Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[MrsFitzDarcy]

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

Croquembouche has laid four of her first five days laying! So proud of her.

Today's egg with others from the flock:



Each egg has fewer speckles than the last. This one was almost solid.

 

[ChuskaMtns]

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.

Right now most of my girls are on strike! Actually they're going through molt & my roosters look like they lost in a fight. I have a hen going on 6 years old & I still get eggs from her occasionally & they have been fertile. I think a lot depends on genetics, feed, environment & other factors. I feed Renew Poultry feed, give them free access to crushed, baked eggshells & oyster shells, though the Renew has oyster shells in it as well. I also have my birds running around my property, with the breeds separated by fencing so they also get bugs & whatever else they catch. They do slow down on egg laying as they age but most of mine go strong until about 2 years old but there are always exceptions.

 

[Mike10]

Croquembouche has laid four of her first five days laying! So proud of her. Today's egg with others from the flock: Each egg has fewer speckles than the last. This one was almost solid.

Nice eggs. I wish I could get a couple a day. Lol I only have one laying. But the maran egg looks good. Yea I have had some with speckles and some without. 4 out of 5 days that is great.

 

[Mike10]

Right now most of my girls are on strike! Actually they're going through molt & my roosters look like they lost in a fight. I have a hen going on 6 years old & I still get eggs from her occasionally & they have been fertile. I think a lot depends on genetics, feed, environment & other factors. I feed Renew Poultry feed, give them free access to crushed, baked eggshells & oyster shells, though the Renew has oyster shells in it as well. I also have my birds running around my property, with the breeds separated by fencing so they also get bugs & whatever else they catch. They do slow down on egg laying as they age but most of mine go strong until about 2 years old but there are always exceptions.

I recently learned about the molting I don't want to see that lol I'm sure I'm going to freak out when I first start to see it. I feed them layer pellets from half moon which I will switch to the scratch and peck layer that is non gmo and organic here from Washington. Hopefully they will like it. I have my other chickens on it. They are in the grower and like it. I do give her some oyster shells as well from purina. They free range all day long around the yard. I do have them in a different coop than my other 5 growing ones and each have there own section and I have opened each doors and I've seen the big ones try to corner a small one, I ran over there and chased the big ones lol. But thank you for replying I love there's people on here to talk about chickens

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I recently learned about the molting I don't want to see that lol I'm sure I'm going to freak out when I first start to see it. I feed them layer pellets from half moon which I will switch to the scratch and peck layer that is non gmo and organic here from Washington. Hopefully they will like it. I have my other chickens on it. They are in the grower and like it. I do give her some oyster shells as well from purina. They free range all day long around the yard. I do have them in a different coop than my other 5 growing ones and each have there own section and I have opened each doors and I've seen the big ones try to corner a small one, I ran over there and chased the big ones lol. But thank you for replying I love there's people on here to talk about chickens

scratch and peck is wonderful feed! We actually started ours on it but it was way to much for us to ship it here to PA. Thankfully we found a semi-local organic mill to buy from. It's still a 3 hour drive for us but worth it. Your very lucky to have that feed so accessible.

 

[Chickens R Us]

Looking for opinions on my Marans and how close they are to standard. I am a first time Marans owner and I am not interested in showing, just like the dark eggs. My Marans are 6 mths. old.
Roo #1

From what I've read the BCM might have too heavy leg feathering there is a feather on second toe.

Roo #2 not very splashy but what do I know.


and now my hens.










This last one if it were not for the leg feathers I wouldn't be able to tell if it was my BCM or my BA.
Be honest I can take it. LOL
Good and bad points appreciated.

 

[Regin]

My Black Copper Marans Juveniles are pecking the feathers off of their feet and legs. I don't know if they pecked each others feathers or their own. The rest of their feathers are fine. I have two cockerels and one pullet.

 

[estamets]

Weird question... my friend and I have noticed that our Golden Cuckoos' crops don't fill up the same way that our other chicks' do. While the other chicks' crops get full and firm, the Marans' stay sort of small and squishy, though they are energetic, healthy, and eating well. Our birds are from the same stock.

I noticed this first because my girl had a bout of respiratory illness, and I was giving her antibiotics and tube fed her 3 times in 24 hours (she wasn't eating on her own). She started eating again, but I noticed that her crop still felt empty, even though she'd had her head stuck in the food bowl for 10 minutes!

Has anyone noticed this about their Marans?

 

[CliffB]

Can anyone help me is this a birchen Marans hen or a black copper Marans hen?

 

[DMRippy]

Can anyone help me is this a birchen Marans hen or a black copper Marans hen?

My guess is it is a pullet (hens are over a year old pullets are females under one year old) you can't tell birchens from coppers at this age. You will have to wait and see what she colors in with.