Spelled with a silent “s” at the end in both the singular and the plural, this French breed of chickens are world-renowned for their dark chocolate brown eggs. Originated in south-western France, Marans are dual-purpose birds utilised for both their meat and eggs. They come in many different colours and in both standard and bantam sizes. At Agia Skepi farm, we breed the beautiful blue and black copper marans and the wheaten marans. Our copper marans pen also has a couple of splash marans hens. It is important to note that the British type has unfeathered legs, whilst the French Marans have feathered legs, and that the Australian Poultry Standard recognises both the feathered- and clean-legged type. The eyes are red/orange and they have a single red comb, with the face, earlobes and wattles also being red. Depending on the plumage colour, the shanks/feet and beak colour can vary from greyish to pinkish white and from pale to dark horn, respectively. Marans do not go broody often and are a low maintenance breed that fares well in the Australian climate. They are friendly, hardy and of medium-size, perfect for any family seeking to enhance the colour of their egg basket. The intensity of the egg shell colour can change depending on the season, diet, weather and age of the laying hen. Marans can lay some of the most spectacular eggs with heavy blooms, making them look purple or pink, as well as with speckles, and are thus very sought after, particularly to use in olive egger and rainbow egger breeding programs.

It is important to note that not all marans hens lay the same shade of chocolate colour. Also, not all marans hens lay speckled eggs and not all have heavy bloomed- eggs that can appear mauve or purple. Although we strive to breed our birds with the aim of enhancing the dark shade, offspring of dark-laying hens are not guaranteed to lay the same shade of dark. It is simply chicken genetics. When you order our copper marans or wheaten marans eggs, you will receive some darker and some lighter eggs – not all eggs will be the same shade of brown/chocolate.