It just occurred to me that they can't be marans as you said the eggs were lighter in color. My guess is they are cochins or Cochin mixes. They do come in birchen, and Cochin eggs can vary from light to medium brown.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
They do look like cochins. Some of my bantam cochin roosters favor hens. It's fairly normal for the breed in general in my experiences with them.I inserted the pictures of the rooster and one of the hens.