Black maran or black copper maran

Monke

In the Brooder
Jul 17, 2025
14
4
11
Hello, could someone please clarify if this pullet is a black maran or a black copper maran? The poultry farm I purchased it from claimed it was a black maran, but their hatchery that supplies them only has French black copper marans. Additionally, I’ve heard black copper marans are sometimesc mistakenly labeled as black marans because their feathers lack copper but are genetically identical. If it is indeed a black maran, will it lay the same dark-colored eggs, or will there be a difference? I would greatly appreciate any clarification on this matter. Thank you.


 
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I’ve only ever had Black Copper Marans, so I can’t speak on any genetic differences between the two, but if it is a Marans, it has the potential to lay dark brown eggs. The darkness of the egg depends on genetics, with some Marans having very dark brown all the way to more of an average/medium brown. I have a black copper Marans from the feed store that lays medium brown eggs, and a few Marans from a breeder that lay very dark eggs.

Usually the copper takes a little bit to show through on their neck feathers if they are female, and I have some that have very minimal copper feathering as well, so maybe in a while you will be able to see some copper if you have a black copper Marans.
 
The first 2 pictures are Black Copper Marans Roo & Pullet, the 3rd pic is the Pullet when she was 8 weeks? Her Copper feathers on her neck were just coming in. She also has blue, green & purple sheen to the feathers.
I don't see any Copper on your ladys neck. Not sure about the egg color, I would assume they would be the dark brown
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The first 2 pictures are Black Copper Marans Roo & Pullet, the 3rd pic is the Pullet when she was 8 weeks? Her Copper feathers on her neck were just coming in. She also has blue, green & purple sheen to the feathers.
I don't see any Copper on your ladys neck. Not sure about the egg color, I would assume they would be the dark brown
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I think my pullet might be a black copper maran that just isnt colored. Or maybe like Country Birds said the copper markings will come in later because this pullet did come from a hatchery which only sells black copper marans.

Anyhow i dont really care if its a black copper maran or a black maran, ive just heard that black marans dont have eggs as dark as their copper counterparts? If so and my pullet ends up being a black maran it would be a bit disappointing.
 
Anyhow i dont really care if its a black copper maran or a black maran, ive just heard that black marans dont have eggs as dark as their copper counterparts? If so and my pullet ends up being a black maran it would be a bit disappointing.
I'm not an expert on this breed, but I don't think this is true. Each Maran hen can lay a slight variance, for example you can have 3 black marans and their eggs should all be a darker brown but might not be the same color. Typically there's a range of chocolate brown that Maran's can lay, just like any other breed also lays a range of egg colors (except maybe white egg layers).

I've noticed that several hatcheries will post on the breed page the range of coloration to expect from each of their breeds. Maybe see if your hatchery offers that so you can know for sure, or wait until the first eggs pop out, which is the truest way of knowing. :)
 

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