Marans

Beautiful birds that lay large eggs. They can be aggressive words other hens.

We just started with chickens last year. 2 black copper marans, 1 splash maran, 1 ee roo, 1 maran/rir mix, and now 1 black/golden hamburg. I love the marans and would gladly get more. We got them from a local farm. Every time they see us outside they run to the front of the pen and start talking! always eager for those treats! They will eat right from our hand. I am still getting 1-3 eggs a day from my hens. During the arctic push we had they did stop, but have resumed. 2 of them continue to fly over the pen, so we will be netting it in the spring. They are very inquisitive. They are just a great, beautiful, all nice chicken to have!

I have had only one Marans and it oh boy was it a roo. He matured very fast and started crowing very loud at 3 months and he was very aggressive. It is not like that in every chicken though. But they were very pretty and friendly when they wanted to be.

I'll start by saying this is all my experience dealing with a trio and their offspring. My hens lay around 145-155 eggs a year which if your wanting eggs is not the best production numbers you can hope for. however my fertilization % is excellent at nearly 100% and my hatch rates are also near 100% between incubation and hen brooding. The hens are very good mothers and I cannot complain about their instincts. When it comes to the roos that is a different story. I've found mine to be very protective and stand-offish. He has never outright attacked me, which is probably why he is still with us, but he is very protective of his hens and offspring. My Marans never seem to fight each other but, will attack my other breeds if given the chance. My roo is so protective that he once took on a young hawk that flew down into their pen and nearly killed it . So this breed, I like, but may not be for everyone. When it comes to showing them, they are not for beginners. There are a lot of standards to get correct and the tiniest thing can DQ. But some people like a challenge. In short love my birds, just not some of their attitudes.

I have one black copper marans hen. She's a funny girl. Not friendly at all, in fact she runs in the opposite direction from us even when treats are involved. Hoping in time she will come around. She lays large, dark brown eggs (lighter though than you'd expect from a marans). Copper (hen's name) lays about 3x per week, approximately every other day with the occasional 2-3 day break. I don't think I'd invest in another Marans since I'm far more interested in egg production than a colorful egg basket. It is fun, however, to watch her race across the yard after the other hens. She's 2nd in the pecking order and feels the need to harass the other girls every now and then. She's also very proud of herself when she lays an egg and will "sing" for about an hour before and nearly 2 hours after laying. Funny chickie!

My French Black Copper Marans are very nice birds. My big Roo is such a nice boy, very good to the ladies and with my other 2 younger Roos as well. I adore his crowing and hearing him come, "THUD THUD THUDDING" across my wooden deck....he sounds like he weighs 100lbs LOL

I have 3 of these. My adult Blue Marans is one of the flightiest bird I have, and if I have to get ahold of her (at night is the only way) she flips out like I am killing her. I also bought 2 more for breeding and both of them from the very start have been bullies to the other chicks and bite me any time I have to handle them. I have around 30 breeds and the only ones with this type of personality have been the Marans and the Wyandottes. They are big, beautiful birds that lay lovely eggs - but definitely not one I'd get as a pet.

I had Rhode Island Reds for years and I liked them very much... but I wanted something different so I switched over to Black Copper Marans because of the beautiful dark eggs.. I have three Black and three Blues, from different strains, My Black Copper Rooster is very friendly and not as aggressive as the Rhode Island Red bird, But he is attentive to his hens and I like him alot. They will not lay eggs at the rate of a Rhode Island Red.... very few chickens do, however the eggs are beautiful. Marans eggs are rounder than alot of chickens, and they really make beautiful gifts for my wife and I to give our friends.I want to get more hens and improve my line... one of the things about the BC Marans is that you can breed them to try to match the French Standard as well as breed them to get the darkest eggs... my blue copper hens lay a beautiful caramel colored egg, sometimes with chocolate spots.... the Black Coppers lay a beautiful milk chocolate colored egg. The birds themselves are very vocal... they make different sounds from what my RIRs made... they are feather legged and I cannot wait to see my flock of fifteen or so hens and two roosters all on the green grass of my back yard. They are beautiful birds. The hens have copper in their necks but are otherwise jet black. I really like them and although they are not for everyone, I would recommend them. I think they probably do better in a larger flock of all the same birds... a mixed flock, they would probably suffer in comparison with more prolific layers. I have not had any go broody but if they do, they do. I intend to get enough birds that I always have a dozen or so to give to my neighbors or friends.

(Two years later). I now have 13 Black Copper hens and 2 Roosters. My eggs are gradually getting darker. (I gave away my Blue Coppers). In Spring..(starting soon now) I take the darkest eggs and put them in the incubator. This is my plan and I have been sticking with it and overall the percentage of darker eggs has gone up. Rooster breeding on the other hand is still a hit and miss proposition. I find these birds develop more white feathers as they get older. What was an all black bird or maybe just one white feather on the foot.... at two years old has a white underfluff and a white plume feather. So probably shouldn't have been breeding him to begin with but I did not know earlier and now have about 7 hens from him. It is a challenge to work on the rooster feathering as well as the egg color and I take comfort in the fact that at least the eggs are darker.
After having them for a couple of years now, I would say they are as easy to keep as Rhode Island Reds... not as game. I have had a couple go broody which I found handy as she never hatched anything but she did take good care of the chicks I gave her. I like these chickens and I am glad I have them. The flock looks good on the green lawn.

