggs by the end of the summer.

I've ordered a new batch of eggs, that will be shipped Monday, but of course it will be some time before they've hatched. In the meantime, the friend who will be taking my extra cockerels will be giving me one of his Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks.

I was also able to find a little gem of a place in Elizabeth, WV, called MX Farms. They do ship, but because the place is so close, I just drove down. Their website is small, just one page--not much of a presence. I more or less found them via a fluke, just surfing.

However, the farm is nicely set up, and the man is obviously very proud of his birds. He not only has Cuckoo Marans, but also Black Marans and Birchen Marans, as well as some rarer colors like Salmon (which are not yet for sale) but which he's working on producing in numbers. The eggs are dark and beautiful, and his birds are laid back and friendly.

Marans are another French breed known for the color of their dark brown eggs, eggs the color of chocolate. The Cuckoo variety, which is the variety most often available here in the US, is striped with black and white.

What a nice experience, and what a pretty little bird I got. She flapped her wings a little when I picked her up, but settled right down, and snuggled with me nearly the whole way home. She seemed antsy towards the end of the journey, so I put her in the box we'd brought, where she promptly pooped and settled. I was surprised she didn't peep or squawk or cry. Perhaps she was too scared. She did pant a little.



There was no trauma in the introduction to my boys. They looked at each other rather interestedly, and then I distracted them with food--my Favs like to eat out of my hand. Then they were fine. She explored the brooder and took a nap. Now she's just as active as the boys, and was sleeping beside them when tired, drinking, eating, playing... seems to be one of the bunch. She eats out of my hand, too. I have been told that Faverolles are particularly easy to introduce new birds to, but you never know what to believe. I'm sure it would have been different if she was a cockerel, though. I think Marans can vary widely as to temperament, but the breeder I bought from breeds for temperament, and it shows.



My new baby is very pretty--I've named her Marguerite. All black and white and barred, she'll be like the pretty little upstairs maid, as compared to the poufed and powdered and bewigged Faverolles nobility. Although, truth be told, it's not as if we spent a lot of time picking out and chasing down just the right chick. The first pullet we pulled from the brooder was the right age, seemed sweet, and I was happy to take her.