Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[jshreck]

I just received my order from Meyers and think these are my two Blue Copper Marans. They're darker than I thought they would be (all the other chick pictures I've seen are more gray) They have fethered legs which is how I think I can tell them apart from my australorps and barred rock.

 

[estamets]

I just received my order from Meyers and think these are my two Blue Copper Marans. They're darker than I thought they would be (all the other chick pictures I've seen are more gray) They have fethered legs which is how I think I can tell them apart from my australorps and barred rock.

Blue does hatch 25% black... if you're really set on having blues, you should double check the hatchery's information to make sure they send blues that hatch blue, not just chicks that hatch from blue eggs.

 

[desertmarcy]

Blue does hatch 25% black... if you're really set on having blues, you should double check the hatchery's information to make sure they send blues that hatch blue, not just chicks that hatch from blue eggs.

Now you have me curious. Not that I'd order from a hatchery, just wanted to see what it says. Under the breed description, it states "Please note: The color blue in all poultry does not breed true!" So they could send black or splash or if you are lucky, blue!

 

[jshreck]

I do remember reading that so I'm not totally surprised they're dark. Any chance they will have coloring or will they be all black and nearly identical to the australorps? I was obviously hoping for blue but at the end of the day I really just wanted a dark brown egg layer- Marans all lay dark eggs, yes?

 

[estamets]

Marans all lay dark eggs, yes?

Yep!

 

[chickenman5024]

If they are coopers they will have cooper on their necks

And Marans can lay lighter eggs but they don't call them show quality unless they do lay dark eggs
Ps there is dark egg laying lines and light egg laying lines

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Ok. At what age can I tell if I'm going to have a good colored and shaped cockerel? I have about 6 black copper cockerels that are about 8 weeks old. One of them will be replacing my current rooster. Unfortunately, my current boy carries the recessive wheaten gene and so does my hen. Both will go. These chicks are not out of my own. I really don't want to have to raise them all to full maturity of I don't have to but I will if necessary.

 

[jonsccm]

I just received my order from Meyers and think these are my two Blue Copper Marans. They're darker than I thought they would be (all the other chick pictures I've seen are more gray) They have fethered legs which is how I think I can tell them apart from my australorps and barred rock.

They probably won't say this but I think they try to fill there orders with blue as much as possible. I had some blues from Meyer that I thought were black but matured to be a nice dark blue.
By the way if your looking for dark eggs Meyers BCMs have the darkest out of all their Marans. I was impressed with them coming from a hatchery. From what I have seen from the blues i was not as impressed. But they were pretty

 

[jshreck]

They probably won't say this but I think they try to fill there orders with blue as much as possible. I had some blues from Meyer that I thought were black but matured to be a nice dark blue.
By the way if your looking for dark eggs Meyers BCMs have the darkest out of all their Marans. I was impressed with them coming from a hatchery. From what I have seen from the blues i was not as impressed. But they were pretty

That is helpful, thank you so much! I can't wait to see what they grow up to look like and what their eggs will look like, you give me hope

 

[ladycat]

They probably won't say this but I think they try to fill there orders with blue as much as possible. I had some blues from Meyer that I thought were black but matured to be a nice dark blue.
By the way if your looking for dark eggs Meyers BCMs have the darkest out of all their Marans. I was impressed with them coming from a hatchery. From what I have seen from the blues i was not as impressed. But they were pretty

My BCM's from Meyer hatchery laid about #7 at their very darkest and lightened up quickly.

I've got truly dark egg BCM's now from private sources. Personally, I won't get BCM's from hatcheries any more.