Marans

Marans
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64 reviews
97% Positive Reviews
Rated #17 in Chicken Breeds
Pros:
“Deep, Rich, Chocolate-Colored Eggs, Sweet, Beautiful”
“pretty eggs”
Cons:
“Roosters Can Be Aggressive, Some Variants Don't Lay Very Chocolate-Colored Eggs ”
“inconsistant layers, mean roosters!”
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Member Reviews

Posted
By Chickenfan4life

Pros: Deep, Rich, Chocolate-Colored Eggs, Sweet, Beautiful

Cons: Roosters Can Be Aggressive, Some Variants Don't Lay Very Chocolate-Colored Eggs

The Marans is a breed of chicken that originated in France. It is a medium sized breed, well known across the U.S.A, and other countries, for it's beautiful, dark brown eggs, and fine meat. The Marans is also a popular breed for showing, and fancied by poultry breeders all over the world. 

 

The Marans originated in France and were imported into the United Kingdom in the 1930's. 

 

The Marans are a fine breed, being useful for meat, eggs, and showing. They can make good pets for children, and are highly prized for their dark eggs. 

 

There are the 9 varieties of the Marans, recognized by the French Standard: Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo, Black, Birchen, Black Copper, Wheaton, Black-tailed Buff, White and Columbian.

 

If you want Marans that lay genuine dark eggs, a hatchery is not a good place to get your Marans, because they do not breed their Marans the way a reputable breeder would. A good place to get true Marans would be a reputable breeder. There are plenty of good breeders right here on BYC. 

 

I hope this review has helped someone out there! yippiechickie.gif

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Posted
By leggomyegg0

Pros: pretty eggs

Cons: inconsistant layers, mean roosters!

I have 5 hens and 1 roo. These are pretty hens, personalities are not overly friendly, despite being hand reared. It took a LONG time to find a roo that wasn't aggressive as all get out. This one is generally OK but will still rush you every so often. I also don't like that they are consistent layers... they seem to lay every other or every third day... They go broody often, but aren't great moms. My eggs are also not as dark or a large as they say they should be, despite spending the money on good quality stock.

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Posted
By Charm1704

Pros: My Roosters are sweethearts, never aggressive, my eggs are dark in color, my hens lay very well now that they are mature.

Cons: NO CONS...

I have 3 pens of Marans, they are excellent quality, lay a dark egg, and winning at the shows this year in Florida...celebrate.gif

website:  http://indainoaksfancyfeathers.webs.com/    Charm1704

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Posted
By midasmychicken

Pros: beatiful eggs

Cons: my roo was mean

The hens lay beautiful eggs. Never owned a cuckoo hen, but I'm sure that they are a whole lot nicer than my roo.
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Posted
By MicheleC

Pros: Beautiful Dark Eggs, calm and sweet birds

Cons: Not heavy layers, but the eggs are worth the wait

Just started with some from a local breeder and hatched a few from a BYC seller. They are the sweetest I have raised. Even the two Roos I have are incredibly docile. I have tried several breeds, this is one I'll be sticking with!big_smile.png
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Posted
By juststruttin

Pros: Dark Eggs

Cons: Broody, poor winter layer, eggs hard to hatch

I am not a huge Marans fan.  I tried them  because I was entranced by the egg color but am not impressed.  Yes, the eggs are super dark and gorgeous by my birds are often broody and I have not seen an egg since end of Oct and its now the middle of Jan.  I  will not be getting any more.   When I compare them to my Welsummers, 

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Posted
By mandelyn

Pros: Good layers, large birds, good feed conversion, friendly, sane

Cons: Can't think of any cons!

I have 1 Splash, 1 Blue, and 1 Wheaten Marans from 2 sources. All 3 are great layers, calm and a friendly birds. They do ok in heat and excellent in cold. My goal is to have one hen in every available color since they're just great all-around birds.

 

You don't have to be very hands on in taming them, they're just naturally calm birds.

