Welsummer and Marans, seeking insight!

[Raubkatze]

I would like to add Welsummer and Maran hens to my flock next year to add a little more color my egg offerings. What is the personality of these birds? Do they do okay in both extremes of weather? It gets pretty cold where I am (we can have wind chills in the negatives during the winter), but also pretty hot in the summer with heat indexes in the low 100s. This summer my EEs really struggled, and I am worried to see how everybody does in the upcoming winter. Would love to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly of both of these breeds!

 

[Amer]

Welsummer hens do well in both weather extremes but the males can suffer frostbite with their large combs.
In my opinion, Welsummer hens are a "chicken's chicken." They are very active foragers. They are calm, unruffled, and never flighty but they are aware of their surroundings and they are not friendly, they will mostly ignore you and live their own lives.
They are also probably our best layers.
As far as birds for laying, they are the ones I would recommend the most.

 

[Iluveggers]

I love our Welly!

She is strong but not a bully, curious and personable but not cuddly, alert and smart. One warning, I was told Welsummers are loud. Ours is loud in volume. Not necessarily chatty, but all alerts are much louder than the rest of my 20 something hens. If you need a quiet chicken in a neighborhood, Marans may be a better choice.

 

[eikome]

I added a Black Copper Marans and a Welsummer to my flock this year. They're only 22 weeks old pullets, so some of the behaviors I have seen might change as they mature.

Both handled our record breaking summer heat waves this summer just fine when my EEs were struggling (upstate NY, upper 90s, extreme humidity, heat indexes into the 110s). No experience with winter yet, but I'm assuming they will be just fine like my other hens, they seem pretty hardy.

My BCMarans is super duper loud when she's complaining, or wants my attention. She's middle of the pack, doesn't get picked on, doesn't chase or pick on others. She is shy of the older hens and gives them a wide berth. She's somewhat more shy of handling, but not excessively so. Just prefers not to be pet and held or cuddled. She tries to eat anything shiny. She loves to run around for funzies. I think she would prefer to be free range all the time if that were an option.

My Welsummer is an absolute sweetheart. Which is funny, because she was a shy chick that did NOT want to be held. Now that she's a pullet, she's really friendly, follows me around, first to hop up for snacks, lets me pet and preen her. She injured the tip of her beak a little while ago and she didn't care one bit about being hand fed or handled while I checked her over repeatedly. She's talkative in a quiet way, definitely not as loud as the BCMarans. She's close to the top of the flock, probably third in line. Gets along with everyone, doesn't chase the lower hens, isn't intimidated by the older hens. She's the hen I could stick with anybody to be a buddy. I do find that she's very alert to her surroundings. She's usually the first one to the door when she hears me coming.

I would recommend both breeds. I think the personality is really individual-chicken-dependent, but both have been generally nice, calm, friendly members of my flock so far. Good luck!