Could this be my BCM hens egg?

[TinyRaptorDodos]

I bought a black copper maran in the summer and she never laid despite being 2 years old, could this be her first egg? Trying to figure out for when I hatch

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

I love your nails! I don't think so. BCM eggs are normally a very dark brown. I don't think that that could be a BCM egg.

 

[Coops Dad]

BCMs can lay eggs that lightly colored, especially those from big hatcheries or chick mills that don't breed for particular qualities. Mine lay eggs that range from Lightly Creamed Coffee to Cadbury Milk Chocolate. They came from a chick mill that concentrated on quantity of baby chicks, not quality of adult chickens. OTOH, they were cheaper and faster than ordering from a decent hatchery, and I have immediate gratification issues- like Veruca Salt, I want it now. And the quality of the eggs is an avatar of my impatience.

 

[Percheron chick]

Probably is.
My hatchery BCM lay a rather disappointing shade of brown.

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

BCMs can lay eggs that lightly colored, especially those from big hatcheries or chick mills that don't breed for particular qualities. Mine lay eggs that range from Lightly Creamed Coffee to Cadbury Milk Chocolate. They came from a chick mill that concentrated on quantity of baby chicks, not quality of adult chickens. OTOH, they were cheaper and faster than ordering from a decent hatchery, and I have immediate gratification issues- like Veruca Salt, I want it now. And the quality of the eggs is an avatar of my impatience.

I got Mira from a swap meet breeder. They seemed like they knew what was going on, even banded the hens legs for ages. She hasn’t laid any eggs as far as I know and it’ll be a year since I got her around march i believe. I’m fine waiting for eggs I have 14/15 chickens and get 5-7 eggs a day. Surprisingly my silkie rooster has fertilized every single hens eggs besides pepper who hates roosters.
My eggs are very good when it’s warm enough for them to be out of the coop, dark orange and good shells

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

I love your nails! I don't think so. BCM eggs are normally a very dark brown. I don't think that that could be a BCM egg.

Thank you! I got them off Etsy . I didn’t think so either but if she’s older they could’ve lightened up a bit or if it’s just her in general she might lay not as dark eggs?

 

[3KillerBs]

If it's darker than your other breeds' eggs then probably.

If she came from a breeder it's possible that she was culled for laying too light an egg.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thank you! I got them off Etsy . I didn’t think so either but if she’s older they could’ve lightened up a bit or if it’s just her in general she might lay not as dark eggs?

The later you get into the laying cycle (closer to the molt) the lighter the eggs often become. But she hasn't been laying so that is not it.

Another of the myths you often read on here is the thought that every chicken of a specific breed is identical. That is not even close to true. Certain breeds should have certain traits, but "should" does not mean they do. If the person that selects which chickens get to mate and reproduce uses certain criteria they can enhance that trait. If they select the Marans that get to breed for dark egg shells, then the flock will generally lay dark eggs. If they do not use egg shell color as criteria, then over time the egg shell color can get pretty light.

Maybe they are looking at feather color, number or size of the eggs, body conformation, or other things instead of the color of the eggs.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Thank you! I got them off Etsy . I didn’t think so either but if she’s older they could’ve lightened up a bit or if it’s just her in general she might lay not as dark eggs?

Maybe!

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

BCMs can lay eggs that lightly colored, especially those from big hatcheries or chick mills that don't breed for particular qualities. Mine lay eggs that range from Lightly Creamed Coffee to Cadbury Milk Chocolate. They came from a chick mill that concentrated on quantity of baby chicks, not quality of adult chickens. OTOH, they were cheaper and faster than ordering from a decent hatchery, and I have immediate gratification issues- like Veruca Salt, I want it now. And the quality of the eggs is an avatar of my impatience.

Oh... I only have mixed breeds: 2 Black Australorp/Barred rock mixes, 1 RIR mix, and 1 Ameracuna mix... I don't have any BCM or any other breed, although they are certainly in my chicken wish list. Now I know!