Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[OneMountainAcres]

My young Marans also lays an egg about that color. I was hoping for much darker. BUT for some reason, my Marans/brahma cross lays a beautiful dark egg. It's very odd lol

My first BCM egg... I think it looks lighter than what it should be? What do you think?

 

[DMRippy]

I swear I read on here that they get darker.

Shows you how much I know about Marans at this time.

I do think it is wishful thinking they will get darker. Mine have never gotten darker.

 

[One Chick Two]

I swear I read on here that they get darker.

Shows you how much I know about Marans at this time.

They don't always start off dark. I think it just depends on the birds/strain.

In our hens, the first few eggs after have always been always light, then, they suddenly get much darker, stay dark for a good amount of time before they cycle slightly lighter- but nowhere near as light as the first few eggs. They go through this process a few times during their laying time. This years's pullets are closely imitating their mothers. Light first few eggs, then dark.

Happy to say, even though a new roo was crossed in this year, we did not lose egg color which can happen sometimes, and most of the pullets are laying a bit darker than their mothers, and none lighter.

 

[ladycat]

They don't always start off dark. I think it just depends on the birds/strain.

It must depend on the strain. I have several strains of Marans. I've had some lay dark eggs from the first pullet egg. I've had some that started out light with varying amounts of speckles, and then darken up in the first few days of laying.

 

[Mike10]

Hey everyone I have posted before asking some questions, now I want to get some feedback on my birchen marans if there's seem to be anything That looks bad,weight,size.have one rooster and 2 hens. Only one is laying she started 2 weeks ago. I don't know how old they are so I do not know when the other might start laying.But here are the pictures.

Sorry I didn't get them too well. The top hen is the one laying. The other hen is in the middle do not know if you can kind of tell how old she may be compared to the other. Let me know what you think. Those are some of the eggs she's layer. The the set aside I want to collect to make some chicks. Any thoughts ideas on how to do that. Would like to know how to come about that as well thanks everyone sorry for the long post

 

[estamets]

Hey all! I'm considering adding a golden cuckoo or black copper to my small backyard flock (8-9 birds). Will you please tell me why I should or should not add this breed?

I'm in an urban setting, my birds free range about 75% of the time, but will spend up to 4 days at a time in the run when I'm traveling.
My priorities when adding new birds are:
1. heat hardiness (we're in Southern California)
2. low tendency to aggression with other birds
3. docility or friendliness with people
4. reasonably quiet
5. all the other things: nice to look at, pretty eggs, etc etc.

I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback!

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Hey everyone I have posted before asking some questions, now I want to get some feedback on my birchen marans if there's seem to be anything That looks bad,weight,size.have one rooster and 2 hens. Only one is laying she started 2 weeks ago. I don't know how old they are so I do not know when the other might start laying.But here are the pictures.







Sorry I didn't get them too well. The top hen is the one laying. The other hen is in the middle do not know if you can kind of tell how old she may be compared to the other. Let me know what you think. Those are some of the eggs she's layer. The the set aside I want to collect to make some chicks. Any thoughts ideas on how to do that. Would like to know how to come about that as well thanks everyone sorry for the long post

What pretty birds and eggs!

I don't think my Blue Copper's eggs are quite as dark:

 

[ChuskaMtns]

Hey everyone I have posted before asking some questions, now I want to get some feedback on my birchen marans if there's seem to be anything That looks bad,weight,size.have one rooster and 2 hens. Only one is laying she started 2 weeks ago. I don't know how old they are so I do not know when the other might start laying.But here are the pictures.

Sorry I didn't get them too well. The top hen is the one laying. The other hen is in the middle do not know if you can kind of tell how old she may be compared to the other. Let me know what you think. Those are some of the eggs she's layer. The the set aside I want to collect to make some chicks. Any thoughts ideas on how to do that. Would like to know how to come about that as well thanks everyone sorry for the long post

Nice looking Marans! As far as incubating the eggs, personally, I don't set pullet eggs as they tend to be on the small side. For a successful hatch a developing chick needs room to grow. Also, I place my eggs on a turner in a cool room & don't go more than 5 days after the lay date before setting in the incubator. Others may differ from my method but this is what has worked for me.

 

[Mike10]

Nice looking Marans! As far as incubating the eggs, personally, I don't set pullet eggs as they tend to be on the small side. For a successful hatch a developing chick needs room to grow. Also, I place my eggs on a turner in a cool room & don't go more than 5 days after the lay date before setting in the incubator. Others may differ from my method but this is what has worked for me.

Thanks for the reply. Yea I read no more than 5 days to 7 on the eggs waiting. But I'm not sure if I will use these I still need to buy an incubator. How long do they usually lay for before they stop.

 

[Mike10]

What pretty birds and eggs! I don't think my Blue Copper's eggs are quite as dark:

Thank you.! Yea but I've actually seen other maran eggs be darker. Hopefully I can breed more.