black copper marans or barnevelders or welsummers?????

[kittykorat]

I'd get one of each! How lucky you are to have a breeder of all three breeds nearby! Where are you located? I just asked a similar question.. looking for some dark eggers myself, but in a suburban area- no roos, only 1/4 acre

 

[amazondoc]

DON'T get one of each. Get at least TWO of each.

 

[tls_ranch]

Quote:
My Barnevelders are not flighty at all. As adults they are calm and quiet. As chicks they can be pretty spunky in the brooder, but I call that good reflexes. Mine love to forage and I haven't lost a single one to hawks.

Barnevelders do need work to darken the egg color, but the eggs are very pretty not to mention how pretty good barnevelders are.

Here is an example of Barnevelder egg color. I will be selecting the darkest eggs to hatch and hope to improve the color.

 

[lizrndiver]

Well I went with kittkorat and Illia and I got some of each.

I ended up with:

2 Barnevelders
3 Welsummers
2 Black Copper Marans
2 Wheaten Marans (with feathered feet)
2 Blue Marans
3 Buff Sussex
2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes (one light and one dark)
and a gorgeous Buff Sussex rooster (10 months old).

I am loving them so far. The roo seems mellow but watchful. He hisssed at my son once, but has otherwise just stayed out of the way.

I got 10 eggs today. I can tell the Sussex (creamy) and the Wyandotte eggs (light brown), but I'm having trouble figuring out my dark eggs.

I have reddish brown eggs with very fine brown speckles evenly over the entire egg.

I have reddish brown eggs with no speckles.

I have reddish brown eggs with large uneven dark speckles.

And.....I had an egg yesterday that was dark brown with dark brown speckles and the wood shavings smeared the color (no picture...we ate it for breakfast)

Any ideas of general breed?

Here are some pictures...they look a little lighter in the pictures than in real life, but they are not as dark as the smeary egg from yesterday.

Thanks,

Liz