My venture into Marans started in 2009 after stumbling across some egg photos on the internet. Quickly I convinced my parents i need this breed. They surprised me with 25 cuckoo Marans pullets for Christmas.
My research quickly made me realize that these pullets had a very slim chance of giving me the egg color I desired. Before these pullets had even reached point of lay I found a guy who bred Blue and Black Copper Marans. I purchased 6 chicks from him and they quickly grew and were producing beautiful eggs I desired.But still that hadn’t been enough. While I was picking up my chicks he had shown me his flock, he had happened to have 1 Wheaten Marans hen. I was obsessed she was so beautiful, and the photos of the black and orange roosters next to the lovely wheaten colored hens made me realize I needed and wanted to breed Wheaten Marans.
I now have a gorgeous flock of Wheaten Marans. They are productive enough for my needs 3-5 eggs a week and while not as dark as some strains of the BCM they still produce gorgeous eggs. I also love the shape of the egg which is not always mentioned, both ends of the eggs are rounded making it difficult to determine the bottom from the top. This egg shape makes it hard to determine where the air sac is, which can make it difficult for incubation. The extra layer of pigment can also affect incubating successfully.
Personality is great I don’t raise them as pets so I don’t need birds that want to sit on my lap, but I would say they are far from flighty. They are calm birds who will come up to me looking for treats when I go out to the pen, but quickly lose interest and leave when I do not have any. They are descent foragers who are happy to free range or be confined. The hens have never shown aggression to each other beyond establishing the pecking order. I’ve only had one or two hens go broody. Only one hen successfully hatched a clutch (they were duck eggs and she was a great mom). All the other times a bird went broody moving her to a private pen to sit on her clutch always broke her brooding. Roosters have never shown aggression towards me or any other human, but like all roosters they have shown aggression towards other roosters. They are also great with the hens I’ve never had them over breed any one of their hens.
Overall I’ve had a great experience with this breed and will always have them in my flock. My one piece of advice for anyone looking into this breed would be, do your research and aim for getting birds from a good breeder if you want the best chance for a dark egg layer. Also take the time to talk to the breeder about the tempermant of the birds and the quality of their stalk to make sure they are what you want.
My research quickly made me realize that these pullets had a very slim chance of giving me the egg color I desired. Before these pullets had even reached point of lay I found a guy who bred Blue and Black Copper Marans. I purchased 6 chicks from him and they quickly grew and were producing beautiful eggs I desired.But still that hadn’t been enough. While I was picking up my chicks he had shown me his flock, he had happened to have 1 Wheaten Marans hen. I was obsessed she was so beautiful, and the photos of the black and orange roosters next to the lovely wheaten colored hens made me realize I needed and wanted to breed Wheaten Marans.
I now have a gorgeous flock of Wheaten Marans. They are productive enough for my needs 3-5 eggs a week and while not as dark as some strains of the BCM they still produce gorgeous eggs. I also love the shape of the egg which is not always mentioned, both ends of the eggs are rounded making it difficult to determine the bottom from the top. This egg shape makes it hard to determine where the air sac is, which can make it difficult for incubation. The extra layer of pigment can also affect incubating successfully.
Personality is great I don’t raise them as pets so I don’t need birds that want to sit on my lap, but I would say they are far from flighty. They are calm birds who will come up to me looking for treats when I go out to the pen, but quickly lose interest and leave when I do not have any. They are descent foragers who are happy to free range or be confined. The hens have never shown aggression to each other beyond establishing the pecking order. I’ve only had one or two hens go broody. Only one hen successfully hatched a clutch (they were duck eggs and she was a great mom). All the other times a bird went broody moving her to a private pen to sit on her clutch always broke her brooding. Roosters have never shown aggression towards me or any other human, but like all roosters they have shown aggression towards other roosters. They are also great with the hens I’ve never had them over breed any one of their hens.
Overall I’ve had a great experience with this breed and will always have them in my flock. My one piece of advice for anyone looking into this breed would be, do your research and aim for getting birds from a good breeder if you want the best chance for a dark egg layer. Also take the time to talk to the breeder about the tempermant of the birds and the quality of their stalk to make sure they are what you want.
