Breeds for REALLY DARK brown eggs?

Marans ("cuckoo" colored especially) are well known for their dark eggshells. And McMurray does have them, http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/cuckoo_maran.html but straight run only.

I have two Cuckoo pullets and they are incredible birds -feathered out beautifully and are the largest of all my various breeds at 8 weeks. Can't wait for those "chocolate" eggs!

Good luck in your search!

Barnevelders, Welsummers, Marans, Penedesenca, and Empordanesas all lay very dark brown eggs. The last two breeds are very rare but the others can be found with a little looking. Egg color is genetic an not all birds from these breeds lay very dark eggs. If you want really dark layers it would be best to find a good breeder who breeds for quality rather than quantity. A lot of these breeders sell hatching eggs, chicks, or adults at higher prices but I personally think the price is worth it to get quality stock. I'll give you  list of breeders I've found or people on BYC have suggested.

www.reddirtchickenranch.com - marans in a few colors, reasonable prices and very helpful. I just ordered wyandotte chicks that should arrive in June.

www.bevsmarans.com - the best marans breeder I've found. Seems to have great birds but she has a long waiting list.

www.landoftobe.com - has marans

www.mothermastiff.com - has all the breeds listed except for barnevelders. Seems to have very good birds but is a bit pricey.

Barnevelders seem to be be hard to find but ideal hatchery has them, although they are sold out until next month.

I found this website to be helpful when I was trying to find out which chickens layed brown eggs, green eggs, etc.

The ICYouSee Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

Awe shoot,
I bought some Marans last spring, but they're not laying yet.  I was hoping for a picture comparing them to the usual brown egg.  I'm curious how dark their going to be.  My customers really like the mixture of colors we have so far (white, light brown, medium brown, and green), so I'm really hoping for some dark eggs.

From what I'm reading, I guess Marans  can lay a variety of colors.  The url below shows I nice layout of various shades that all come from the same breed.

http://marans-club.chez-alice.fr/echllang.htm#echelle

Bump

Looking for suppliers or BYC'ers that have Marans pullets or other breeds of dark brown eggs. I'd like to get them from someone other than Murray and/or eBay.

Thanks!

http://marans.org/

  http://maransofamericaclub.com/statement.php

http://marans.forumotion.net/

Here are a few places to start looking............

And of course on here as well http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/383387/marans-thread-breed-discussion-pictures-are-welcome     

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlheran 

Marans ("cuckoo" colored especially) are well known for their dark eggshells. And McMurray does have them, http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/cuckoo_maran.html but straight run only.

I have two Cuckoo pullets and they are incredible birds -feathered out beautifully and are the largest of all my various breeds at 8 weeks. Can't wait for those "chocolate" eggs!

Good luck in your search!

I'm sorry but I just have to chime in and say Cuckoo Marans especially have the palest egg color of all Marans colors, and Hatcheries offer the poorest for dark egg laying stock of all people.

The best most people get is a sweet-potato colored egg in most cases.

The darkest egg in my avatar comes from the darkest average, the Black Coppers, and in fact came from a breeder here on BYC.