sewingkitty1170
Chirping
- May 4, 2021
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The Marans, or French, Poule de Marans, is a French breed of chicken from the port town of Marans, in the département of Charente-Maitime, in the Poitou-Charentes region of western France. It was created with the local feral chickens descended from fighting game chickens carried from Indonesia and India. Those original Marandaise fowl were "improved" for the table through crossing with imported Croad Langshans. A favourite at poultry shows, it became a dual purpose breed known both for its extremely dark brown eggs and fine meat qualities.
Marans are generally quiet and docile; but they are quite active, taking well to free ranging in rough terrain and are also tough and disease-resistant. Their gentle temperaments and quiet demeanor makes them ideal for suburban backyard chicken keepers, as well as any assorted farm flock as they rarely bully smaller breeds. Marans are historically a dual-purpose bird, prized not only for their dark eggs but for their table qualities as well. Though the original Marans could also be feather legged birds, British breeders preferred the clean legged version, and thus feathered legged Marans are now mainly found in France. The Australian Poultry Standard recognises both feathered and clean-legged birds, while the Marans Club of America only recognises feather-legged birds.
Details:
Purpose: Dual purpose
Egg laying: 150-200 dark brown eggs annually
Weight: Cocks - 7.5-8.8lb; Hen - 5.5-6.0lb
Colours/Varieties: There are 9 recognized colours in the French Standard: Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo, Black, Birchen, Black Copper, Wheaten, Black-tailed Buff, White and Columbian. Black Copper (black with copper feathers on the neck) and Cuckoo (barred feathers, giving a black and white speckled appearance) are the most common of these. Other colors not officially recognized (such as Blue Copper, Blue, and Splash) also exist.
Pic by @cpartist
Pic by @haTHOR
Pic by @TurkeyMountainChick
Pic by @ChaboEmelie
Pic by @cpartist
BYC Breed Reviews:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/marans
BYC Breed Discussions:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/444381/black-copper-marans-discussion-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/383387/marans-thread-breed-discussion-pictures-are-welcome/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/630671/cuckoo-marans/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/426622/wheaten-and-blue-wheaten-marans-discussion-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697180/birchen-marans-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/738772/blue-copper-and-splash-copper-marans-discussion/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...copper-marans-thread-breeding-to-the-sop/0_30
Do you own Marans? Are you a Maran breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:
· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!
We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/
This is my first time with Marans. I have one golden and one cuckoo, then three olive eggers which are mixed with an Americana. My chicks are hilarious and are SUPER active! Their favorite thing to do is run FULL SPEED and then fly to wherever they are going!
