Wheat Marans color of egg question

[Promiselandfarm]

Are the wheat marans eggs the dark chocolate color as the other marans? Which coloration of maran lay the darkest eggs? I really like the looks of the wheat marans but not really for the hens they almost look like the don't match as a pair. Anyway could someone who is up on Marans please inform me as to which coloration lays what types of colors of eggs. I know dark brown/chocolate but which are darker...Thanks

 

[Katy]

My cuckoos lay darker than my blues. My wheatens aren't old enough to lay yet, but they came from eggs not as dark as my cuckoos lay.

 

[drom]

A lot of the breeders will tell you that the Black Copper lay the darkest and the French Marans club web site also states that. But as Katy mentions, her Cuckoos lay darker eggs than her Wheatens came from and from all I can tell it just really seems to vary from bird to bird. No one really understands the genetics behind the dark egg production yet and I think that all you can do is go to a breeder who is known for having consistently produced nice birds and dark eggs and then cross your fingers and hope yours will give you some you eggs you really like.

One thing that everyone says is that the first eggs are the darkest and they lighten up toward the end of each laying season. Then after a rest the hens will begin to lay darker eggs again at the beginning of the next season. But gradually, they continue to lighten up after several laying seasons so that even at the beginning of the season they won't lay eggs as dark as their very first eggs.

I agree with you that the Wheatens are the most beautiful. I think the Blue Coppers are really pretty as well, but less common than the other 3 mentioned.

I bought 6 Black Copper chicks in July and I just love the little darlings. They are very sweet, come from very good lines and have great temperaments. But, I have no idea if I will get super dark eggs or not.

 

[Promiselandfarm]

Is there a website in the US listing all the Marans breeders? I would like to look at their websites and such to hopefully learn more about them. My husband saw those dark eggs and well ... we are looking for him some dark chocolate layers now. We went on the French site late last night and I really really like the rooster the hens were pretty but just did not seem to match with him. It states that you can tell that coloration at an earlier dated because the boys are different than the girls almost like a sexlink. I thought that was really cool....

 

[amazondoc]

Hey Promiseland --

You need to join the Marans Chicken Club yahoogroup. The people there are getting really serious about getting the Marans accepted by the APA -- and quite a few of the members are in TN. I just met with some of them up north of Springfield. These are enthusiastic and helpful folk who will be happy to rope you in......ummmm, I mean get you involved.

 

[L&Schickens]

I was told if you feed alfalfa meal it helps with egg color. (I don't have any Marans, but I do have Welsummers and will feed the alfalfa meal when they start laying)

 

[Katy]

That probably would help the yolk color, but I don't think it would have any effect on the shell color.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Slightly OT, but indulge me just for a sec--can I feed the bagged alfalfa leaves I get for the horses to my chickens? What about turkeys?

Sorry--back to regularly scheduled programming now.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Slightly OT, but indulge me just for a sec--can I feed the bagged alfalfa leaves I get for the horses to my chickens? What about turkeys?

Sorry--back to regularly scheduled programming now.

I throw some alfalfa hay to my chickens during the winter....they like pecking and scratching around at it.

 

[Wynette]

I give 2nd cutting grass hay to my chickens in winter, but be VERY VERY careful when feeding any hay to chickens, as I've read several posts about it getting all balled up & clogging up (so to speak) their crop. Crop impaction is apparently something that required surgery. I try to give the 2nd cut grass to them only because it's softer and much less stemmy.

Oh, as far as egg color, it really depends on the breeder. The best breeders hatch only the very darkest eggs laid to keep the color dark. I hatched, a few months ago, a batch of gorgeous copper black marans eggs - these were well into their laying cycle: