Light Marans eggs?

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qwigoqwaga

qwigoqwaga

Chirping
8 Years
Mar 2, 2015
43
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We recently got a Marans and we didn't think she was laying anything because we weren't getting any really dark eggs. But since we've been getting 4 eggs from 4 chickens multiple days over the past couple of weeks, it seems reasonable to conclude she's been laying some of the eggs we thought were from our Plymouth Rock.

Will her eggs ever likely get darker? And how can you tell a Plymouth Rock egg and a very light Marans egg apart?

Here's some of our recent eggs. I'm pretty sure the Plymouth Rock's are the three on the left. Could the three on the right (and possibly the middle one) be from a Marans?


For comparison, these I know are from the Plymouth Rock:


UPDATE:
Here's one I just got that I know is from the Marans
 
Last edited:
It is too hard to tell. They aren't likely to get any darker.
If breeders aren't selecting for the dark egg, that feature can be lost quickly.
I bought hatching eggs of 4 varieties of Marans from a breeder who claimed they were famous lines. Most were the color of yours and only one variety was dark at all and no where near as dark as my penedesenca eggs.
 
What variety of Marans is she and where did she come from?

the egg on the far right is just a touch lighter than my hatchery cuckoo Marans is laying right now. She's a spring 14 bird, and her eggs were a few shades darker her first laying cycle.

This time of year, what you see is pretty much what you're going to get. If she's a spring 15 bird and has been laying all winter, she's right in the middle of a laying cycle and her shade should be pretty consistent. If she's older, she may have laid darker eggs previously, but they're not going to get any darker now.
 
donrae said:
What variety of Marans is she and where did she come from?

the egg on the far right is just a touch lighter than my hatchery cuckoo Marans is laying right now. She's a spring 14 bird, and her eggs were a few shades darker her first laying cycle.

This time of year, what you see is pretty much what you're going to get. If she's a spring 15 bird and has been laying all winter, she's right in the middle of a laying cycle and her shade should be pretty consistent. If she's older, she may have laid darker eggs previously, but they're not going to get any darker now.
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure, I know she's a cuckoo Marans and we bought her from someone on BYC. She's probably January or February 2015. I know she was in lay when we got her, but I don't think she laid any eggs with us for a while (probably until she got settled in) until recently.

It's so hard to really capture the eggs' actual colors in pictures, but that one on the right is definitely bigger and a little darker and it's got a more definite shape (although our Plymouth Rock tends to vary quite a bit in egg shape), although the others I think are hers are more round.

 
Cuckoo Marans do tend to lay lighter eggs. At least mine did, especially compared to my black coppers. Mine came from a hatchery, but they were still a lot darker then what you're getting. This will sound odd, but, you could put a few drops of food coloring in her vent. When she lays her egg, it'll come out streaked with color. Much easier then staking out the coop all day waiting for her to do her business...
 

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