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Black Copper Marans

Marans were approved and accepted into the American Poultry Association in the Continental Class in April 2011. They were developed in France and are known for their famous, chocolate brown egg. The English standard calls for clean legs and the French standard calls for feathered legs. We breed to the French standard. The Black Copper variety is the most common variety in France and is generally believed to have the darkest egg color of all the varieties. A common misconception about the Marans egg color is that they are all this dark brown almost black egg. While some eggs are, others are more commonly a medium brown color to even a lighter brown. The typical range of swing for a hens eggs is about 3 shades on the standard 1-9 tint chart. It depends on the lineage as to where the eggs begin. For example, our hens lay around a 7 which is "Dark Russet", but depending on time year, time in the laying cycle, and other unknown factors the same hen will lay a 6 or 8. If you have a hen that lays around a 5 it doesn't mean you won't get any 9's, it just means most of your eggs will be in the range of 5. Most of your large volume hatchery Marans lay on the lower 3 - 5 color. This is likely due to the fact that there was an import ban put on them making it harder to obtain large quantities of them and forcing them to cross the Marans with other breeds for genetic diversity. This is much easier to do on a smaller scale and with more control to assure highest representational quality of the commonly accepted standards. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marans are another cold climate hardy dual purpose bird that were bred as much for their looks and temperament as for their egg color. A healthy Marans hen should lay 150 – 200 eggs per year and achieve a weight of between 6 – 8lbs and a rooster should achieve a weight of between 8 -10lbs on average. This is also a typically taller breed as well around 18-21" for roosters.

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