Copper Marans Chicken

Copper Marans Chicken

We are thrilled to bring you the Black Copper Maran! We are really in love with this breed. They are friendly, gentile, gorgeous and lay some beautiful dark chocolate eggs.  Marans lay around 150-200 dark brown eggs each year depending on the variety. Marans are historically a dual-purpose bird, which means both a table bird and egg layer. 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. A great family bird.   Marans have feathered legs down through their outside toe.  This is the French Standard, as well as the American Standard for this breed.

We breed both Black Copper Marans and Blue Copper Marans.  We hatch 80% Black Copper with a few Blue Copper. The roosters are simply stunning large birds, the iconic picture of a rooster. The hens are also a site to see and their black feathers glisten in the sun.

Why are Black Copper Marans so popular? Their chocolate brown eggs, of course! Everyone looks at those extra deep brown eggs and they say: “”yummy”! It’s no wonder why many French chefs only cook with Copper Marans eggs. In fact, it is mentioned in the James Bond novel, “From Russia with Love”,  Marans eggs are the agent’s favorite egg. Reasons why chefs may prefer the Marans egg are that their yolk sits perfectly centered within the white. Try it, crack it open in a pan, it is so true. It holds an ideal dome shape. Black Copper Marans produce eggs with a deep, color. When we reach into the egg basket in the morning for breakfast, we always choose their chocolate eggs first. My kids think their candy! There’s just something about their color that makes them so much more appealing. Black Copper Marans eggs are reason enough to choose this breed as your go to layer.

We have sourced our breeding flock from APA certified flocks, but with that comes hard work and dedication. Our breeding program is in process and are doing our best to try to meet the Marans standard. As breeders, we focus on hardiness, temprament, and dark chocolate-brown egg color, when selecting who to keep as breeders and which eggs to hatch, all while keeping the standard of the Marans breed in mind. It is not easy for a Marans to lay a dark colored egg and we notice in the beginning of the laying season the eggs are darker and tend to lighten up as the year goes on.  Here is a Maran color chart for reference. We have egg coloring between 5-8. We have noticed that our birds because they are brought up in “rough” weather conditions of Vermont are more disease resistant, and able to tolerate extreme conditions well. All our birds are vaccinated for Marek’s Disease, humanely raise and Non-GMO fed.

Feed Recommendations: we recommend starting baby chicks out with Sugar Feather Farm chick starter for the first 3 weeks, then switch to our Chicken Grower. Use the Grower Feed until they hit maturation (which is when they start to lay) then switch to Sugar Feather Farm Adult Feed. 

We highly recommend using the Oil of Oregano in their water daily as a supplement to aid with digestion and overall health.

History

The Marans is a breed of chicken from the port town of Marans France. The breed was created with the local feral chickens descended from fighting game chickens carried from Indonesia and India. It is certainly a favorite at poultry shows, and is a dual purpose breed known both for its extremely dark eggs and fine meat qualities. 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 and the United States. The American Poultry Association only recognizes feathered legged.