Chicken Breed Focus - Marans

[sumi]

The Marans, or French, Poule de Marans, is a French breed of chicken from the port town of Marans, in the département of Charente-Maitime, in the Poitou-Charentes region of western France. It was created with the local feral chickens descended from fighting game chickens carried from Indonesia and India. Those original Marandaise fowl were "improved" for the table through crossing with imported Croad Langshans. A favourite at poultry shows, it became a dual purpose breed known both for its extremely dark brown eggs and fine meat qualities.

Marans are generally quiet and docile; but they are quite active, taking well to free ranging in rough terrain and are also tough and disease-resistant. Their gentle temperaments and quiet demeanor makes them ideal for suburban backyard chicken keepers, as well as any assorted farm flock as they rarely bully smaller breeds. Marans are historically a dual-purpose bird, prized not only for their dark eggs but for their table qualities as well. Though the original Marans could also be feather legged birds, British breeders preferred the clean legged version, and thus feathered legged Marans are now mainly found in France. The Australian Poultry Standard recognises both feathered and clean-legged birds, while the Marans Club of America only recognises feather-legged birds.

Details:
Purpose: Dual purpose
Egg laying: 150-200 dark brown eggs annually
Weight: Cocks - 7.5-8.8lb; Hen - 5.5-6.0lb
Colours/Varieties: There are 9 recognized colours in the French Standard: Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo, Black, Birchen, Black Copper, Wheaten, Black-tailed Buff, White and Columbian. Black Copper (black with copper feathers on the neck) and Cuckoo (barred feathers, giving a black and white speckled appearance) are the most common of these. Other colors not officially recognized (such as Blue Copper, Blue, and Splash) also exist.


Pic by @cpartist


Pic by @haTHOR


Pic by @TurkeyMountainChick


Pic by @ChaboEmelie


Pic by @cpartist

BYC Breed Reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/marans

BYC Breed Discussions:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/444381/black-copper-marans-discussion-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/383387/marans-thread-breed-discussion-pictures-are-welcome/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/630671/cuckoo-marans/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/426622/wheaten-and-blue-wheaten-marans-discussion-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697180/birchen-marans-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/738772/blue-copper-and-splash-copper-marans-discussion/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...copper-marans-thread-breeding-to-the-sop/0_30

Do you own Marans? Are you a Maran breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Look at those beautiful eggs!

Another breed to put on my wish list for sure

 

[Curnow]

Love my Cuckoo Marans hens. They are quite large, heat and cold tolerant, docile and layed back. Mine go broody and have all been excellent mothers. As the article states, I have never had a problem with them picking on smaller or subordinate flock mates. Mine good layers of large dark terra cotta colored eggs.

One of my favorite breeds by far.

Thanks for the article on the Marans!

 

[Bantambird]

my favorite Birchen Marans pullet. They are hardier than my other breeds, they are quiet and mostly keep to themselves, but aren't shy. Mine don't like trying to climb into my lap like the cream Legbar. I've bred Birchen Marans for about 3 years. The cocks have some of the best temperament I've had in a cock. He never attacks me or my small children, and he keeps the other birds in line without too much fighting, and he is very polite to the hens. The dark eggs present another challenge in breeding, but I love them!

 

[Curnow]

my favorite Birchen Marans pullet. They are hardier than my other breeds, they are quiet and mostly keep to themselves, but aren't shy. Mine don't like trying to climb into my lap like the cream Legbar. I've bred Birchen Marans for about 3 years. The cocks have some of the best temperament I've had in a cock. He never attacks me or my small children, and he keeps the other birds in line without too much fighting, and he is very polite to the hens. The dark eggs present another challenge in breeding, but I love them!

Agreed on rooster temperament! My Cuckoo roo "King Louie" was a sweetheart!! He took very good care of the entire flock. He was ruler over my other smaller roosters, but never mean or fighty with them. Sadly we had to sell him because of his size. He was very large which made him somewhat clumsy while mating, and injuring some of our smaller hens. I do miss him though and cried when we sold him.

 

[gmfwlbrdr]

Ive crossed black copper marans on std Cornish, to make even a better table bird ,but they are slower growing.

 

[Love4zion]

Marans are sweet. Mine is my gentle giant.

 

[SunGryphon]

I've been trying to get a Black Copper Maran for ages, I thought I got lucky with my last batch of eggs, but the sole Black Copper that hatched ended up being a roo. A pretty roo, but I had to give him away. I also got a Blue Copper hen out of that batch, but she's not due to start laying until November so I've got to wait and see what her eggs will be like. I do have a Blue Splash Maran as well and she is as sweet as can be, in fact her name is Sweetie. She lays beautifully speckled eggs

 

[One Chick Two]

We found our first BCM randomly at a chicken show. Then, first fell in love with the beauty of the birds, sweet, docile temperament of both the males and the females, and then the fat, round, drop dead gorgeous dark eggs.

 

[rachelsflock]

I love my cockerels. I really wish the hens laid in the winter though. They seem to stop right around this time of year and not start up again until April or May. Yuck. My hens are also always really grouchy, but the boys are sweet. Unfortunately I'm probably going to get rid of my last pair for the egg issue.