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Posted
By ChickChickee

Pros: Relatively consistent layers, decent sized egg, rich brown/reddish egg, gets along with other hens, quiet

Cons: Not daily layers, firstly suspicious then curious, doesn't like to be cooped

In my limited and newly acquired experience with chickens, i got two sister Marans for eggs. I love how quiet they are, except for when they want out of the coop to free range which is IMMEDIATELY upon seeing me, or anyone else in the yard. Nice to look at, decent sized bird that makes an odd wail/cluck. No BWWAAAKKKK BAWK BAWK here, unlike heir saucy, ever complaining pal Henrietta the Rhode Island Red mix. Can't say they're trouble makers, as the elevated garden full of goodies has been as of yet untouched. Would love for them to pump out more eggs but i hear such is the nature of the bird. Greater yield per week=MOAR CHEEKINS. That's the only thing thus far stopping me from slapping them with a 5 star.

 

I hear the males can be ready to knuck.

 

Their cool eggs make me pause each time with the Marans Egg Colour Chart. Ethel consistently pops out none greater than a 5. After a sound talking to i digressed, as it is not her fault.

 

Masters of the stink eye. Might be all chickens, but mine like to flip their comb over one side so they can really psychically lambaste me for letting out the dog while they eat. 

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Posted
By CloverdaleFarms

Pros: Loving, Intelligent, Bold, Prolific layers

Cons: None really. Due to their intelligence and persistence, probably not the best birds for beginners.

I have been raising these birds for 3 years.  We have 1 cockerel, 4 hens, and 5 hatchlings.  All of our birds are from high quality stock from an excellent breeder.  The birds are highly-intelligent and can be precocious.  They are very reliable layers.  My cockerel is exceptionally affectionate and loves to cuddle and baby talk.  Can't imagine a backyard without my little babies!

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Facts and Details

Marans
Description:

Marans are not yet recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA) despite their increasing popularity; however, a standard has been submitted and we are in the process of acquiring the APA-mandated number of show entries in order to be accepted. Marans (there is always an "s" on the end - even if you are speaking of an individual bird) were developed in France and are known for their famous chocolate brown egg. The shanks are feathered in the French variety and clean in the English variety. Marans are known for their beautiful egg color, and are not considered a true Marans unless they can lay a #4 or better at some point of the laying cycle according to the Marans Egg Colour scale (http://marans-club.club.fr/echllang.htm). Egg color typically will be the darkest at the beginning of the laying cycle, and will then lighten up through the cycle. It is thought that dark egg color is passed down by the rooster; thus, having hens that will typically lay a #4 on the Marans Egg Colour Scale with a rooster that was hatched from a much darker egg will result in the offspring laying somewhere between the color of egg produced by the hens and the egg the rooster hatched from. Don’t buy Marans without verification that the flock can produce #4 eggs. This does not mean that every egg produced will be #4, but that the flock has demonstrated that they can produce #4 eggs. Reputable breeders will have many pictures of their eggs, and most will send an egg shell sample upon request. **actually some types of marans have been accepted by the APA. Wheaten Marans are one**

Details:
DetailValue
Breed PurposeDual Purpose
CombSingle
BroodinessAverage
Climate ToleranceCold
Egg ProductivityMedium
Egg SizeLarge
Egg ColorDark Brown
Breed TemperamentFriendly,Easily handled,Docile
Breed Colors/VarietiesSilver Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo, White, Copper Black, Black, Wheaten, Black-tailed Buff, and Ermine. MANY colors in development!
Breed SizeLarge Fowl
APA/ABA Class
Models:
Model Name/TypeMPNEAN/UPC
Links:
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Guide: Marans

Chicken Breed Info:

Breed Purpose: Dual Purpose
Comb: Single
Broodiness: Average
Climate Tolerance: Cold

General Egg Info:

Egg Productivity: Medium
Egg Size: Large
Egg Color: Dark Brown

Breed Temperament:

Friendly,Easily handled,Docile

Breed Colors / Varieties:

Silver Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo, White, Copper Black, Black, Wheaten, Black-tailed Buff, and Ermine. MANY colors in development!

Breed Details:

I have found Marans to truly be a pleasure to raise. They are quite regal in appearance, and are "easy keepers." And, you just can't beat those gorgeous, dark, reddish-brown eggs!

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