Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: cammi on February 04, 2011, 18:55
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Hi
We got a Copper Black two days ago, and today she gave us an egg :D but it wasn't dark brown :(
She is a young girl who has just started to lay. The egg we got today was SOOOO huge would that explain the 'normal' brown colour. Do they get darker as they get older?? Do we just have to accept we wont be getting DB eggs??
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A Marans egg is darkest at the beginning of thier laying cycle, though the colour doesn't settle until after about 20 eggs. They will then get lighter until the end of that cycle.
Unfortunately "hatchery" stock are not secifically bred for egg colour, and therefore it can be a bit hit and miss if you get dark brown egg layers
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If you do a search for "darkbrowneggs" you can get a link on to his site. Very informative and photos of the different colours of dark brown eggs. Am sure some of them are real chocolate. Yum yum
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thanks for link
http://www.darkbrowneggs.info/#/egg-colour-comparison/4543372454
certainly dont look like 5 or 8 more like 10 just normal egg colour boo hoo
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Hi
We got a Copper Black two days ago, and today she gave us an egg :D but it wasn't dark brown :(
She is a young girl who has just started to lay. The egg we got today was SOOOO huge would that explain the 'normal' brown colour. Do they get darker as they get older?? Do we just have to accept we wont be getting DB eggs??
[/i]
Hi there - don't despair just yet, though even a first time Marans layer shouldn't be laying eggs quite that pale. :(
The first few eggs can be very variable in size shape and colour, but after around 20 or so eggs have been laid she should be settled to around about the best colour you can expect from her, and gradually over the laying season (if she is a regular layer that is) the colour will fade
A Marans should be capable of laying at least a Number 4 colour egg on the official chart at some time in her laying life, though even the darkest layers can produce eggs of different shades The picture on the link you are looking at is just for a general comparison between breeds.
A facsimile of the actual official colour chart is on http://www.darkbrowneggs.info/ (http://www.darkbrowneggs.info/)
Egg colour 4 is the true Marans colour egg.
5, 6 and 7 are all classified as excellent
8 and 9 are truly exceptional and rarely produced.
The background picture on my site show eggs laid by one of my girls last spring GOOD GIRL :D
All the best
Sue
Dark Brown Eggs
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You need to find a known good strain from a specialist breeder as most commonly available Marans will disappoint. I've had more success with Welsummers and Barnevelders though Welsummers aren't very prolific. I used to breed these but my cock became such an aggressive so and so that that he had to go and I never replaced him as I was disappointed with the hens laying performance anyway.
As the website link says the colour can be very variable through the laying cycle and the examples you see photos of are the exceptional ones
My Welsummer's eggs below
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m491/hillfooter/Welsummereggs640x480.jpg)
HF
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I've got three standard hybrids, and one of them always lays very dark brown speckled eggs. Husband is convinced they taste nicer, and so are the kids!
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HF the colour of your welsummers eggs are the same colour that my late welsummer Peggy Lee used to lay. My cuckoo Marans Brenda Lee also lays the same shade but glossy :).
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We also have a copper black who just started laying and to be honest i was bit sad i wanted the lush dark eggs but their getting a bit darker but she has only been laying about a week now i read something stating that it can take 3 weeks if they lay 6 eggs a week or 20 eggs but not sure guess i will find out :D but here is a pic of her first egg laid might help
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HF the colour of your welsummers eggs are the same colour that my late welsummer Peggy Lee used to lay. My cuckoo Marans Brenda Lee also lays the same shade but glossy :).
Yes the WS eggs are a matt whereas the Barnevelders are semi gloss in fact like an egg shell :lol:
HF
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You need to find a known good strain from a specialist breeder as most commonly available Marans will disappoint. I've had more success with Welsummers and Barnevelders though Welsummers aren't very prolific. I used to breed these but my cock became such an aggressive so and so that that he had to go and I never replaced him as I was disappointed with the hens laying performance anyway.
As the website link says the colour can be very variable through the laying cycle and the examples you see photos of are the exceptional ones
My Welsummer's eggs below
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m491/hillfooter/Welsummereggs640x480.jpg)
HF
Yes but your Barnevelders and Welsummers lay a dark terracotta egg not the same as a Marans they lay dark chocolate brown eggs some say the Wheaton are the best for the Darker eggs but i think it's down to a personnel interest and taste in the breed The very dark coloured egg layers tend not to be quite as prolific The popularity for the dark egg lead to indiscriminate breeding over the past 20 -30 years to try and improve the identification of hens and cockerels at day old. Breeders have been adding other breeds to make the boys lighter coloured at an early stage. Good pure Marans can be devilishly difficult to sex when young
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Marans can lay all sorts of shades of brown all of which are acceptable, just like the araucana can lay all sorts of shades of blue/green eggs. It just depends on the strain, the age of the bird and also the weather can play a part in the colour.
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sorry AL how rude of me forgot to say hello and welcome, why not pop along to our welcome section and introduce yourself :)
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Hi AL Hathaway, welcome to our mad, er henhouse!
These are examples of the Marans eggs I'm getting to incubate next week
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/oconnka4/Chickens/Chook%202011/DSCN3609.jpg)
They are from birchen and blue birchen hens.
It is not possible to sex black coper chicks reliably on hatching (using feather sexing methods) - they certainly can't be colour sexed. Cuckoo birds can be, but it takes experience, and again it isn't infallable (size of spot on top of the head)
With regards to the colours of the eggs. The more prolific the colour the better quality of eggs it tends to be - for example, black copper is proably the most common, along with cuckoo; therefore eggs coming from these birds (though I'm talking breeder, not hatchery) tend to be the best. I believe the white Marans currently lays the palest eggs, and is a work in progress to improve egg colour.
