Marans chicken
The Marans is a French dual-purpose breed best known for its very dark brown eggs.
The Marans is a pure-bred chicken breed in the PCGB Soft Feather Heavy class. Its origin is given as Marans, France.
It is kept in large and bantam forms. Recognised colours: Black, Dark Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo, Silver Cuckoo, Black-Tailed Buff, Brown Red (Copper Black), Copper Blue, Silver Black (Birchen), White, Wheaten, Columbian (Ermine) (non-standardised). Typical adult weights: cock about 3.6 kg, hen about 3.2 kg, bantam cock about 500–550 g and bantam hen about 400–450 g.
Expect roughly 160–210 eggs a year, with dark brown shells. It is mainly kept for eggs.
Compiled from poultryclub.org, poultrykeeper.com, en.wikipedia.org. See sources
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Identity
- Species
- Chicken
- Type
- Pure breed
- PCGB class
- Soft Feather Heavy
- Origin
- Marans, France
- Kept for
- Eggs
History
It comes from the port town of Marans in Charente-Maritime. It is thought to mix fowl from passing British ships at La Rochelle, local Marais Poitevin birds, and Croad Langshans, which three local breeders kept from 1876. It was shown in La Rochelle in 1914 as the 'poule du pays'. A French breed society formed in 1929 and the first standard followed in 1931. Eggs came to England in 1929, and Cuckoo Marans entered the British standard in the mid-1930s.
Appearance
Black and Dark, Golden and Silver Cuckoo are standardised in the UK. Several others exist but are not standardised, including Copper Black, Black-Tailed Buff and Wheaten.
Recognised colours
Black, Dark Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo, Silver Cuckoo, Black-Tailed Buff, Brown Red (Copper Black), Copper Blue, Silver Black (Birchen), White, Wheaten, Columbian (Ermine) (non-standardised)
Size and weight
- Forms
- Large, Bantam
- Cock
- 3.6 kg
- Hen
- 3.2 kg
- Bantam cock
- 500–550 g
- Bantam hen
- 400–450 g
Eggs
- Eggs a year
- 160–210
- Egg colour
- Dark brown
- Notes
- Eggs range from mahogany to chocolate brown. Wikipedia says only the Penedesenca lays as dark an egg.
Temperament
Not recorded yet.
Hardiness
Not recorded yet.
Broodiness
Not recorded yet.
Flying
Not recorded yet.
Suitability
Not recorded yet.
Conservation status (RBST)
Not on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's priority list.
Breed club
- The Marans Club, breed-specific
Sources
This page is compiled from:
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