First maran egg!!!!

So egg-cited! got my first maran egg today!! about a medium size egg, not bad for her first. the pic is a silver sebright egg and a maran. I am getting 2-3 sebright eggs a day now. I eat them takes a few to make up a regular size egg but they are good!
I got a pair of golden sebrights and cute splash silkie that caught my eye. No one had any easter egg layers, I think I will hatch them next year. and the next show is in Oxford Mass in Dec. I did get to see a ton of chooks and ducks I never saw before!!!!

Congratulations Lora!!! its a Beauty

LoraK, I love those medium sized semi-dark brown Marans eggs. That's what I got for 2 years straight from my Marans hens. I finally sold my last Marans hen about 3 months ago. They sure love to eat. She was my second largest hen ..... next to the White NJ Giant. Enjoy them ..... they are nice chickens. I read somewhere that Pierce Brosnan (Agent 007) has Marans chickens. LOL

Lucky YOU!! I'm still waiting for my first Maran egg...how old is your Maran? Patience, I know.

Catherine

The girls were hatchedin the middle of May. I am very happy with the size and color. I did not choose them to lay the biggest or the darkest, I picked them for pets and the eggs are just benefit. Honestly I was expecting tiny brown eggs for their first eggs so I am egg-static!

LoraK, I was just jerkin your chain to get a rise. I love Marans ..... even if they lay medium to large ... size is not really important. My wife reminds me of that all the time. Our Ameraucana eggs are pretty pastel blue ones but always medium sized. I'd prefer much larger but my wife say the medium one are perfect for her kitchen bouquet.

No biggy (pun intended!) I feed 4 huge turkeys so feeding 7 marans is nothin! I looked for Ameraucanas at the show this weekend, I just wanted a few to add to the mix but there wasn't any. My husband doesn't believe the lay pastel colored eggs. I talked to a woman at the show that raises spangled hamburgs and she said she will never own another kind, they lay all year round and you get an egg almost everyday from each hen even in the dead of winter. And they are nice lookin chooks! I might even add a few of those next year.

Lora......I got my first blue/green eggs today. There is a girl in Swanzey NH with 8 easter eggers for sale for $8 each.
They are 28 weeks old and laying. Her # and ad is in craiglist.com under NH farm/garden if you are interested.

Wendy

I got a couple of bigger ones today!

LoraK, Many pullets from a variety of chicken breeds will lay almost year round for "a while" after 5 months of growing up. An egg a day for any breed is a GROSS Exaggeration. The best egg laying chickens are White Leghorns. They lay 6 eggs a week after about 4.5 months of feeding for about 18 months. Then they taper off. They get turned into soup at 22-24 months old. I've had the Silver Spangled Hamburgs. They are great flyers. Their egg laying qualities (without exaggeration) are roughly 220 medium eggs/ yr for 2.5 yrs after 5 months of eating for free. If you like the lady's Hamburgs ... you'd love to own Silver Spangled Spitzhaubens. They have the cutest hairdo. I absolutely adored mine. Another extremely adorable breed are the Buttercups. There are several quite pretty breeds of chickens. I do like my Ameraucanas, Orpington & Welsumer chickens. For prettiness and egg laying qualities I love the Danish Brown Leghorns. If you like big chickens the Langshans and NJ Giants are kinda cool. My white NJ Giant hen looks to be 10 lbs. My Welsumer hens are close to 9 lbs.

I am so envious of you having your Maran eggs!!! Beautiful !
I am still waiting on my May Hatched Barred Rocks to lay their first eggs! Looks now like Im going to have to wait until Spring!!! Waaaaaaaah!!!!!

Eufaula, You may just get some eggs from your new Barred Rocks if the nighttime temps are not so cold in Georgia. Don't be surprised if they start laying real soon. The dark brown Marans eggs are kinda neat ... they generally are about twice the darkness of the Barred Rock' creamy brown eggs. Your Barred Rocks will lay a slightly larger egg and are a bit more reliable egg layers than Marans. The Marans eventually grow to be pretty darn big chickens .... a pound or so larger than the Rocks. All the rocks I've had were quite vigorous chickens ... more competitive than the average breed and have a temperament like the RIR. I have concluded that Orpingtons have the temperament I like the most of all breeds. The hens are such ladies and so pleasant to be around and a part of a mixed flock.

Hey Photographer! Oh I just love my BR's. I have had everything but marans. They are hard to come by here! I had buffs this past spring but had to make decisions on who to keep( due to room) and who to part with! the Buffs were so beautiful and I had two wonderful Roosters , but they were dominate , and they just didnt get along with my BR Rooster! Since old CockleLooLoo had been here the longest and was the most gentle out of the bunch, I decided the BR's were going to get the homestead!
My older BR hens are so dependable with their egg laying and come Heck or high water I get an egg every other day , right on schedule. Since I have had my two older girls for some time I figured I needed to re plenish Old man C's Harem. So he is a very happy camper right now! I know hes doing his job , but still waiting for the newbie Harem to get the idea on what they are supposed to be doing!!!

You've started something Lora!! Got my first cuckoo maran egg today - *dancing*....

was getting pretty concerned since I think they're almost six months - now if they other 7 maran gals take the hint, I'll have a carton of beautiful chocolate eggs by next week.

YAY!

Catherine

YES! they take about 6mths to lay, I am keeping a light on so they lay thru the winter hopefully!! CONGRATS AGAIN!!!

Dang
I wish I had thought to take a picture of them but they had a Maran egg judging today at the Yankee Classic Show in Syracuse
the eggs really are cool

I am getting 3-4 maran eggs each day now (6 hens) and they are mostly xlarge and jumbo (atleast a couple double yokes a week). My golden sebright leaves an off white egg 6 out of 7 days a week (she only lays in the cracked corn feeder), and its just shy of a med regular chicken egg :o . I get 4-6 silver sebright/silkie eggs a day.
I am VERY happy I got the marans!

I was just down at my neighbors, he got 2 double yokers this week too from my eggs!

my cuckoos are up to 4 eggs per day (8 hens) and its a good thing too because the rest of the flock is still on moult vacation...starting back laying but slow going.

And the cuckoo eggs are so pretty! a lovely dark brown, some with spots. I just love'em.

Catherine