Chicken Coop Chatter©
CUCKOO MARANS
The Marans are a medium sized French breed known for their dark chocolate colored eggs. There are several varieties accepted by the American Poultry Association, including the Cuckoo and the Black Copper Marans. The Blue Copper marans have not yet been accepted by the APA, but is being perfected by maran breeders around the country.
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. They were originally bred in the marshy areas of France and can cope with damper conditions. Marans originally had feathered legs, but the British breeders have bred this trait from them. It is still possible for some offspring to carry the genetics for feathered legs, however unless you order the true French, the likelihood of feathered legs is slim. The true French Marans are feather legged.
The Marans are considered a medium to large sized breed, the Roosters make fine table meat; considered the finest meat in France. The hens lay 150 + large dark eggs annually (the French Black Copper Marans lay the darkest eggs of all the Marans). The hens are not known for broodiness and in our own personal experience we've never had a broody Marans hen. Our Cuckoo Marans are both light and dark feathered with feathered legs, true to the French standard. Our Cuckoo Marans are quite large, rivaling the size of our Light Brahmas. Though their eggs are not as dark as that of the French Black Copper Marans, they are a nice shade of chocolate brown.
The Cuckoo Marans is often mistaken for Barred Plymouth Rock, but there are distinct differences. The Cuckoo markings are uneven, where the Barred birds are evenly striped. The Marans are larger, and of course the egg color differs in that it is a much darker brown than the Barred Plymouth Rock. The behavior is also different. The Marans tend to be much calmer than the Plymouth Rock breed.
Marans for the most part are slow maturing, so even though they are good table meat, they are not suitable for commercial sale of table meat. The hens mature considerably later than many other heritage breeds. They may be 9 months to a year old before laying their first egg.
The name Marans is both plural and singular, so properly the name ends in *s* whether speaking of a flock or one bird.
A cross between a Maran rooster and a blue egg laying Ameraucana produces the *olive eggers*. A Maran Rooster and a blue egg laying Cream Legbar will also produce an *olive egger* off-spring.
PLEASE NOTE: WE NO LONG HAVE THE CUCKOO MARANS, HOWEVER THE INFORMATION IS USEFUL TO THOSE CONSIDERING THIS BREED AND WILL REMAIN ON THE SITE.
We do pro-rate for less than one dozen, for those with small incubators. Email us at: [email protected]. Please put breed name in the subject line and quantity in the body of the email. You will need a current Paypal account (easy and quick to set up). Please add us to your address book so our mail does not go to your spam folder. Thank You for your interest in JFA fertile hatching eggs
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~~ Kendy FJust Fowling Around
I received beautifully packed Maran and Sussex eggs today! Thank you! My last hatch from your eggs was higher then 90% on shipped eggs!