#Black copper marans free

By 1932 there were six recognized varieties of Marans – silver cuckoo, white/ black, black copper neck, ermine, golden cuckoo and red. They were called Marans after the French port of the same name. 1930 saw the setting of the breed standard in France for this dual purpose bird. Rousseau started breeding with the intention of unifying the plumage and produced the cuckoo Marans – still popular today. The Marans became well known locally in France for the deep red color of its eggs the plumage however was all over the place. In later years the Marans was further refined by the addition of Croad Langshan, Brahmas, Coucou de Malines, Coucou de Rennes and Gatinaise chickens to produce the ancestors of the Maran breed we know today. These originals came to be known as Marandaise fowl. The gamecocks were traded by them for fresh food and water and so were often plentiful in supply. These original landrace birds were crossed with the local barnyard hens and game cocks from India and Indonesia that were brought in by the sailors. The local chickens were known as ‘swamp chickens’ because the countryside is low and marshy. Marans are historically a dual-purpose bird, prized not only for their dark eggs but for their table qualities as well.The original Marans (poule de Marans) come from the area around La Rochelle in south western France. Marans lay around 150-200 dark brown eggs each year depending on the variety. Their gentle temperaments and quiet demeanor makes them ideal for suburban backyard chicken keepers, as well as any assorted farm flock as they rarely bully smaller breeds.

#Black copper marans free

Marans are generally quiet and docile but they are quite active, taking well to free ranging in rough terrain and are also tough and disease-resistant. The Australian Poultry Standard recognises both feathered and clean-legged and the Marans Club of America only recognizes feather-legged birds. Though the original Marans could also be feather legged birds, British breeders preferred the clean legged version, and thus feathered legged Marans are now mainly found in France. The shanks are usually slate or pink, the soles of the feet should always be white as Marans have white skin, not yellow. Other colors not officially recognized (such as Blue Copper, Blue, and Splash) also exist. Black Copper (black with copper feathers on the neck) and Cuckoo (barred feathers, giving a black and white speckled appearance) are the most common of these. There are 9 recognized colours in the French Standard: Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo, Black, Birchen, Black Copper, Wheaten, Black-tailed Buff, White and Columbian.

The Marans originated in Marans, France, and were imported into the United Kingdom in the 1930s. A favourite at poultry shows, it is a dual purpose fowl known both for its extremely dark eggs and fine meat qualities. Those original Marandaise fowl were “improved” for the table through recombination with imported Croad Langshans. It was created with the local feral chickens descended from fighting game chickens carried from Indonesia and India.

The Marans, French: Poule de Marans, is a breed of chicken from the port town of Marans, in the département of Charente-Maritime, in the Poitou-Charentes region of western France.