A couple of years ago I saw a picture on the Internet of a dark, dark brown egg. I thought it was a chocolate egg actually, ready and waiting to be dragged through a jar of peanut butter.
But it wasn't. It was from a particular breed of chicken called a Marans.
I have been obsessing over having one of those chickens ever since. For me, half the fun of owning backyard chickens is having eggs that are colours people have never seen before. That and being able to wear a live chicken as a corsage at a moment's notice if need be.
But with a a smallish coop and 4 hens already I couldn't even think of adding another chicken. Well I could think about it but I couldn't do anything about it.
And then Norma died.
I know. I'm sorry to shock you. But it's true. And that's one of the horrors of owning chickens. They up and die on you, oftentimes without warning. It was sad and awful and I cried. She had a prolapsed vent, which is something chickens who lay big eggs (and Norma's were HUGE) can be prone to. I know a lot of people just throw their chickens in the garbage or burn them when they die but I just couldn't do that so I built her a little crate, (O.K., it was a coffin, but saying I built a coffin for my poultry makes me sound like a nutjob) put her in it and buried her in a safe place.
After an appropriate period of mourning, I started looking for a replacement for Norma. And what I started looking for ... was a Marans.
(Quick note ... when you buy chickens you either buy hatching eggs to hatch them in an incubator yourself, day old chicks, or pullets. Pullets are 5 month (or so) old hens that have just started laying. Getting a pullet is great because you don't have to go through the bother or raising chicks which can be time consuming, but not a lot of people sell pullets. Chicks are much easier to come by, especially for the rarer breeds.)
Marans are a rare (in North America) French heritage breed. They come in a variety of recognized colours with the Black Copper Marans being the most popular.
Now a bit about those dark eggs. People take them very seriously. There's even a colour chart.
The egg colour produced by the Marans hen has to be a #4 on the chart or darker to even be recognized as a Marans.
Anything in the 8 or 9 range is very rare and more of a mistake than anything. Hens are most likely to lay this colour of egg in the beginning of their laying cycle and right after a moult. Then the eggs will consistently get lighter, but they can't get any lighter than a #4.
People breed Marans with the goal of getting the darkest eggs possible. Which make sense, because even though they're supposed to be very nice, gentle birds, it's the eggs we're all after.
If you Google Marans eggs you see egg cartons filled with dark, DARK eggs, but that isn't the norm and if that's what you're hoping for you'll likely be disappointed. It really bugs me actually that people post those pictures but don't put the disclaimer that these eggs are rare and won't always look like that. Kind of like when people post only the the *really* good pictures of themselves having great times on Twitter. Really? Where's the picture of you where your lazy eye is noticeable and your kid has thrown up on your hair?
Anyhow.
I strapped on my typing fingers, headed over to Kijiji and started my search. I just realized I'm already lieing to you.
Kijiji WASN'T where my search began. It began at a local farm that I discovered had Marans. So I sent them an email. Apparently they aren't email people because they never responded. So I drove past the farm. Apparently they aren't real farmers because they weren't outside. A real farmer is outside from morning until night. They wear overalls, checked shirts and chew straw. Sometimes they have their hands in their pockets and stare quizzically at big broken pieces of machinery.
I saw none of this as I sped past the farm.
So from there I went to a farmer friend who knew someone else who had Marans. This also led nowhere. I'm now starting to think that the Marans breed is the unicorn of chicken breeds. But I knew they were real. I'd seen pictures of them. Mind you I've also seen pictures of unicorns.
O.K., so it was at THIS point that I headed over to Kijiji. I found several people selling them, but they seemed sketchy to me for some reason. I was basing my judgement on how they wrote their post, what they had to say about their hens and whether or not they spelled Marans correctly. If they called their chicken a "Maran", they were scratched off my list of potentials. There's supposed to be an "S" on the end of Marans.
My list quickly got whittled down to one breeder. A woman who was fairly close, just a few towns over from me. She was VERY into chicken breeding and had just listed a first spring hatching of Black Copper Marans. I was at the point in my search where I was just kind of browsing around and suddenly I was in a position where I had to make a decision. It was like browsing on the MLS and finding your dream home even though you had no real intentions of moving.
