Marans are good layers of nice, chocolate (real dark brown) eggs, however since the numbers you can have are so limited, I would suggest Black Sex Link (Black Star) pullets. They are RIR roo x BR hen hybrids that can be sexed by color at hatching (boys are black with a white spot on top of the head, girls are solid black). They are readily available from hatcheries, hardy, friendly, and (for your purposes) egg laying machines that will give almost double the amount of eggs you will get from Marans. I've had Black Sex Links for quite a while and frequently get over 300 eggs per year from them. Whatever kind of chickens you end up getting, good luck with your flocks.
