Disappointed in eggs

[halo]

Im not sure where to put this.

I ordered some black Copper marans eggs off of eBay. Someone recommended a certain seller to me, and the price was right, so I thought Id try some.

They arrived today, and Im very disappointed. Theres maybe 2 in there that are worth incubating; the rest are light brown. I dont even think I want to bother with them.

Have you ever gotten eggs that you were so disappointed with that you didnt even incubate them?

 

[chkinut]

yes! i just received 14 silkie eggs....8 of which had displaced air sacs (pretty badly displaced) and a lot of them were porous. i stuck em' all in....they're on day 2. i'm just gonna hope for the best. but i suppose your situation is a bit different. you're disappointed cuz the eggs r light brown and you want the nice dark eggs. that would upset me too. i have a 2 day old chick that's a silver cuckoo marans that came with an order of 8 other chicks (mostly EE). i sure do hope she lays the nice dark browns. but from what i've read, if u buy from a hatchery, they most likely will NOT have the deep browns. oh well....gotta wait and see.

 

[muddyhorse]

last weekend I bought eggs at a local auction. he had 10 cartons in a stack. the top two cartons looked good so I bid. I paid 2.50 a dozen for the most poop/mud/chunks of whoknows what coved eggs ever

silver penciled wynadottes and lf gold laced cochins. at the same auction I bought a hovaboator with turner for $10 that works and I won $35 in the 50/50 drawing so I guess I came out OK the eggs are in the new used bator I wouldn't put them in with my eggs. the auctioneer bought some of the eggs too and was furious when he saw his eggs. He took the guy aside and said something to him.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

I'm certainly no expert, but from what I understand, Marans egg color decreases in intensity over time, so the birds COULD be older birds that laid your hatching eggs. I don't think the color of the hatching egg is NECESSARILY an indicator of bird quality. You might try posting with the word "Marans" in the title under a different topic (maybe incubating and hatching eggs) and the Marans-raising people will find you more easily.

I've got 7 Marans eggs in the bator myself in a wide array of brown colors!

Good luck!

 

[chkinut]

Quote:
oh yeah! i forgot about that! ur right! but isn't it just a decrease in color during the season?....for example, the eggs get lighter the closer it gets to the molt? and then when they start laying again....the color is dark again? but i wonder if it's the same with the age of the bird too? interesting!

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
oh yeah! i forgot about that! ur right! but isn't it just a decrease in color during the season?....for example, the eggs get lighter the closer it gets to the molt? and then when they start laying again....the color is dark again? but i wonder if it's the same with the age of the bird too? interesting!

Here's a link to Bev Davis' website where she talks about Marans egg color: http://www.bevsmarans.com/about_bev's_marans.htm

 

[pinkchick]

Halo~

Egg color does and can lighten up during the lay cycles and I believe age can effect it as well. What matters is that a some point in her lifetime that she lay an egg atleast one that is a 4 or darker to be considered a Marans. I have and I will incubate eggs that color on occasion especially if the bird that lays them has excellent body type, comb, disposition, eye color, good leg feathering or some other very exceptional quality that I would like to breed into the offspring, but she must have at one time given me an egg of a 4 or darker. I have a 11 mos. old BC pullet that gave me fabulous eggs, a 7 by the MCC chart when she started laying last year, by Feb of this year her egg was a 4 then she went broody. I am patiently waiting for her to lay again after being an incubator. I'm hoping she will resume laying the darker eggs that she produced at first after her little rest.
I know I'm not much help huh?

Instead of tossing them and being out the money that you spent you can always incubate them as sell them as regular old layers and re-coop a few of the $$ that you shelled out.

 

[littledel]

My problem is I bought a couple of bc marans pullets from a person, and one of the pullets has started to lay and the eggs are a light brown. Like maybe a 2 on the color chart. The last couple are a shade better, between a 2-3, but this does not seem to be the right phase to me. The second pullet has not layed yet, but since they both came from the same person, I am not holding out much hope. I am worried that these pullets will never lay the dark eggs I am wanting. So I have started searching for more better quality bc's. My goal is to have about 6 pullets to go with my roo. Now, my roo is a really nice one that I got from a friend. He is of the French standard and a very proud young bird. Can't wait to get some really nice hens in with him.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Quote:
Hey I would say something to the person that recommened them to you

 

[longranger]

Everybody and their grandmother got involved with Marans over the past several years. The quality of both the birds and the color of the eggs they produce varies greatly but an egg with a color score of 2 or weak 3 should not be sold as a Marans hatching egg IMO, even if the hen started laying with a few 4s or 5s.

If you want to get into marans right now purchase from one of the many sellers with hard earned sterling reputations. More expensive yes. In this case you usually will get what you pay for.