Marans Chicken

     The Marans is a breed of Chickens from the town of Marans in France. They are thought to have descended from Croad Langshan Chickens that were imported from China in the 19^th century. The Marans is a dual-purpose bird which is known for its extremely dark eggs and fine meat qualities. They are generally quiet and docile chickens that adapt well to free-range rearing in rough terrain, and are tough and disease-resistant too.

     The Marans is a large and strong-looking chicken, with a single comb and red earlobes. It may be clean or feathered-legged, depending on the strain, as the French strain should be feathered-legged while the English strain shouldn’t. The Marans is available in a lot of color-varieties which include; cuckoo, black, black-copper, birchen, wheaten, black-tailed buff, white and columbian. 

     Marans hens are good layers of dark-brown eggs (around 150 – 200 eggs per year), and occasionally go broody. A bantam version is also available for this magnificent breed.