maran eggs

[nellie-m]

Beautiful eggs (most of them)! And just the sort of feathering my white Ms Marans has, I'll try to get a good picture of her at some point and post it!

[RichmondHens]

As far as I'm aware all Marans should lay a brown egg, rather than a white, the shade just varies. If you get a good strain then typically copper blacks lay the darkest egg shade and cuckoos a bit lighter, but still a reasonably dark brown. The pullets in the pic Nicos posted are French Copper Blacks.

I suspect Kathy that your hen is either a maran cross, or even a different breed that just looks like a maran.

[kathyd]

Well I guess I have a mongrel chicken then, which is fine by me . She's certainly the most talkative, and her eggs are very dainty and small as well as pale, which is hilarious as she's so much bigger than the other hens! I'm not worried that they're not dark brown - although one of these days I'm keen to get some blue egg layers - arancaunas? A couple of my younger hens are 'supposed' to lay blue eggs for me when they start laying (Shetland hens apparently), but I have my doubts to be honest! Anyway, it's all part of the fun .

[Suechooks]

We have a local breeder who has Shetlands and describes the eggs as bright green! I haven't actually seen any so can't comment but they do sound interesting! Maybe next year.....................................!

[SMS6]

would you say this is a Maran of any kind?

[kathyd]

Hi SMS6 - that's exactly what my maran looks like! Or my maran cross, or whatever she is .

[Glutton4...]

She looks like my Marans Coucou (Cuckoo Marans), but other hybrids can look similar, they have different names according to whoever breeds them. Some are called Speckledies, for example.

[SMS6]

thanks for your replies, when we bought her we were told she is a Maran but she doesn't lay dark brown eggs, she doesn't lay well at all really but when she does the eggs are fantastic. Some one else has described her as a Speckledy Maran! Not sure there's much hybrid in her as she's acting more like a primadonna - hasn't layed since a partial moult back in August.

Mind you I think we were a bit gullible when we bought our hens in June, I wanted 3 different ones but the guy only had one sort at POL - a hybrid. At the time he had a bunch of older Marans & Light Sussex he was trying to sell on but we didn't think to ask how old!!! They were only a fiver each though but we don't really know how much laying they have left in them but live in hope she will lay again in the spring - Sussex has given up too just now but then again so has the Hybrid! I had to BUY eggs at the weekend

[RichmondHens]

She looks just like my old cuckoo maran. I have another young cuckoo maran who has more of a showy shape but then she did come from a specialist maran breeder. The old one lays fairly pale eggs for a maran and always has. The young one lays dark eggs.

[Scarlet]

As they all said! She looks like a cuckoo maran. Mine lay large dark eggs, some with huge yolks but I do think they are lazy! They give up around late sept during the moult and don't start again until end of feb, I also have a few that spend most of the summer broody

[Madaboutmarans]

We have 3 young marans, only 2 have started to lay, and the eggs are dark brown and freckled. They all look like the photo above, but with more pronounced tail feathers, I read that Marans don't like to be handled and love to be free range, is that the case? They are all very friendly now they are used to us but I have not tried to touch them for fear of freaking them out.

[VirginVegGrower]

No I had three and all of them will stand on your toes, knees, spade etc. I only have one now and would love a garden full of them.

[kathyd]

Our maran is also very friendly,although I'd read they were aloof and 'never truly hand tame' - she'll eat from your hand, and occasionally allows herself to be stroked. She does climb on you sometimes, but not too often. It took time and effort to get her to this point - she wasn't used to being handled when we first got her, but perserverance did the trick in the end! If you place your hand on her back she'll squat as she would for a cockerel, and that's how I first managed to pick her up. After that, she just didn't want to be outdone by the other birds climbing on me, so she made up her own mind .

[kathyd]

Yeah! She's laid a couple of eggs in the past few days which have been brown! Only a light brown mind, but definitely brown! She was very pleased with herself . I didn't realise the colour could change during the year, I wonder why that is?

[Suechooks]

Yeah! She's laid a couple of eggs in the past few days which have been brown! Only a light brown mind, but definitely brown! She was very pleased with herself . I didn't realise the colour could change during the year, I wonder why that is?

Maybe she's had her ink cartridge refilled?