My cuckoos didn't start laying until almost 3 weeks after my speckled sussex, and my sussex are a week younger. Since they've been laying, I get about 5-6 eggs a week from each of the 3 and one of them gives me a double yolk egg 1 or 2 times a week. For my needs, this is perfect as it's only 2 of us and it gives us enough to share without being overwhelmed with eggs. We got chickens primarily as bug control and they have been awesome! I like the personality of my marans-friendly without being terribly pesky. I can handle them all easily and they come when they're called. Not skittish at all but not pushy either (my speckled sussex can tend towards being pushy about treats and pets). The eggs are absolutely lovely as you can see in this pic. They are even darker now that they've been laying longer. They're larger than the sussex eggs too. In all, I think these birds are a great addition to my flock and I really enjoy them.

I bought a Black Copper and a Wheaten hen from a breeder who felt these two didn't meet standards for her breed line so she was ok with me taking them for my backyard flock. They are both beautiful and sweet. The 2 Black Coppers I bought from a hatchery both had webbing in their toes so severe they looked like they had clubbed feet. This is a breeding fault that is related to the genes for feathered legs, and may have been allowed by the hatchery in their rush to put more Marans on the market. If I had noticed soon enough I could have cut the webbing to free the toes a bit more. I am not a breeder so I didn't care as long as they could walk and roost comfortably, which they can. My surprise has been how broody they have all been! Just after they started laying gorgeous chocolate eggs in the spring, they all went broody and could not be budged almost all summer! They finally got off the nests in time to molt. Geez! I hope they won't be quite so broody next year.

don't know why everyone says the roosters are aggresive unless mine are just different but they are right about the frostbite but i've only noticed it on my two roosters but this can be helped if you just put some vaseline on the comb and wattles but other than that they are good with the cold and the hens only slow down for a few weeks in the winter but don't completly shutoff. the hens are good layers and all mine lay every day except for maybe four of the twelve and they lay every other day. and what i like is that they don't go broody very often but someone else may not like that and when they do you just put them in isolation with food and water for a couple days and they will go back to laying (can't be said for my orpington hen who goes broody every other week and has to be "de-broodied" for another week). the only thing i don't like is they get hot and dehydrated in the summer before any of my other chickens but if you have access to sav-a-chik (basicly chicken gatorade) this helps alot and it's cheap. all in all they are good birds

In my limited and newly acquired experience with chickens, i got two sister Marans for eggs. I love how quiet they are, except for when they want out of the coop to free range which is IMMEDIATELY upon seeing me, or anyone else in the yard. Nice to look at, decent sized bird that makes an odd wail/cluck. No BWWAAAKKKK BAWK BAWK here, unlike heir saucy, ever complaining pal Henrietta the Rhode Island Red mix. Can't say they're trouble makers, as the elevated garden full of goodies has been as of yet untouched. Would love for them to pump out more eggs but i hear such is the nature of the bird. Greater yield per week=MOAR CHEEKINS. That's the only thing thus far stopping me from slapping them with a 5 star.

I hear the males can be ready to knuck.

Their cool eggs make me pause each time with the Marans Egg Colour Chart. Ethel consistently pops out none greater than a 5. After a sound talking to i digressed, as it is not her fault.

Masters of the stink eye. Might be all chickens, but mine like to flip their comb over one side so they can really psychically lambaste me for letting out the dog while they eat.

I have been raising these birds for 3 years. We have 1 cockerel, 4 hens, and 5 hatchlings. All of our birds are from high quality stock from an excellent breeder. The birds are highly-intelligent and can be precocious. They are very reliable layers. My cockerel is exceptionally affectionate and loves to cuddle and baby talk. Can't imagine a backyard without my little babies!

I have 3 pens of Marans, they are excellent quality, lay a dark egg, and winning at the shows this year in Florida...

I have 5 hens and 1 roo. These are pretty hens, personalities are not overly friendly, despite being hand reared. It took a LONG time to find a roo that wasn't aggressive as all get out. This one is generally OK but will still rush you every so often. I also don't like that they are consistent layers... they seem to lay every other or every third day... They go broody often, but aren't great moms. My eggs are also not as dark or a large as they say they should be, despite spending the money on good quality stock.

The hens lay beautiful eggs. Never owned a cuckoo hen, but I'm sure that they are a whole lot nicer than my roo.

The Marans is a breed of chicken that originated in France. It is a medium sized breed, well known across the U.S.A, and other countries, for it's beautiful, dark brown eggs, and fine meat. The Marans is also a popular breed for showing, and fancied by poultry breeders all over the world.

The Marans originated in France and were imported into the United Kingdom in the 1930's.

The Marans are a fine breed, being useful for meat, eggs, and showing. They can make good pets for children, and are highly prized for their dark eggs.

There are the 9 varieties of the Marans, recognized by the French Standard: Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo, Black, Birchen, Black Copper, Wheaton, Black-tailed Buff, White and Columbian.

If you want Marans that lay genuine dark eggs, a hatchery is not a good place to get your Marans, because they do not breed their Marans the way a reputable breeder would. A good place to get true Marans would be a reputable breeder. There are plenty of good breeders right here on BYC.

I hope this review has helped someone out there!

really really good all around farm bird.

I have a Bev Davis Line Cuckoo Maran. She lays a very pretty dark chocolate speckled eggs nearly every day. She is a little bit flighty but will occasionally eat from my hand. She is very friendly with the other birds but because of this she often gets bullied.

I love that it is the dead of winter and my Marans are laying.
I have been getting so many eggs that I started my hatching early this year.
when the birds come in @ night they let me pet them. There is nothing greater that hanging out in the coop @ dusk petting my Marans.
I really have been trying to only hatch the darker eggs to help the breed too so I am getting some very nice offspring.
I would like to thank,
Ray Valentine
for a HUGE jump on my flocks color and personality.
Thanx a MILLION Ray!!!