Grow Your Own Magazine

Has anyone had any of the chickens????
We are thinking of getting a few!

Hi Nicos,Years ago i had some,they laid a dark egg,were very laid back and docile.Nice birds.

Jilly - That sounds like good news!!

Health wise- were they just the same as most other hens???
Never had hens before, so you think they'd be a good breed to start off with??
Are the cockerels noisy or laid back ( got neighbours to consider)

....We are thinking about these for France...and will probably also get some ex-battery ( different variety) if we can find some .

I understand they lay lovely eggs and the meat is tasty ....

Yes to all that,the cockerals are all different,i had one we called him Mystro,he,d start crowing at two in the morning sometimes!Didnt last long im afraid.Didnt eat him though,took him to a friends house.Very healthy,but you must give them good conditions.Ex bats have no meat on them but the marans do.They are a french breed i think.Lovely birds.You may get a very quiet one if you find a good breeder,there are plenty about.Have fun.

I used to keep cuckoo marans. Great dual purpose birds. I posted a long waffle about them on the thread about 'laying birds or table birds' a short while ago.

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Thank you both!
We're waiting to see if we can buy a bit more land behind the house...fingers crossed!!!!

My cuckoo Marans cockerel has a lovely deep crow but he is a bit rubbish at looking after his hens - we expected him to defend the coop but when a pine marten attacked, he must have run away because he was one of the two that survived! He is doing his thing with the ladies though and I have some lovely chicks. I've never been able to get him tame enough to handle properly though, and although he doesn't attack me, I can't get hold of him without a landing net, to check for lice etc!

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Dwell simply ~ love richly