My Marans laying light tan eggs????

[JudyMcKinn]

I have 3 Marans Hens, who laid nice Chocolate colored eggs--well not the darkest, but certainly dark enough there was no question they were Maran eggs. Now, they are barely tan--wonder why? I know these are from my Marans, as I only have Americanas, and 3 Black Sumatras, besides my Marans. and I get 2 of these eggs pretty well every day, and the 3rd one is broody.
I feed regular egg pellets from the local feed store, and toss out the occasional couple cups of BOSS, and then the occasional cantelope rind, cut into pieces so everyone can grab a share. Occasional tomato, cucumber, etc, peelings. Any ideas?

 

[andischickenfarm]

Wow! I've never had a Maran, but I read alot of chicken books and I've never heard of that before. It might have been something they ate. But that should be it. Or they might be going broody?. I'm just not sure. How old are they?

Andi

 

[Critter Crazy]

How old are they?? I know hen egg will lighten as they get further along in age and their laying season.

 

[Picco]

The color of my wyandotte and EE eggs gets lighter as the laying season progresses. I have also noticed that the hotter it is the lighter my eggs are. There's really not much that you can do, diet has little to do with shell color. I'm not sure if temperature has anything to do with shell color but it seems to be that way for my hens so you may want to try to keep your hens nice and cool.

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like everyone is as puzzled as I am. They are about 16 or 18 months old. Nice big hens, quiet, and great personalities. Probably the friendliest of my flock of 22 in that pen. Plenty of room, 22 chickens in a 11 X 12 henhouse, with a pen about 22 ft by 60 ft. It's bare ground now, as you know how chickens kill all grass, but I do toss in hay for them to scratch in, besides treats occasionally.

 

[SunChick]

I have heard they lighten as they get older, but you may want to ask the dark egg layers group at yahoo groups. There are several people there that breed and handle marans. I have cuckoo marans too that are 12 weeks old, they really out grew all my other chicks and are nice pullets! Very calm, I would recommend them to anyone.