Maran colors & eggs?

[MomMommyMamma]

There is a local person offering some coocoo maran hens. Do all marans lay the dark brown eggs reguardless of their feather color? We have some French Black Copper Marans in the bator right now but I'm new to marans. When I searched for images on Google I get what looks a lot like barred rocks - is this correct? Not sure since Google notes "related search: barred rock). Any one have a pic of a coocoo they can post?
I've never purchased grown birds before - does $10 for a 6 mo. old hen sound fair?
Thank you so much!

 

[Katy]

A lot depends on the line that you get. If they're from a hatchery they probably won't lay much darker than a normal brown egg layer. I had a line that laid very dark eggs, but they were one of the breeding flocks I sold.....stupid, stupid, stupid. Cuckoo Marans look similar to a BR, but their barring is much messier looking.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

The best thing going for the Cuckoo's is they aren't all that popular and haven't been mixed and matched as much as the other types. Like Katy said I haven't heard any good things about hatchery Cuckoo's either. It pays to do some research and see what you are getting, ask to see the eggs that they are laying now. That will tell you alot. The longer they lay the lighter in color the eggs will get. $10 is a very good price for a bird from a good line if it's mixed or doesn't have good shell color then not.

Steve

 

[Illia]

I believe the fact that they spelled it CooCoo Marans says they're hatchery stock, and lay terrible egg color.

 

[MomMommyMamma]

Quote:
Yes, I've considered this myself. I used the spelling she used in my post. I've asked her for pics of the eggs. She's local so I can also ask to see the eggs when I go. Cuckoo is the correct spelling - right?

 

[Illia]

Yep. But, honestly, I've seen very few breeders online, even, who have good Cuckoo eggs. I believe Katy showed me a pic of her previous Cuckoo's eggs, and those were nice.

 

[MomMommyMamma]

I'm mainly interested in these birds as a sort of compromise with one of my sons. He wants Barred Rocks, I do not. I want the darker eggs. So I thought this might be a way to get darker eggs and a "cool looking" chicken.

 

[ChooksChick]

I have seen eggs from a bird supposedly from some special thing from Ideal (or was it Meyer?), which was a decent looking clean-legged bird, and I was quite surprised at the rich dark color. You may end up with reasonable birds/eggs if you go this route- there's really no telling.

 

[wolftracks]

Cuckoo's were my first Maranas. They were easier to get and my first were from a hatchery. They were nice and brown, but when I got the better quality birds they were so much darker.

See if the breeder knows the lines and then maybe a Cuckoo Marans breeder and they could answer the questions about wheather those lines produce a darker egg.

I loved my Cuckoos. I have FBCMs now and actually have separate lines of them. But I think when I finally have the room I need I'm going to add some Cuckoos to my flock. I like their personalities and they were fun to grow up. Plus it's so much easier to color sex them at an early age. There are some Bev Davis birds out there. I know the guy my husband bought my FBCMs from have a flock of them. He hatches out lots of chicks every spring and he mentioned ordering some more also.

Maybe ask this lady first if they are hatchery chicks and then go from there.

 

[wolftracks]

Quote:
You want a BR I'll send you this hen I have. I'm thinking of boxing her up in a few minutes and taking her and a game hen to the auction today. Both are just too mean. The BR actually killed my only Wheaten Marans pullet. Never been a fan of BRs and even my Don who was and in her new home still is the best layer I ever had, but man what an attitude.