I really think it depends though on what you want - eggs more often, or the very deep colour.
In France, a hen may be conformationally perfect, but if she can't lay at least a 4 on the colour chart, she will be disqualified in any shows!
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lovely colour Casey, hope they do well for you :)
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thanks everyone for your replies
AL i will take a picture of her eggs and get them on, look alot like yours!! Fellow newbie copper black keeper lol.
Jealous of all the photos of dark dark brown eggs, very nice.
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Hi Cammi,
Just as a comparison. Here are the eggs from my girls. I have a black Marans who layed the eggs in the bottom two corners, a mystery hen who layed the top two corners and the bottom middle egg... and the top middle egg is a supermarket egg for comparison.
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/oconnka4/Chickens/Chook%202011/Maranseggs05Feb2011.jpg)
As you can see the Marans eggs are very pale for a Marans, but the others (not the supermarket one lol!) are quite nice, even though the hen is not a Marans! - though she could possibly be a Marans cross, even if she came out of a very pale shell herself :blink:
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Sorry its taken so long here are our eggs,
The top ones come from our Bluebird for comparison, the lower row are from the Copper Black
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These are some my girls have laid this week, just waiting for one more today to post out 18 for someone this afternoon.
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Oh dear... I must be missing the point of dark egg shell colour.
The eggs are all the same on the inside, and that's the bit I eat :unsure:
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so you wouldn't be wanting any of my blue eggs then :lol:.True they do all taste the same though :D
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Bright blue pink with spots on would be all the same to me :lol:
Delia went all crazy over white egg shells when it was a good advertising gimic for her egg cook book.
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darkbrown, thy look lovely! I presume they are hatching eggs are they as you are posting them out to someone??
Aunt Sally, they look nice on the skelter though :tongue2: could we not go all out and have pink with yellow flowers?? :D
Joyfull, still awaiting my first Araucana egg, hoping its a bit more 'blue' than my Copper Blacks are 'brown'
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Aunt Sally, they look nice on the skelter though ...
Ah... Keep mine in an eggbox in the fridge as they keep fresher longer ;)
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Mine dont hang around that long lol! Only have 4 hens and only 2 are laying at the moment so still buying shop eggs too boo hiss
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araucanas can lay any colour from off white (bit greyish colour) through sky blue to olive green - mine all lay a lovely shade of blue :D. I have appenzellers to lay white eggs but sadly these are laying elsewhere and I have yet to find where :( plus the usually various shades of cream through to brown, all very pretty and tasty :D
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Oh dear... I must be missing the point of dark egg shell colour.
The eggs are all the same on the inside, and that's the bit I eat :unsure:
Ummmmm :) Where do you get those bright blue with pink spots on? I would be up for some of those :D
I chose the dark brown eggs many years ago when I bought my first hens and went to the local agricultral show. One look and I was smitten.
I think we eat with all our senses and I really enjoy a couple of boiled eggs one dark brown and one speckled. I went to a very famous chefs restuarant to eat not long ago, and when they bought their signature dish out with something concocted in an egg shell I was aghast - it looked so washed out :D
This year I am branching out and expect my first "blue egg layers" this weekend - I am getting over-eggcited about it
These are some from this years "Speckled Egg" layers
All the best
Sue
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Oh WOW Sue they are just brilliant!!!
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Oh those dark brown eggs are lovely!
And as much as I know they are the same inside as any other egg, I still admire them for their beauty. The same with hens - obviously happy and healthy are the most important criteria, but once you've achieved that why not have a beautiful hen in your garden?
In both cases their beauty is only skin/shell deep.
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Some of the speckled ones from the Higgledy Harriets are a bit like the markings on your lovely avatar Cammi :D
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What hens are the speckled eggs from, they're lovely.
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My Barnevelders lay browns eggs but not sure how to up load pics
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What hens are the speckled eggs from, they're lovely.
They are laid by Higgledy Harriet Hens :)
All the best
Sue
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My Barnevelders lay browns eggs but not sure how to up load pics
Hi - I think when you have typed your reply you click on the link just under the reply box which say Additional Options, then it brings up another menu bit with a box which say Attach on one side and Browse on the other. If you click on browse it will allow you to look through your computer to select the photo.
Love to see them if you can work it out :)
Sue
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My Barnevelders lay browns eggs but not sure how to up load pics
Hi - I think when you have typed your reply you click on the link just under the reply box which say Additional Options, then it brings up another menu bit with a box which say Attach on one side and Browse on the other. If you click on browse it will allow you to look through your computer to select the photo.
Love to see them if you can work it out :)
Sue
The max size file you can attach is 128K so you will most likely have to shrink the size and or reduce the resolution (quality) to get the file size below 128k before you attach it.
The alternative is to join a photo storage site like photobucket and upload your photos to that. You can use photobucket to shrink your photos to 640x 480 pixels so it fits the site page space. You then copy a link to the photo you what to embed in the posting and paste this link directly into the text where you want the photo to appear. This way you aren't constrained by the file size.
HF
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Thanks HF and Sue will have a go
Pauline
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I think I have done it
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I think I have done it
Well done :) And well done that bird too ....... Nice looking eggs :)
all the best
Sue
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Well done POL and nice Barne eggs too.
HF