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Marans

RidgetopFarm&Garden — Mon, 01 May 2017 18:39:55 +0000

Marans are a heavy, dual purpose bird. They are generally raised for their dark brown egg, but also make a good meat bird.

Marans are named after a port town in France. Over the centuries local birds were bred with birds brought from seaman coming to port. The modern Marans breed began development in the 1800’s and was adopted into the French standard in 1931. Black Copper Marans were accepted into the American Poultry Association standard in 2011.

The French standard has nine recognized color varieties:
Silver Cuckoo
Golden Cuckoo
Black
Black Copper
Birchen
Wheaten
Black-tailed Buff
White
Columbian

As of 2017, The American Poultry Association has 3 recognized color:
Black Copper
Wheaten
White

Of these recognized varieties, we have had two. Plus two varieties not in the standards. The information on this page is based on my knowledge of the varieties we have raised.

3 Facts About Marans

• Originated in France, about 280 miles SW of Paris

• Named after the French village of Marans

• French standard recognized in 1931

Chicks

Five Marans chicks

BLACK COPPER MARANS

Black Copper Marans are the most popular Marans variety in France.

Marans are bred for their dark brown egg. Black Copper Marans tend to lay the darkest of the these brown eggs.

Black Copper Marans were the first color variety admitted into the American Poultry Association standard. This was followed by the Wheaten Marans, and most recently White Marans.

BLUE COPPER MARANS

Because our Blue Marans are crossed with our Black Copper Marans they are genetically known as Blue Copper Marans. The hen in the photo on the left is lacking the copper in her hackles and head, but she is still considered a Blue Copper Marans.

The blue color has been around since the origin of the breed, but is not recognized in the French or American standards.

Blue is an impure color and does not breed true. Breeding a Blue to a Blue only results in a Blue chick 50% of the time. 25% will result in a Splash and 25% will be Black.

SPLASH MARANS

Breeding Blue chickens sometimes results in a Splash.

The splash color looks dirty white, with irregular black marks on the white plumage. This coloring breeds true, meaning if you cross a Splash cock with a Splash hen you will always get Splash chicks.

Like the Blue’s, Splash varieties are not listed in the French or American standards.

CUCKOO MARANS

Cuckoo Marans were the first and only Marans in the U.S. for many years.

The Cuckoo appears white with black, but actually the Cuckoo has black plumage with irregular barring. Cocks are lighter colored than hens.

MARANS EGGS

Marans eggs are dark brown in color. The darker the better. Of course I don’t notice a difference in taste compared to our other farm eggs, but I love the variety dark eggs add to our cartons.

Marans eggs are decent sized. They are classified as extra large, sometimes even jumbo.

Marans do not have a high lay rate. Personally, this means all our other breeds lay more eggs than our Marans. It is said that since a dark egg receives an extra layer of pigment it takes longer for the hen to produce the egg, resulting in fewer eggs. Interesting statement, but I’m not sure this is a scientifically proven fact.

Marans eggs are a beautiful addition to your egg collection:

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White Leghorn

RidgetopFarm&Garden — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 19:07:24 +0000

White leghorns are another of my favorite birds to have on our farm. They are a basic, no nonsense bird. They rarely cause any trouble. They eat. They lay eggs.

They are on the flighty side, so aren’t the best choice for a pet chicken. But, as part of our barnyard flock they are perfect.

3 Reasons I Love our White Leghorns
• Great egg layer

• We have never had one go broody

• Low maintenance

Our birds are not American Poultry Association show quality birds. They are, however, fabulous backyard birds for egg laying & meat purposes.

3 Facts About White Leghorns

• Can have Single Comb or Rose Comb (ours have a single comb)

• Hens weight: 4.5 pounds. Cocks weight: 6 pounds

• First admitted into the APA Standard of Perfection in 1874

Chicks

White leghorns are the super cute, pale yellow, fluffy chicks that you can’t resist at the feed store.

Coloring

Comb, face, & wattles: bright red
Eyes: reddish bay
Ear lobes: white
Beak: yellow
Shanks & toes: yellow

Hens

These two are enjoying a refreshing summer drink from our pond.

White leghorns are good foragers.

Of course, they also like kitchen scraps.

Roosters

We have pretty good luck with well behaved roosters on our farm. This guy, however, is on my shit list. He has attacked me.

Outside of his bad attitude, I think he’s quite a handsome fella.

Eggs

The #1 reason to have White Leghorns in your flock is their large, white egg. They are great egg layers, producing 4 or 5 eggs each week. They are such great layers that they are the breed commercial egg producers use for a typical carton of eggs sold to grocery stores.

White Leghorn Bonus

On a personal note – an added bonus the white leghorn has going for it is that it originated from Tuscany, Italy. Swoon! I love to travel. I have made it to Italy once… but not to the Tuscany area. It is a part of the world that is on my must-see bucket list. Maybe I need to go there to do chicken research…

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Rhode Island Reds

RidgetopFarm&Garden — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 04:28:03 +0000

We love our Rhode Island Red chickens. We’ve had them since the beginning of our days raising chickens. They are popular for a good reason.

3 Reasons I Love our Rhode Island Reds
• Great egg layer

• Hens don’t often go broody

• Low maintenance

Our birds are not American Poultry Association show quality birds. They are, however, fabulous backyard birds for egg laying & meat purposes.

3 Facts About Rhode Island Reds

• Can have Single Comb or Rose Comb (ours have a single comb)

• Hens weight: 6.5 pounds. Cocks weight: 8.5 pounds

• Admitted in the APA Standard of Perfection in 1904

Chicks

Adolescent Stage

As with any chicken, this is not the time they look their best.

Pullets & Cockerels (less than one year)

Hens

They are good foragers.

Taking a good dust bath

Roosters

This is a decent looking Rhode Island Red cock. His comb, wattles & face are bright red. His legs are yellow. His sickle feather is greenish black. His feather coloring is not great, though. He’s not as dark as the APA Standard lists. But, none of our RIR’s are show quality dark. There is also a difference in color in his breast and under body compared to his back, neck & saddle feathers.

This handsome guy has a growth on his wattle making him not good for showing or breeding.

Eggs

They are great layers of a lovely brown egg. Often times even during molting and cold weather they continue do a good job of laying.

Chicken Stories

This poor guy was nabbed by a bobcat. Farmer John went outside and scared the bobcat. Thankfully, the bobcat dropped the chicken in the process of running away. There were feathers everywhere and his backside didn’t look good for awhile. But, he survived.

A few years ago, our kids left a small rubber chicken outside. The real chickens were intrigued by it & caused quite a scene as they fought over the silly toy. Of course, they can’t eat a rubber chicken so Farmer John took it away from the ladies.

A Great Overall Bird

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