so i have rationalized that if i dont get the uber- expensive wheaten marans chicks i want, i can have more breeds/chicks, but i still want a darker egg layer- so can i see you barnevelder eggs, and you welsummer eggs? i would love you forever, and ever!!!
I have Cuckoo Marans and they lay a dark coffee, caramel colored eggs, some even have darker freckles on them. very pretty to look at.
just for comparison. I know you don't want these, but so you can see pics in the same thread. Copper Black Marans eggs. These are my darkest. My lightest lay RIR colored eggs. It's all a c r a p shoot with the marans I think. See them in with lighter marans eggs from pullets hatched at the same time from the same breeding pen. The two toward the front of the nest are CB marans eggs too. You would never know it if you saw them in the grocery store. That was her first couple of eggs. Now she is laying a shade darker with dark speckles all over them. Only slightly prettier, but at least an improvement. I am going to hatch some to see what color her pullets lay. She is in with a roo that hatched from a very dark egg.