I emailed her, she emailed me, I emailed her back, I himmed and hawed. Then the chickens were gone. Sold. Shit.
You might be wondering why I didn't just snap em up like a pair of half price shoes. Well, the truth is buying a chick isn't quite that easy. For one thing you can't buy just one chick. You have to buy at least two and 3 or 4 are better. That's because chicks are flock creatures by nature and could die of loneliness if there's only one of them. They need each other for protection, warmth and companionship.
The other problem was, Black Copper Marans are very difficult to sex. So if you get one chick it could very well be a rooster, which aren't known for their fantastic egg laying ability. Plus if you get a rooster, you have to figure out a way to get RID of the rooster. If you get 3 or 4 chicks the chances of you getting a hen are greater and if one happens to die, you still have a few left.
Since I only needed one hen, the prospect of suddenly having to raise several of them kind of made my head explode and I just couldn't commit.
A month or so went by and I couldn't stop thinking about those chicks. So on a whim I emailed the woman back and asked if she happened to hatch anymore unicorn birds.
She said "As a matter of fact, yes". She had some in her incubator right now that would be ready in a few days. I said I'd take all the Marans she had. I now had a plan.
I have a couple of friends who have chickens. I contacted both of them to see if they'd be interested in a hen once I raised them. They both said yes. So if I have too many hens in my group of chicks, I know they have good homes to go to. As far as the roosters go, if I get any of those ,they are a rare and in demand enough breed that I'll have no trouble selling them on Kijiji.
In terms of how they look the Black Copper Marans is well ... black. They're distinguished as Black "Copper" Marans by the copper ring around their necks of the hen, which you can only barely see in this picture.
The below pictures, which is a rooster, shows how beautifully colourful they are.
The Marans fit my climate ... they were bred originally in a cold damp climate, so they're good in the cold winters of Ontario.
The other distinguishing feature in the Marans is their feathered legs. Which I love. Which is ironic, because when things begin sprouting out of my own legs I hate it. Their temperament is nice and not aggressive like a Rhode Island Red can be and they lay fairly regularly but not nearly as much as the more common breeds that are bred specifically for laying a lot of eggs.
There's one of me, and 4 chickens laying eggs. I can only eat so many pavlovas, so I'm O.K. with this particular breed only laying 3 or 4 eggs a week as opposed to 5 or 6.
The one thing no one tells you when you are looking to buy a Marans is this ... while most breeds start to lay eggs between 4 and 6 months of age, Marans have been known to wait until they're 8 or 9 months old. Of course there are exceptions.
So now that you know what chicken I chose you can go on with your day.
Tomorrow, I will have 20 photos of the chicks looking impossibly cute. This cute phase only lasts a couple of weeks before they hit the gawky teenage phase. At which point, I will have 20 more photos for you. Perhaps one of them will have a unicorn horn strapped to her head.
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Michael Sweeney Jr
Where did you purchase your Black Cooper Marans (BCM)? My research has lead me to Bev Davis, Wade Jeane, Littlepeddler, Cottage Hill and Greenfire Farm. I am getting 25 chicks from Greenfire farm because of there commitment to the breeds they purchase and raise. I know there is one or two more breed lines out there that have been mentioned for BCM. My purpose is to breed and sell. I might show as well. I hope all is well with you and yours.
I found your blog or writing most helpful and interesting
Thanks,
Mike
Karen
Hi Mike. I'm in Ontario, Canada so I'm afraid my source won't be of much help to you. You'll do well with your source! ~ karen
Sarah
Hi there,
Interesting info. Someone probably already pointed it out to you by now but I thought I'd let you know just incase. The term pullet is typically used to mean a female chick of any age. They are typically older because many breeds take time to accurately sex however many chicks can be termed pullet or cockerel upon their hatch day is they are an auto sexing breed.
Christine
I just bought three FBC maranS chicks and saw your post. Thank you.
Betty Pompilius
Girl I am so glad I found your blog... I have been reading and LAUGHING my .... well, it off any way. I also love French Black Copper Marans, and have now a lil flock of said birds... and because of chicken math several others as well. lol Any way keep it up love your blog!!!
