Black Copper Marans
Dual purpose · France · 🌱 Beginner friendly
From the port town of Marans on France's Atlantic coast comes the breed that lays the darkest eggs in the chicken world — deep chocolate-brown shells that stop people mid-sentence. The birds themselves are calm and understated, black with copper hackles and lightly feathered legs.
Eggs per year
150–200
Egg color
Chocolate brown
Egg size
Large
Hen weight
6–7 lbs
Temperament
Gentle and quiet
Broodiness
Sometimes broody
Did you know?
In Ian Fleming's novels, James Bond insists on his breakfast egg coming from a French Marans hen.
Is the Black Copper Marans right for your flock?
Expect roughly 150–200 chocolate brown eggs a year from a healthy hen in her prime — production dips during molt and the short days of winter, and eases off as she ages. Planning space? A Black Copper Marans hen runs 6–7 lbs, so size the coop with our coop size calculator and estimate the feed bill with the feed cost calculator.
The Black Copper Marans shows up in
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Keeping Black Copper Maranss?
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