Michael, when you are ready for some Marans please let me know. I now have five varieties [Brown-Red (the French call them Black Copper, two varieties of Silver Cuckoo (feathered shank and clean shank, bantam Silver Cuckoo and Yellow Cuckoo (very early in the creation of this variety)] in them and three in the Ameraucana breed looking to add more.
Ya\'ll, Rose is correct. The dark brown of the Marans is unlike the Ameraucana and more like the other brown layers, the color is on the outside of the shell. The pigment is produced in the liver and the older the hen gets the more pigment she deposits on the shell. Even as pullets they a larger than expected egg and the bantams are very prolific with eggs that rival the large fowl of other breeds in size. The bantams however do not have the egg color of the large fowl. The English breeders have been working on the bantams for over 70 years and still the egg color is at the RIR level.
Moderator please excuse me for promoting another breed on the board, it is not my habit, in my defence I praise the Ameraucana to the Marans group.
I have never crossed the breeds just to see what happens. Unimaginative of me but that is not what I am in the hobby for. I plan my breeding pens very carefully.
Greg