Elke
Excellent writing! I really enjoyed reading your article, and am very much looking forward to reading the next one - and to seeing the pics of the chicks.
Mark
Great post Karen.... but you seem to have neglected to mention one very important piece of trivia regarding the breed...... James Bond only eats eggs of the Maron.
Karen
That IS very important. I had no idea! ~ karen
Barbie
They are simply BEAUTIFUL! Best of luck with your plan!!
Karen
THanks! I have a feeling I'll need it. ~ karen!
Feral Turtle
I have never heard of this breed not saying that we never had them as kids. My mom had so many different kinds of chickens and they all laid colorful eggs....heck we even got white eggs! I do recall some fairly dark eggs as a kid...hmmmm, just maybe.....
Karen
Maybe! ~ karen
Toni in Iowa
Karen, do your Marans have a green cast to the black? My black hand me down girls do. I also get some brown speckled eggs like in the color chart. I never knew what breed they were. I have a mixed flock of old girls advertised as stewing hens. They retire here.
Karen
Hi Toni - No, the black copper marans definitely don't have a green cast. But that doesn't mean they don't have Marans in them. The test is whether they have furry legs and if their eggs are a #4 on the chart or darker all the time. ~ karen
Erin
Sorry to hear about Norma, Karen. It is very sad to lose an animal you've cared for. Poor biddie. We raised chickens last summer and I can't believe how attached I've become to the hens. Attached or slightly obsessed.
Since we loved our chickens so much, we decided to get more this spring. We had the same experience as you wrote about; tracking down interesting heritage breeds, delaying commitment then someone else buying them. So, we went to the breeder's home intent on bringing home a mixed flock of whatever she had at the time (but especially partridge chanticleers for one member of our family.)
We ended up buying 40 (!) more chicks including some Marans. They are all now gawky teenagers, but those feathered legs help me tell them apart from the other breeds. Next week, introducing the two flocks to each other and the great outdoors.
Thanks for your research on the Marans. Great writing. And as usual, great comments. I am learning so much!
Mel
So, I'm reading this post, scrolling down, I'm at the photo of the rooster when my husband walks past, doubles back, and I quote:
"I leave you alone with the Internet for 5 minutes and there you are looking at a big black cock. And men get a bad rap."
Karen
LOL! If you look long and hard enough (heh) on my site you'll also find a picture of a Monkey penis. You should get that up (heh) the next time he walks past. ~ karen!
victoria
Great read Karen! And those chickens are beautiful. Looking forward to seeing the eggs!
Cynthia Jones
Oh my gawd. Who wouldn't want a Don King. I figure chickens and dogs are put on this earth to entertain us and bring joy. Yikes. I just came home from the feed store and I bought a bag of newborn chick feed. A 5kg bag.
One step closer to commitment again.
kelliblue
Holy sky is falling. Well. I'm now waiting for the day you get either:
a Bumble: http://tinyurl.com/qgy3tbs
a Don King: http://tinyurl.com/p9sed7z
or one of these "chickens": http://tinyurl.com/k3m8de2
:)
Linda S. in NE
I am also saddened to learn of your loss of Norma. I know the girls have helped you get through some recent tough times. No matter how long we have our pets, it is never long enough. I'm looking forward to hearing the trials and tribulations of the new cuties. Good luck with them.
Karen
Thanks Linda S. Here's hoping I can raise these ones to be as friendly as the others. ~ karen!
Kristin Ferguson
Sorry, I should have read the other comments; clearly you are aware of the difficulties of adding to a flock.
Kristin Ferguson
I have one of those Black Copper Marans myself! I have now had two. The first one got snatched by a possum about 18 months ago (because I had forgotten to close the coop one night; he just waddled in and grabbed the nearest hen and feasted on her. I felt awful.) So I went back to Chickens Galore and got another! I love the little pajama legs. They have finally grown back in after initially being pecked out by the older hens when she was first introduced to the flock.
