The only way to know for sure is to get a Marans egg color chart, as monitors and cameras differ so greatly as well as lighting, etc. We always post egg photos with the chart in the photo near the egg(s) or put an egg behind the chart with a hole punched so the egg shows through the hole like this:I'm in need of a little help. Every year I buy chicks from people in Michigan who all have claimed their flock has Davis line or Jean line in them. Once the chicks grow up and start laying I can tell I was taken for a fool again. The eggs they lay are too light and I end up culling the flock. This is my 4th year of trying to find Marans that are actually Marans and not someone's poor excuse of the breed (meaning their eggs end up under a 4 on the color chart). I even ask for pictures of the flock and of the eggs they are hatching. The pictures the seller emails me are of really dark eggs. However, once the chicks I purchase from them start laying they are no where near the color in the pictures they sent me back in spring.
I am posting a picture of some eggs hoping someone could tell me where they stand on the color chart. I am hoping a couple of these hens are worth breeding because I am tired of the heartbreak of spending so much money on raising a bad flock. The top row are from my black sex link. The middle row are the Marans eggs the bottom are Easter Eggers. The 4th from the left is the egg color of past flocks that have all been culled but one hen. She is kept in with my Easter Eggers to create Olive Eggers each spring. Could someone tell me where each of these eggs are on the color chart numbering them from left to right? I need to know if its okay to breed this flock or if I should keep trying. I'm really hoping these are acceptable. Would you use them for breeding?
I forgot to add: These eggs were collected after the hens have been laying for 3 months.
This way anyone with the color chart will know that we are looking at the same color egg, no matter what they look like in the photo due to conditions, equipment, etc.