Marans tend to have mostly white meat (a lot of breeds have dark meat thighs, Marans have white meat thighs), they have thick skin which makes for a very juicy baked bird. Not prone to globby fat deposits. Structure wise, those bred to a more efficient layer look may be more narrow/lean in their body type, those bred more true to standard will have a shorter body length and increased width.
I've found them to be really nice dual purpose birds, productive layers with spare roosters meaty enough to invite to dinner at 5-6 months old.
I had two boys to pick from, here is the one I kept. His comb could be better, a couple of extra red feathers on the black chest, what I liked was his width and body structure, good attitude too.
This is the one who came to dinner, taller/leaner and built more narrow. Flogged me twice. White feathers hidden in the wing and leg feathering. Extra bumps on the side of his comb. Did I mention he flogged me?
We've dramatically reduced the number of breeds we were working with, down to the Marans in 3 colors, Bresse, and two projects I'm working on. Coming into my 3rd generation of Marans, starting to get them where I want them!
This is the Blue Birchen fella who graduated from the Bachelor pen for next year's breeder pen, 5 months old here.
