black copper marans egg color

[RIR0BCM]

actually i just saw a picture of a light BCM egg and i think its normal
link for the site :

http://www.darkbrowneggs.info/

see this too

http://www.darkbrowneggs.info/#/egg-colour-comparison/4543372454

i have one of my marans eggs and im comparing it to the pictures on the internet... the egg on this site looks just like the one im holding
i guess its normal for a marans to lay light eggs afterall

what do you think ???

 

[sashanellie]

Interesting...that site makes it seem like the really super dark brown eggs are rare to come by.

 

[RIR0BCM]

i think in some areas it is rare but not very rare overall ...
i see a lot of chicken keepers have BCM hens that lay really dark eggs ...
and they are not breeders they only raise chickens for eggs

 

[dekel18042]

I recently added 2 black copper marans and 1 splash marans to my flock, and so far, one girl started laying. She has laid (lain?) 4 perfect (but very small) MEDIUM BROWN eggs. Will the eggs get darker? They are not marans chocolate colored as I had expected. Also, will they get bigger? They are almost as small as my guinea hen eggs!
thanks!

Speaking from experience only, the eggs of most layers get larger as the hen ages. My only exception has been one Easter egger whose first eggs were all double yolkers so they were big. Felt sorry for the hen. Then after seven eggs she went to normal eggs and they got smaller. Now she is 15 monts old and they have gotten much bigger. They equal an extra large store bought egg.
I don't think any of my dark layers (splash, black copper and welsumer eggs have gotten darker with time. Usually as a hen lays her clutch out, the color tends to lighten.
I'm happy with my black copper and welsumer eggs. The blue splash eggs are lighter, but still darker than my other brown eggs. I don't have any myself but I know several who do, and no one says cuckoo marans lay anywhere near a dark egg. Some can distinguish their cuckoo mrans eggs because they are speckled, others can't.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Egg color is just like any other feature that breeders select for -- dark egg color is a goal, but that goal won't be reached in every individual. In flocks that are very advanced, you might see most, but probably not all, pullets laying the color egg they've been selected to lay. In flocks that are in a new breeding program, you might only see a small percentage of hens lay dark chocolate eggs. Laying a light egg doesn't mean that she's not a purebred. It just means that she's not a purebred that has reached a breeder's final goal.

 

[sashanellie]

Thanks for all of the information! When my other Black and my cream Splash start laying, I look forward to comparing them all!

 

[RIR0BCM]

very informative !!! thank you !!
i think you are right i know alot of breeders who keepbuying marans and when the hens lay the first -light- egg they sell them off and buy more from a different breeder .......

knowing that purebred marans can lay light eggs is a relief !!!! thanks alot

 

[Spartan22]

yep that's what i heard 
this is her first laying season do you think she would lay darker eggs next season or as she gets older ?

My black copper Marans just started laying eggs few weeks ago which are a lil bit early. I bought 4 of them as chicks from 2 hours away and they're quite pricey. They were from Bev Davis line (I think there were 2 very reputable blood lines breeder in U.S.) the other is wade jean.
I kind of tried to research on this since I really want the dark chocolate brown eggs to convince my wife lol. Anyways one turned out to be a roo, crowing @12wks, love to keep him but I can't so gave it to a friend. One turned to be blue Marans and 2 are the real black ones. The black ones layed darker brown, and the blue a shade lighter. I think according to the Marans egg chart, at least it's on 7 or 8 and the blue on 6.
When they layed their first few eggs they are on reddish side and got darker as they lay the latter. Here's the photos of mine for comparison.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote: Did I miss it? From left to right, which eggs came from which hens?

 

[Spartan22]

All the ones on the far right are from my RIR and barred rocks and leghorns while middle and far left are all Marans, the slightly lighter are from blue Marans. I just put them side by side for comparison.