Maran is a breed of chickens. Chickens of the Maran breed: breeding, content

Maran - a breed of chickens meat-egg direction with a very unusual exterior. This unpretentious bird can be kept both in the aviary and in free-range. The breeding of chickens of this breed, among other things, is quite a profitable business. How to take care of maranes correctly, read in this article.

Exterior Features

Maran is a breed of chicken, bred in France in 1895, in the city of the same name. These are large enough and pretty graceful birds. Their plumage can have a different color. In any case, most farmers find this breed very beautiful. The original exterior is one of the main reasons for its extraordinary popularity.

In farming, a bird of color "silver cuckoo", "black-copper maran", "golden cuckoo", wheat, white can be bred. The trunk of the chickens of this breed is high and horizontal. Since the plumage of the maranas is very dense to the skin, no excess fluff is formed. Pretty simple form of scallop with 5-7 denticles in chickens can hang on one side.

Rooster Maran is gaining weight up to 4 kg, chicken - up to three. The feathering differs in density, and therefore the birds tolerate winter very well. The eyes of the hens have an interesting red-orange color. A sign of the breed is also the presence of a feather on the thigh and on the outer claw. The legs of the maranas are mostly white. Sometimes they are covered with gray or dark spots.

"Easter eggs

As you can see, the bird is very beautiful. But this is not the only difference between the maran. Chickens, a description of the breed which was given above, among other things, also carry a lot of eggs. They are also unusual for maran. Their shell has a rich chocolate color. That's why in France the bird of this breed is called "chicken carrying Easter eggs". The reasons for this phenomenon are quite simple. Passing through the egg laying hen, the egg is covered with a layer of brown pigment. If you wipe the shell with a cloth, it will become a little pale.

As for the size, the eggs of the marans are quite large. Their weight can reach up to 100 g. The French believe that the eggs of chickens of this breed are never infected with salmonella. It's all about their very thick shell. If we talk about the taste, then the eggs of the marans are just excellent. This is another reason for the popularity of the breed.

The egg shell can be not only dark brown, but also have lighter shades. In general, maranas are very interesting and unusual chickens. The photos on this page confirm this fact more than convincingly.

Breeding of maranes

Eggs of chicken give quite a lot - up to 200 pieces per year. Of course, only under the condition of proper maintenance and feeding. In winter, in order to increase egg production, the bird should be provided with a 10-11 hour light regime. The air temperature in the shed should not fall below 15 degrees Celsius. For the withdrawal of chickens in spring, experts recommend selecting only eggs that have a chocolate color. It is believed that they can be obtained from individuals with pronounced signs of the breed. Some farmers leave the eggs under the layers, others use the incubator. The method of breeding has no principal significance. Although the second method is considered more convenient, but only because the use of the incubator allows you to leave the "free" chicken and, accordingly, get a little more eggs. However, with the hen to develop chickens will, of course, be better.

The shell of the maran eggs, as mentioned above, is very thick and strong. Therefore punching it to chickens is very difficult. To help them, in recent days before hatching in the incubator you need to increase the humidity (up to 75%). In this case, there will be no problems with the exit of babies.

Feeding of hatched chickens

As already mentioned, the maran - the breed of chickens is not too whimsical. To bring up healthy strong chickens will not be difficult. First they are given only boiled yolk and cottage cheese. From 3-4 days begin to accustom and to more rough food - finely crushed corn groats or millet. The first week of kids are fed 5-6 times a day, trying to give exactly as much food as they can eat. Cut eggs and cottage cheese pour every two hours. Up to 3 days of chickens should be fed at night. On the sixth day, a crushed shell and grated shell or ash are introduced into the diet. Ten days later the frequency of feeding is reduced to 6 times, and a little later - to four.

How to Feed Adult Chickens

In the diet of a one and a half week brood, it is already possible to add finely chopped nettle, carrot, alfalfa and clover. Before feeding the grass should be scalded with boiling water. With beets, it is advisable to wait until the month of age, as it weakens the digestive system. You can also give boiled potatoes, boiled meat and fish waste and shredded cake.

In drinking water 2-3 times a week you need to add manganese (very little, until you get a very pale pink color). Be sure to put in the shed a box of sand and fine gravel. Chicken their chickens of marans willingly enough, since solid particles contribute to better grinding food. Beginning with the fourth month the brood can be transferred to an adult diet.

Care for Marinated Chickens

So, the breed of the Maran ... Chickens (the description is presented at the beginning of the article), usually produce chickens usually of dark color. Care of the chicks of this breed - the procedure is also not too complicated. In the case of breeding in an incubator, immediately after hatching the chickens are kept in a box with a waffle towel covered with a bottom. The legs of 2-3-day-old babies are very weak. Textiles on the bottom will prevent them from sliding. On top, the box should be covered with a metal grill, with an incandescent bulb inserted between its bars. Its power can be changed depending on the temperature of the air in the room. The main thing is that the kids should be warm, and they would not get lost in the heap. The temperature of the air in the box in the first days should be kept at 30 ° C. Then it is reduced by 2 degrees per day.

At a week old or a little later, small maras can already begin to be taught to the street. To do this, they - right in the box - are taken to fresh air for several hours a day. A week later, you can transfer the chickens to the barn, taking home only at night. It is advisable from time to time to let them run around the yard. At the age of one month, the chicken can be transferred to the barn permanently. Issue them "for a walk" continue, but always under supervision. Some farmers simply plant grown chickens to some hen with their own brood. For a free-range poultry you can translate at two-three months old.

