Marans

I have had cuckoo, black copper and wheaten marans. The cuckoo is my favorite. She seems short legged, but is incredibly quick on her feet. She has been a very good broody - only goes broody once in the summer, and when she does she sees things through. The Black Coppers are larger and lay those gorgeous dark eggs but lack the cuckoo's vigor and intelligence. Their persona is more stately. They too make good mothers. Both types have laid well when they are laying.

I love my marans. The marans are a regal bird with the most beautiful eggs I've ever seen! I am just entranced by these gorgeous eggs! Plus the eggs are better tasting than any other egg I've ever tried! Creamier. I scoffed at this statement before I tried them but I am a believer now (my husband can't taste the difference, however he can't tell a store egg from a fresh one).

About half my hens do go broody (not at the same time luckily) but I like that and they are not the best choice if you want a hen that is a heavy egg producer (I average 3 a week from ea hen). I do get eggs in the winter but it definitely does slow down. Their coop is insulated (gets below zero here) and I do provide some supplemental light in winter.

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,

We couldn't ask for more from our Marans. Some began laying as early as 5 1/2 months and they lay beautiful chocolate colored eggs. They are also one of the quietest chickens we own.

I was finally able to obtain Marans this past year. The chocolate eggs are amazing. The roosters are Gentle Giants. They come in many colors. The large combs can be a problem for frostbite. There are some with leg feathering and some without. It is frustrating that there are different versions of standards. For me as long as they keep laying darker and darker eggs I don't see how looks matter as much if the color of the egg is what originally defined the breed.
The roosters are gentle with the hens and the hens are dedicated layers. Haven't had a problem with any going broody (yet).

Buddy the Birchen Marans says Hello. (he currently lost his tail in a coyote attack he escaped from, 3 other birds were not as lucky)

I really like my roo he is just the perfect size and he is such a nice polite boy of course he is at that point in his life right now were he has to guard his girls so he has attacked me a few times now but I am working on making sure he knows I am the boss not him. But otherwise I really enjoy this guy )

My birds are FBCM and lay beautiful dark brown eggs. They don't lay like my production breeds in that they don't lay very often during the winter months but when those eggs start rolling in they are absolutely beautiful and customers LOVE THEM!

As far as personalities go, they seem a little curious and really don't cause any kind of a ruckus. They mind their own business most all of the time and are really quite. Now when I say that, i am referring to the hens. My roo was straight from the pits of hell.He was VERY aggressive..flogged my wife at every given chance and crowed constantly. Since I live in a rural area, the crowing wasnt a problem..the flogging was! Note that I said "was".

Beautiful dark eggs! Calm, friendly. Wish they laid more than 3 eggs a week!

I have Black and Blue Coppers. I love these guys but they are not necessarily the easiest birds to raise/keep. I had rapid growth issues with my first hatch (leg problems) but yet they wait until 31 weeks plus to start laying. Plus, because the breed is so new - LOTS of variation in what comes out of the egg. But I am going to stick with them.

Bought assorted chicks from tractor supply in 2010. One of them was a Maran hen. Beautiful bird! Great layer but at the time you really coudlnt do anything with them except eat the eggs. So I had to sell her.

I loved my Marans. While they didn't lay as much as my Australorps, they did have good personalities and were very nice to look at.

A roo I handraised and hatched myself was the best rooster I've ever owned. I still miss my Ashi and regret selling him, but he was simply too big for some of my little hens.




I don't currently have any Marans, but I want some again!

Our Marans are good and predictable layers, although they slow significantly in winter. They are calm and mostly quiet, but are sort of standoffish and not as friendly as some of our other breeds.

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.

My BCM hens have a lot of character and are fun to watch interact with nature. They produce dark colored eggs and do so every other day. They like to voice their opinion and won't hesitate to know other chickens out of the way for meal time - including the roo. My BCM roo doesn't like anyone messing with his hens and will attack just about anybody that appears to be a threat... he knows not to mess with me though as I am the Alpha! However, because he is aggressive it ensures that the flock is well protected. I would imagine there are less aggressive BCM roo's as roo's tend to bring on a character entirely of their own regardless of breed.

I first tried my hand at Marans with shipped eggs and had dreadful results. Of 24 eggs I had only 1 live chick, and it was not a Wheaten Marans as it had been sold. The next attempt was slightly better with three of 12 hatching. Unfortunately, the pullet never laid before mysteriously wasting away. My luck in 2011 improved markedly- 7/12 hatched out of eggs obtained from a different source, I found a breeder shipping live chicks, and had good luck with yet another source of hatched eggs with 4/4 hatching. I've now got a breeding flock of 5 hens (who are laying-yes!!!) and three cockerels to choose from. The most recent hatchlings are 1 cockerel and 3 pullets. The cockerel has good leg feathering and may prove himself to be my foundation sire when at last I can hatch MY OWN WHEATEN MARANS!