Marans eggs on ebay....

[Katy]

Here are my eggs...the first photo are from my wheatens, the second from my cuckoos. I think between the two of us Krys and I have probably hatched enough eggs that you can believe what we've got to say on hatching dark eggs.

 

[Krys109uk]

Or, maybe it's limited to a particular line or two. I don't know

I'm not suggesting that they, you, or anyone else is lying. I've heard the same thing about Marans eggs in general. If there are particular weaknesses, I think, as you say, it must be in particular lines; there is no other logical reason that copper blacks with dark eggs would be any more difficult to hatch than other Marans. If it is a trouble of certain lines I'd suggest outcrossing to a different line, killing any weak birds & leaving chicks which cannot hatch on their own.​

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I'm not suggesting that they, you, or anyone else is lying. I've heard the same thing about Marans eggs in general. If there are particular weaknesses, I think, as you say, it must be in particular lines; there is no other logical reason that copper blacks with dark eggs would be any more difficult to hatch than other Marans. If it is a trouble of certain lines I'd suggest outcrossing to a different line, killing any weak birds & leaving chicks which cannot hatch on their own.

It would make sense that there may be some issues with the birds themselves since it seems that once the BCs became the fad bird that they did I don't think there's been a lot of care taken by a lot of people in what kind of birds they allowed to breed and the sale of those eggs and chicks. Too many people wanted in on those big prices people were willing to pay.

 

[amazondoc]

The general idea is that very dark eggs have more pigment laid down on the egg surface, and that this decreases oxygen exchange. Therefore, supposedly, decreasing humidity in the incubator and/or sanding off a patch of pigment over the air cell is supposed to help with hatching.

I have hatched dark wheaten eggs, but I have never incubated black copper eggs so I can't comment from personal experience with them.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

The problem with the Marans is an ongoing one, people wanted dark eggs, dark eggs went for high dollar, everybody got Marans, bred only for darkest shell color.

Then a proposed "standard" came up and was put before the APA. Shows were held and low and behold the birds didn't match the standard. The color is all over the board etc etc. Another show was scheduled then cancled. Last I saw it's 2011 before another qualifing show is planned, that shows you how far off the birds are.

Now it's all about conformation and watch the shell color suffer. If you want dark egg layers buy them now unless some breeders keep breeding them that way.

Another big problem with the birds is most of the lines of Marans have all been mixed. there are very very few pure lines left. There is only one Cuckoo line left to my knoweldge that is still pure. BC's are in about the same state.

In our experience marans eggs (Cuckoo and BC) are not hard to hatch at all - we have very high hatch rates from ours, I think the problem stems from shipped eggs, inbreeding.

Steve in NC

 

[McSpin]

Quote:
I've heard that along with the fact that certain lines have very thick, hard shells. Add it all together and the hatch-rate goes down. I've heard this from some pretty big-name breeders who supposedly are very good at what they do and at the cutting edge with the degree of darkness on their eggs - much darker than the photos shown in the last few posts. I know that I personally wouldn't even consider buying 6 hatching eggs of this breed on eggs as dark as those shown in the auction. I would be buying chicks.

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
Speaking of which, I CAN attest from personal experience that dark wheaten eggs have thicker, tougher shells from the several other breeds I've hatched. I'm a real softie when it comes to opening up the shells of chicks that have trouble hatching, and I've definitely noticed that dark Marans eggs are harder to drill into than, say, Delawares or other breeds.

 

[Cara]

It may have something to do with the ethics of those selling particular breeds too. If they're out to make a quick buck, BCMs are the way to go and they probably don't care how old the eggs are or how healthy their birds are.

 

[Krys109uk]

The general idea is that very dark eggs have more pigment laid down on the egg surface, and that this decreases oxygen exchange. Therefore, supposedly, decreasing humidity in the incubator and/or sanding off a patch of pigment over the air cell is supposed to help with hatching.

I've heard that too & from well known breeders. I can't imagine many French farmers going to that much trouble to hatch their marans, most of which are copper blacks & I'm not about to start either.

With mine they either hatch or they don't. I do find eggs from certain hens seem to hatch less well than others, have more dead in shell &/or weak chicks. No particular correlation with shell colour. I never "help" chicks, always kill weak chicks, generally, stop hatching from a bird which produces them & don't breed from her offspring.​

 

[greathorse]

I dont know this seller from anyone and the eggs may be as dark as represented and the birds may be awesome, I dont know. On the other hand I simply cannot give any credit to a breeder that uses a showmanship ribbon to market their birds as prize winning. It is a marketing plan that obviously targets the ill informed and I frankly find it offensive.

I wouldnt bid on those eggs if they were 30 cents each. Just sayin