Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[donrae]

Hi folks, not sure if there's anyone from Southern Oregon hanging out here. I'm looking for a Marans cockerel or cock. I prefer a blue or blue copper, but will consider a black or black copper. I have a group of mature black and black copper hens that are reasonably nice, I just need a good male to put over them. I really like blue birds so would give preference to a blue, but would be open to a nice correct black with good dark egger lines. PM me if you have someone who needs a good breeding home

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[Corazon Ranch]

So what I'm reading here (and I admit that I have not read all 5048 pages of the thread) is that not all Maran hens will lay a chocolate egg? I am planning my spring chicks and I was thinking of getting some Cuckoo Marans for real eye-catching egg display at the market. Would anyone hazard a guess as to what the average color is? Or what the odds are of getting chocolate eggs?

When I first started raising chickens I was all about personality, but now I am all about the eggs!

I appreciate y'all's experience with this breed.

Thanks!

 

[XxMingirlxX]

So what I'm reading here (and I admit that I have not read all 5048 pages of the thread) is that not all Maran hens will lay a chocolate egg? I am planning my spring chicks and I was thinking of getting some Cuckoo Marans for real eye-catching egg display at the market. Would anyone hazard a guess as to what the average color is? Or what the odds are of getting chocolate eggs?

When I first started raising chickens I was all about personality, but now I am all about the eggs!

I appreciate y'all's experience with this breed.

Thanks!

It depends the type of Marans and where you get them from. Black coppers lay the darkest egg on average and Wheatens lay the lightest on average. If you get them from a hatchery you have a one in a thousand chance of getting a good egg colour. If you buy from a breeder, you will be able to see their results first hand and will get darker eggs.

 

[scflock]

So what I'm reading here (and I admit that I have not read all 5048 pages of the thread) is that not all Maran hens will lay a chocolate egg? I am planning my spring chicks and I was thinking of getting some Cuckoo Marans for real eye-catching egg display at the market. Would anyone hazard a guess as to what the average color is? Or what the odds are of getting chocolate eggs?

When I first started raising chickens I was all about personality, but now I am all about the eggs!

I appreciate y'all's experience with this breed.

Thanks!

I love my cuckoos, they are my favorite all around birds of all of my breeds, but they are not dark egg layers. If egg color is your main concern, you need to look for black coppers, blue coppers, or Welsummers. I have no experience with Welsummers, but both my black coppers and cuckoo marans are excellent birds. The hens are docile, and the roosters are protective without being aggressive, but cuckoo are known for having the lightest eggs of all the marans.




The top carton are some of my best black copper eggs.
The bottom carton, the top 4 eggs are black coppers, the next two are cuckoos, and the rest are EEs and hybrid layers

 

[chixmaidservice]

Thank you Cockatrice....after looking at the partridge Cochins, you are totally correct.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Thank you Cockatrice....after looking at the partridge Cochins, you are totally correct.

Glad to be of help!

 

[donrae]

If the chart will paste correctly.....okay, I'm not savvy enough to know why I can't paste an image. but just google Marans egg color chart and you'll see what I was referring to.

My cuckoos from Ideal lay about a 3 on the above chart. It does vary some, and one came back stronger colored after she went broody and molted and took a nice break to recharge.

My black coppers of unknown breeding are laying about a 5, but they're also hitting their fourth year. I just bought them last fall, but from the pics of when they were first year layers they were hitting a 6 or 7.

 

[scflock]

If the chart will paste correctly.....okay, I'm not savvy enough to know why I can't paste an image. but just google Marans egg color chart and you'll see what I was referring to.

My cuckoos from Ideal lay about a 3 on the above chart. It does vary some, and one came back stronger colored after she went broody and molted and took a nice break to recharge.

My black coppers of unknown breeding are laying about a 5, but they're also hitting their fourth year. I just bought them last fall, but from the pics of when they were first year layers they were hitting a 6 or 7.

If it's not a 4 or darker, the bird is no longer considered a marans. My cuckoos were from Cackle, and barely lay a 4, rare 5, some 3s. I think hatchery cuckoo marans have been mixed with barred rocks over the years

 

[donrae]

Thanks for the image!

I assumed the hatchery cuckoos had been mixed with Leghorns at some point to boost production. It's my theory that most hatchery birds have some Leghorn a ways back. Nothing to back that up but my own thinks

. But my hatchery cuckoos are so much lighter bodied than my breeder black copper ladies it would be easy to imagine. And, the lighter colored eggs. They are pretty decent layers, though, so that's something.

I do hate to see folks buying hatchery Cuckoos and looking for nice chocolate eggs. Mine do stand out from my other brown eggers, but not like the black coppers do.

 

[scflock]

Thanks for the image!

I assumed the hatchery cuckoos had been mixed with Leghorns at some point to boost production. It's my theory that most hatchery birds have some Leghorn a ways back. Nothing to back that up but my own thinks

. But my hatchery cuckoos are so much lighter bodied than my breeder black copper ladies it would be easy to imagine. And, the lighter colored eggs. They are pretty decent layers, though, so that's something.

I do hate to see folks buying hatchery Cuckoos and looking for nice chocolate eggs. Mine do stand out from my other brown eggers, but not like the black coppers do.

I sell black coppers and cuckoos, and I make very sure that anyone wanting to buy cuckoos understand that my cuckoos are hatchery stock, and do not lay the chocolate eggs. That's how I wound up with cuckoos in the first place. I ordered them from a hatchery that called them "The chocolate egg layers" before I learned the difference. It took me 2 years to get quality black coppers (that was another mistake). I absolutely love my cuckoos, and that rooster is the best rooster I have ever owned. They are great producers of jumbo eggs, but not the "chocolate" layers that people think all marans are. They are one of my best sellers, but my customers know that if they want the chocolate eggs, they need to buy BCM.
My advice for anyone wanting a flock of well bred birds that will lay dark eggs is to order from a breeder, not a hatchery. Yes, most have minimum orders, and if you only want hens you have to have a plan for the roosters, but breeder chicks aren't that much more expensive than hatchery chicks, and the quality is much, much better.