What should be a shed for maranov

Of course, the maran is a breed of chickens, which requires a special room for breeding. The shed is best constructed from a bar or made as a frame-panel. In such a hen house the bird will be warmer in winter. Its height should not exceed 1.8 m. It will also allow to save more heat in the cold season. An obligatory element of any chicken coop is a window leaf or a small window. For good development, the bird needs fresh air.

Of course, absolutely any chickens like to take a walk on the street (photos of maranes exploring the earth in search of worms can be seen above). Therefore, near the henhouse, you should definitely equip a walking yard. You can simply put around the perimeter of the pillars and cover it with a 1.5 meter wide rabbita. In the wall of the coop, adjoining the courtyard, a hole is made. In summer it is kept open, in winter they are covered with insulated shields. And in the hen house, and in the courtyard you need to fill the roosts.

The floor in the barn is best made wooden or adobe. It is allowed to pour it and concrete. Above the floors of the chicken coop prostrate with chopped straw and hay or sawdust. If the litter is very thick (up to 0.5 m), in winter the barn can not even be heated. In the hay or sawdust in this case, various microorganisms develop. As a result of their vital activity, the temperature inside the litter can rise to 30-35 degrees Celsius.

How to arrange nests

The breeding of laying hens as a business, and also only to meet the needs of only their families, is a procedure that requires the installation of sockets, nests, and feeding troughs in a convenient design. How to collect them correctly and where to place them? Nests hang over the nests in secluded places. Their bottom must necessarily be laid with hay. Five to six laying hens should have one nest. To the chickens was more convenient, the entrance should be made in size not less than 25x25 cm. The nest should have a height of 35 cm, and a width and depth - 30 cm. Before entering you need to build a shelf for take-off. The roof of the nest is usually made inclined (at an angle of 45 degrees). In this case, the hens do not sit in it constantly and do not stain the litter with litter.

What should be the roosts

The number and length of the roosts are calculated on the basis that each chicken requires about 20 cm of space. For their manufacture, poles with a diameter of about 6 cm are used. It is necessary to arrange the roosts from the side opposite to the window, at an altitude of about 1.2 m. This is necessary in order to provide the bird with comfortable take-off and to protect it from drafts.

Feeding of adult maras

Laying hens, the content of which - the procedure in any case is not too difficult, for a better egg laying should get enough feed. Maranam for good development should be given concentrated food and poultry. To prepare the latter is to equip two tables at once. One of them - a summer one - is installed outside the barn next to the wall. The second - the winter one - is inside it. Over the tables you can drive a nail for the thers.

Like all chickens, maranas belong to omnivorous birds with a short digestive tract. Two-thirds of their diet should consist of concentrated feed (grain, crushed stone). In addition to them, chickens are given a lot of greens, food waste, meat and fish meal, as well as various additives containing mineral substances. Of course, the breed of the Maran, like any other, will develop well and be carried only if the diet is sufficiently varied.

Feed these chickens usually three times a day. In the morning they give grain mixed with mixed fodder. In the afternoon - an hour in 3 - pouches are put in the feeding troughs. Their composition can be different. Kneading is done in a large basin. You can pour a little water on its bottom and soak pieces of white bread in it. Then add the bran, grated carrots, apples, potatoes, beets, zucchini, cut cabbage and nettles, etc. In the evening, you should pour the grains again into the trough. You need to give so much so that the marans eat everything completely.

Meat or fish meal should be added to the mash or grain. This will promote better egg production. Fishmeal can be replaced by boiled fish. This additive is usually cheaper.

Feeders

Lay hens, whose content on private farms involves, first of all, proper feeding, should receive food from containers of convenient design. Do the feeders are usually made of wood or sheet metal. The second option is preferable, since in this case the container will be easier to wash and disinfect. Below, it is worthwhile to fill the legs. In this case, you need to choose the correct length. It should be such that the feeder itself is at the height of the bird's back. In this case, the spread of the feed will be minimal.

Chickens of maranas (photo and description is on this page), like birds of any other breed, are very fond of climbing into the feeding troughs with their feet. Therefore, a spinner is placed on top of the grain container and the meat bottles. Such a device they do not allow. Produce a turntable from a thick pole, fixing it on two vertical bars in such a way that it rotates around its axis.

As a drinker can serve as a pot, a saucepan, a small bucket. In winter, the tank is poured into the litter. This will prevent freezing of water.

How to prepare a feed for maranes

The breeding of laying hens as a business, of course, requires the presence of permanent feed suppliers. In this case, the mixed feed is purchased ready. However, with the cultivation of maras, it's easier for them to make it cheaper and cheaper to cook on their own. Often, the purchase option is not too good quality and when purchased at retail is quite expensive. Therefore, many farmers prefer to do it themselves: four buckets of barley are taken in a bucket of oats and wheat. You can add a little pea to the mixture.

Ash baths for chickens

Farmers engaged in breeding maranes, it is advisable to put a box with ash or sand to them in the coop. These chickens love to "swim" in them. Such "baths" will not only bring pleasure to the bird, but will also be useful in the destruction of various kinds of parasites in the pen.

As you can see, the Maran breed really deserves the attention of our gardeners and farmers. These hens have a very good egg production. And they grow fast enough. At the same time, the taste qualities of both eggs and meat are just wonderful.