Which, by the way, is something you will need to be aware of, Karen (you probably already are.) Introducing a new bird can sometimes break your heart. The older, established hens can be really vicious. And even the lowest in the old pecking order might very well see an opportunity to advance up a notch by beating up on the new birds. My favorite hen started out as the lowest, and tended to be bullied a little bit by the others, but when I brought in new birds, she was just as mean as the others, perhaps meaner. Then, later, somehow all the birds booted her back down to the bottom and I had a very traumatic few weeks where I had to keep her in my shower at night to protect her (unless I wanted to rise at the crack of dawn to let them out before they started attacking her--it wasn't much of an issue when they were outside the coop; she could run away and hide from the others.) Everything seems okay now, mostly because I bought "peepers" for the worst peckers, which are like little sunglasses made of plastic that block their forward vision, making it harder for them to aim for poor Tippie's comb. So just be prepared for a bit of ugliness when you do introduce your new beauty to the others. They may rip her feathers right off her little legs :(
Good luck! And, have you seen the olive-colored eggs? They crossed a chocolate egger and a green egger and got some pretty spectacular results! You can find more about them on My Pet Chicken. You may decide you need one of those, too! Your coop is huge compared to mine, so it surprises me that you don't think you should have more than four. I have five. But they do free-range all day, every day, so they're only in the coop at night.
Cynthia Jones
Now that you'll be scratching all day, I will allay your fears with a suggestion to get some DEET-based insect repellent to spray yourself in a cloud of once a month and twice a year. I know, I know, someone will want you to use eucalyptus oil or rub a pink crystal on yourself instead, but after getting attacked by bird mites I now go for the big guns. No more frollicky in the forest for me. I know what lies beneath and it wasn't easy to get rid off.
If I get chickens again, all work will be done in rubber galoshes, rubber gloves, a shower cap. a mask, a hazmat suit that I burn afterwards and at least a litre of neurotoxins sprayed generously all over myself.
PS the mites did not come from my chickens, they came from a 'friends' house verandah frequented by wild birds, and not hosed down ever, as the 'friend' believed in water conservation. I will never look at chickens, mulch or wild birds the same way again. Or leaves, branches, possums.........
I told you I realised there was only room for one neurotic in my garden.
Karen
LOL. ~ karen!
Bols
The black Marans is quite the looker! wow, I would have never thought a hen can be so striking.
I hope everything goes well with the chickies and that they will be accepted by the old-timers.
Karen,
at one point, I think that there the possbility of your town banning the rearing of chickens .... was it last year, or two years ago? What happened? Did you ever write an update on that? Obviously it's ok since you wouldn't be having your coop but I am curious to find out.
Karen
Hi Bols. Oh no, it's still illegal. Never has been legal. I didn't know that when I got the chickens but decided to let my neighbours decide. I told them all and they all said they would love to have chickens around. So I kept the chickens. ~ karen!
Grammy
That is wonderful to hear, Karen! It's legal to have six hens in our neighborhood with large lots, but if local ordinances are so dumb as to ban back yard chickens, it's good to have neighbors who aren't going to be calling City Hall on you.
I found out my neighbor had chickens when I awoke one morning to clucking not far from my open bedroom window. I said later that day, "Did you get chickens?" She began to apologize and I stopped her mid-sentence to say I loved the sound and it's not going to bother us.
It's a lovely sound, and the coop is nearer to the fence on our side than to the other neighbors, so I think everyone is happy about them. Roosters are banned, and that's fine, even though they are so handsome.
Bols
Ok, my old confused brain got the story wrong.
That's great that your neighbours had no objections. I have blessed with very nice neighbours on both sides so I am guessing they would not mind either (although I am intending to branch out into chickens - maybe when I retire). :-)
Kim
So are you going to do a reader poll on : "The breed I chose" ? lol
What zone are you ? Do you have any problems with frostbitten combs?
RIP Norma... (I bury my chooks too when the need arises)
Karen
I'm in Zone 6a. I had one tiny little bit of a comb get frostbite this year. Just the very, very tip. I'm not sure how it happened. I haven't checked it lately actually to see if it fell off. Since then I got a ceramic heater for the coop. This was an UNBELIEVABLE winter. Freezing, freezing cold! ~ karen