Marans Sometimes lays lighter egg?

[Chicken_overlord]

I have two splash and blue marans hens. They are sisters and lay nice large, dark eggs. However, sometimes (I'm pretty sure its the blue hen, but not 100% positive), she will alternate between laying a plain brown egg and then go back to dark eggs. Is this normal? I know its not any of my BCM hens, so it has to be either the splash or the blue hen. It's so bizarre. I've attached a comparison picture of the dark eggs and the plain brown egg she sometimes lays. They're newer layers (within the last two months) so maybe she's popping out two in one day and the second egg is coming out light? Any ideas?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

My Marans eggs vary as well. Not sure I’ve seen them that light precisely. Is it possible one is laying the dark eggs and the other isn’t?

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

Normal, yes.

Brown eggs are a white eggshell with a brown "coat" painted on the outside.
Sometimes it's not applied evenly (speckles) or they'll gradually have less to apply to the egg through their laying season. A break can let them build up the paint again (like a moult, or winter break)

Not all Marans will have the famous chocolate browns they're known for. I mostly see that with show quality SOP birds, where they're selecting their best egg colors.

 

[Chicken_overlord]

My Marans eggs vary as well. Not sure I’ve seen them that light precisely. Is it possible one is laying the dark eggs and the other isn’t?

I'm pretty positive, though it is possible. Sometimes Ill find two dark eggs in the nest boxes that I know are from the two blue and splash girls and not my BCMs (my two BCMs lay smaller speckled pullet sized eggs, the blue and splash lay full sized large eggs). It also isn't the same as them going lighter as they lay. Its one day dark, next day plain brown, a couple of days later dark again. I could always separate them to be sure, but its hatching season and I don't want to throw one in with my silverudds blue rooster and be out a marans hen for a month. I might just have to bite the bullet and deal though because this mystery is driving me crazy!

 

[Chicken_overlord]

Normal, yes.

Brown eggs are a white eggshell with a brown "coat" painted on the outside.
Sometimes it's not applied evenly (speckles) or they'll gradually have less to apply to the egg through their laying season. A break can let them build up the paint again (like a moult, or winter break)

Not all Marans will have the famous chocolate browns they're known for. I mostly see that with show quality SOP birds, where they're selecting their best egg colors.

I know that not all marans lay those gorgeous dark eggs, I've had to get rid of a few hens that were laying lighter eggs even though they came from dark lines. Even the SOP birds can throw lighter layers. The wierd thing is that this hen just seems to be alternating between dark and light which is why I wonder if she is occasionally laying two eggs in a day, with most of the pigment going to the first egg laid. Ultimately, my only option may be to separate her and the splash hen to figure out who it is for sure and to see if she really is sometimes laying two a day. The timing just stinks with it being hatching season, I was just curious if anyone else had experienced something similar?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Let us know how it goes. I love Marans but I’m not focusing on them right now so I live vicariously through people who are. I have five of them but I’m not breeding them.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

I know that not all marans lay those gorgeous dark eggs, I've had to get rid of a few hens that were laying lighter eggs even though they came from dark lines. Even the SOP birds can throw lighter layers. The wierd thing is that this hen just seems to be alternating between dark and light which is why I wonder if she is occasionally laying two eggs in a day, with most of the pigment going to the first egg laid. Ultimately, my only option may be to separate her and the splash hen to figure out who it is for sure and to see if she really is sometimes laying two a day. The timing just stinks with it being hatching season, I was just curious if anyone else had experienced something similar?

Yes, I had a similar experience with my Marans pullets.

One Marans would randomly produce a tan egg with dark speckles (pictured)
Two Marans pullets had near indistinguishable eggs (size, weight, and shape) but their colors were different enough that I could tell them apart on regular days.

When these light eggs were produced, the two never had eggs on the same day.
Took weeks, if not months, to finally get the mystery light Marans egg with a regular Marans egg. And figured out who was responsible.

*edit - removed extra details

 

[Chicken_overlord]

Yes, I had a similar experience with my Marans pullets.

One Marans would randomly produce a tan egg with dark speckles (pictured)
Two Marans pullets had near indistinguishable eggs (size, weight, and shape) but their colors were different enough that I could tell them apart on regular days.

When these light eggs were produced, the two never had eggs on the same day.
Took weeks, if not months, to finally get the mystery light Marans egg with a regular Marans egg. And figured out who was responsible.

*edit - removed extra details

So interesting! Thank you for the info with your experience. I'm determined to figure out which one is responsible, I'm just reluctant to remove one from the marans flock, but I may need to. I can always use her to make splash olive eggers with my silverudds blue roo in the worst case scenario. Best case, she is just laying two eggs occasionally and is using all the pigment on the first. The latter is probably unlikely, but Ill hope thats the case, haha. We'll see.

 

[Chicken_overlord]

Let us know how it goes. I love Marans but I’m not focusing on them right now so I live vicariously through people who are. I have five of them but I’m not breeding them.

I will for sure! They're definitely fun. I free range mine every other day and its kinda hilariously funny how bad they are at it compared to my silverudds. They're a fun breed that I really enjoy. I'll post an update once I solve the mystery.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It generally takes about 25 hours to produce an egg, so I think it's highly unlikely any of your hens are laying two a day with any regularity. Occasionally it happens but it's very rare. More often if a hen ovulates twice in a day, she's having a reproductive issue (not good) and the second egg will be soft-shell, no shell or yolk only.