French Maran Comparison

[PedalThumper]

I am trying to decide between 3 varieties of french marans- french cuckoo maran, french black maran, and french black copper maran.
My main question is are the eggs all the same color? I want the really dark brown eggs.
I understand there is a difference between maran and french maran and these three are all listed as french (cackle hatchery).
Please advise!

 

[chrissynemetz]

I believe the Black Copper Marans lays the darkest ones.

 

[chrissynemetz]

Oh, and the French variety have feathered feet

 

[Folly's place]

The clean legged cuckoo Marans tend to produce lighter colored eggs, at least from hatcheries. The French Marans do much better! I have Cackle's French Marans, and they lay nice dark eggs. probably the black copper birds produce the darkest eggs though.
Mary

 

[PedalThumper]

The clean legged cuckoo Marans tend to produce lighter colored eggs, at least from hatcheries. The French Marans do much better! I have Cackle's French Marans, and they lay nice dark eggs. probably the black copper birds produce the darkest eggs though.
Mary

okay, thanks!!

 

[aart]

I am trying to decide between 3 varieties of french marans- french cuckoo maran, french black maran, and french black copper maran.
My main question is are the eggs all the same color? I want the really dark brown eggs.
I understand there is a difference between maran and french maran and these three are all listed as french (cackle hatchery).
Please advise!

Usually 'French' means the SOP in France which demands they have feathered legs/feet.
I'd watch the 'names' for these carefully...marketing can put some twists on things.

If you want really dark eggs, you're gonna have to pay by finding a breeder who breeds for them. Otherwise it's crap shoot, especially with hatchery birds.

 

[aart]

probably the black copper birds produce the darkest eggs though.

Funny tho, the eggs shown for them are not really 'dark'.
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/french-black-copper-marans.html

 

[Folly's place]

Mine are pretty good, not nearly black though. And they lay a reasonable number of eggs. Selecting for the darkest eggs is done by some breeders, not all, and birds producing those very dark eggs may produce fewer eggs too.
If using a private breeder, ask what their goals are. Excellent production? Show winners? Very dark eggs? Selecting for one of these traits is easier than trying for all of them! Some breeders focused on SQ, for example, might ignore egg production and quality.
Mary

 

[mandelyn]

In looking at hatchery birds for Marans, pick your favorite feather color since the egg color won't be really dark. Some might be sort-of dark.

They're only called "French" in France, here in the US they're just "Marans". Though some seem to use the French designation to differentiate between feather legged and non-feather footed like the UK birds.

No one variety lays darker than another, unless a breeder specifically bred for it. I've been working with Marans for 3 years and I get about 1/2-1 shade darker each generation. Those really dark eggs you see in pictures are from selective breeding and a dozen hatching eggs in those darker shades would set you back a pretty penny.

Because of those dark eggs and the prices they pull, it's more difficult to get decent good stock than it is to come by some poorly bred birds. In the variety there's a lot of inconsistency and not enough culling. Too many crossed lines. When you take one good line and cross it into another, you open up recessive traits and lose egg color.

If you're after those dark eggs you'll want to buy from a breeder that has been working on it without losing the integrity of the other breed traits.

The hatcheries may be compounding the problem by using sneaky wording with hybrids. "Midnight Marans" for example, are not a pure Marans variety.

The Marans are a really neat variety but they've been subjected to fad production for awhile now, making it harder to get good ones.

This is the color of eggs I started with from birds we bought through Greenfire Farms, in their "Birchen" variety. Which is really Blue/Black/Splash Silver.

The eggs in front are where I'm at now with them, 3 generations later.

I'm also having to work on feather quality, tails, combs, color... as a breed there are a lot of "features" to work at improving. I have not crossed in another line, so that I don't lose what I've worked towards. Every year they get a little better.

To see those improvements I have to hatch and raise a LOT to find those worth keeping. We're dual purpose though so we have a need of the extra boys. This line has proven to be meatier than most. I had some Black Copper in 2 different lines and I sold them on for being built too lean and not making a good table bird. Their egg color wasn't any better than the Silvers.

To answer your question though, no, the eggs are not all the same color from one variety to the next, OR from one bloodline to the next in the same variety. They'll vary quite widely.

When it comes to Marans, pick your favorite feather color, get the best ones you can afford, evaluate the physical type for breeding quality and ONLY put the darkest eggs in the incubator. Repeat every season and eventually you'll get consistently darker eggs coming out of decent birds.

Or just get them for fun and don't have high hopes for super dark eggs. That's a lot easier.

 

[Mimi13]

All three of my BCMs are of hatchery stock, Meyers to be specific. I am very happy with the egg colors I’m getting.

My oldest BCM, Molly, is almost 2. She went broody in December 2018 and made a wonderful young broody. So this time last year she wasn’t laying, BUT she is certainly laying some beautiful eggs now, IMO. Hers are the 3 around to the right. The other egg pictured on the left is from one of my two BCM pullets, Agatha, a little lighter w/speckles.

Pictures 2-4 (same egg) show what Agatha was laying to begin with. I was afraid she was going to be a dud, but her eggs are getting better. Effie, my molting BCM, lays decently dark eggs.

These two pics are showing the same BCM eggs as the 1st picture, just in different lights, inside and outside.