Woohoo!..first black copper Marans egg!

[Nicos]

Dead pleased!..I was really expecting Petal to start lying in the Spring. She'll be 30 weeks on Sunday...maybe this warmer weather has encouraged her?

Interestingly ( well I find it is)....

Her first egg is 60g and mid brown ( my bantams lay around 40g and creamy coloured)- so I know it's Petal's!
BUT...on the Marans egg colour scale of 1-9

http://blackcoppermarans.org/wp-cont...ransscale1.jpg

she hatched from a 6 and has produced about a 4.
SO...what I was wondering- is that I know her eggs will get bigger- but will they get darker too at the same time?
I realise they tend to pale off around molting time and when they get older- but do they darken up over the first few eggs?
She is from a mix of black copper and also white Marans which run together- but all produce dark brown eggs ( I picked the darkest available in the newly laid basket)
Also- as the colouring comes from a gland, should I be treating her with anything to help keep the gland working at 100%??

Oh...and the egg was a pressie back in March on my birthday- and she hatched at Easter- so it's all rather a spesh event for me!!

[Strawberry delight]

Well done!!!

[CaroltheCarrot]

Eggcellent sorry!!

[RichmondHens]

Well done that hen!

I wouldn't set too much store by the colour of her first egg. The next one may be completely different. I would love to be able to produce eggs as dark as a 9 though - aren't they gorgeous?

We keep Welsummers for their dark brown eggs, but the shades, speckles etc varies enormously from hen to hen, even among those related to each other. And I've read that when selecting an egg for incubation you shouldn't choose the darkest ones as they often come from poor layers, but that doesn't seem to be the case with my hens. I have hens that lay very well and still produce dark eggs, and ones that lay less often and produce paler ones.

I've not heard of anything special you should do to help the pigment gland perform well, but it can get disrupted by illness so always aim to keep your hens as healthy as possible.

Above all, just continue to enjoy eating those lovely fresh eggs, regardless of their colour!

[Nicos]

I've found this very interesting info about Marans eggs...

L'oeuf angl

...looks like I have to wait until the 12th egg and that the colour is genetic- mostly from the cockerel- but poor diet and stress etc can cause the egg to be paler.
My gal is pampered - so no probs there!

[Glutton4...]

Oooooh, I'd like one of those dark ones!

Whoever devised the scale clearly needs glasses; there must be several shades between 1 and 2!?

One of my Marans laid a 5 when she first laid, but now I occasionally get a 3 or 4. Most of the time 2 or lighter. The only way I can tell the Marans' eggs from the others, now, is the texture of the shell, as the colour is almost the same.

[Nicos]

I've read Marans eggs taste slightly different to other chook eggs

Have you noticed any difference???
( we're waiting for no 2 egg before we tuck in...she's got 2 days max as far as my self control is concerned!!!)

[Glutton4...]

None of us has noticed any difference in taste, sorry!

[Nicos]

Ha- fair enough!!!

Still- I'm thrilled to have an egg which will sit properly in an eggcup and which an ordinary teaspoon will fit in
The fact it is dark brown is a bonus

[polo]

Well done that hen....

It was really interresting looking at the scale of colours - I get between 3-4 with darker speckles from mine but the darkest looks very good!

It would be interesting to know whether the colour changes over the next few weeks!

[mr darcy]

My lovely Cleo is a copper black and her eggs are very dark, have not got darker but bigger, but my maran cuckoo (cuckoo!) has the darkest eggs of all, and they are big too,but then she's a big bird...love her!love em all, specially love to see her dark egg in the nest next to penny's (light sussex)snow white one and buffy's(buff orp cross) palamino one!!! gypsy (unknown mix!) lays speckled eggs....variation is the spice of hen keeping!

[Scarlet]

I think it takes them a few goes before their true colour comes through. In the spring they are always much darker and glossy and they progressively go paler towards the autumn until they stop for a rest.