What color eggs do Marans lay?

A very dark **chocolate brown** — the darkest egg of any chicken breed. The color is rated on a **1–9 shade scale**, and the Marans Chicken Club, USA recommends breeding only from hens laying a 4 or darker. The shade is deepest at the start of a laying cycle and fades as the hen lays on.

Are Marans good for showing?

Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's **Continental** class, with four APA-recognized varieties (Black Copper, Wheaten, White, Cuckoo). The American standard follows the French pattern of lightly feathered shanks, so clean-legged 'English type' birds aren't showable to it.

How hard are Marans to hatch?

The eggs incubate like any chicken egg — **99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch** — but the dark pigment makes them **very hard to candle** because little light passes through the shell. Candle in a dark room with a bright LED and lean on weight loss rather than what you can see.

What's the difference between French and English Marans?

The **French** standard (which the American standard follows) calls for **lightly feathered shanks and outer toes**; imported **English type** Marans are **clean-legged**. Both lay dark eggs, but only feather-legged birds are showable under the American/French standard.

Are Marans good for making olive eggers?

They're the classic choice. Crossing a **dark-brown Marans** over a **blue-egg breed** like an Ameraucana gives olive-laying daughters — the darker the Marans parent's egg, the deeper the olive.

Generally not strongly broody — most keepers report they rarely sit, so plan on an incubator or a broody hen of another breed to hatch their eggs. Individual hens vary.

Marans: The Dark Chocolate-Egg Breed

Verified September 2026Chocolate eggs

The short version

The Marans is a French dual-purpose breed famous for laying the darkest brown egg of any chicken — a deep, glossy chocolate shell rated on a 1–9 egg-color scale. Shown in the APA's Continental class, the APA recognizes four varieties (Black Copper, Wheaten, White, Cuckoo), with Black Copper the best-known. The French standard calls for lightly feathered shanks, while imported 'English type' birds are clean-legged. Because a dark-brown Marans over a blue layer produces olive, the Marans is the classic olive-egger parent.

APA class: Continental

Egg color: Chocolate

Broodiness: Rarely broody

Varieties: 10

Egg-color genetics

The Marans egg gets its color from a heavy brown pigment coating (protoporphyrin) laid down over a normal shell in the last hours before laying — the base shell underneath is pale, and the dark 'chocolate' is essentially a thick surface wash you can partly rub off a fresh egg. Depth of color is highly heritable, so breeders select relentlessly for the darkest layers and rate eggs on a 1–9 shade scale. Color is not constant: a hen lays her darkest eggs at the start of a laying cycle and the shade fades as she lays on through the season, resetting after a molt.

Why Marans eggs are so dark — and why the color fades

The Marans lays the darkest brown egg in the poultry world. The color is a thick brown coating deposited over the shell just before laying, not pigment through the shell, which is why a fresh Marans egg can look almost painted and why breeders judge depth on a 1–9 shade card. The very darkest eggs (an 8 or 9) are prized and hard to produce consistently.

Egg color is not fixed for the life of the hen. A pullet or freshly-returned layer lays her darkest eggs early in the cycle, and the shade lightens steadily as she lays on through the season; a molt and rest period resets her back toward her darkest. Judge a hen's genetic color potential by her first eggs after point-of-lay or after a molt, not by mid-season eggs.

Marans as the classic olive-egger parent

Olive eggs come from stacking a brown coating over a blue base. Cross a dark-brown Marans with a true blue-egg breed such as an Ameraucana and the F1 daughters lay olive — the deeper the Marans parent's brown, the richer the olive. This is the single most common recipe for olive eggers, which is why serious olive-egger breeders keep the darkest Marans they can find alongside their blue layers.

Breeding notes

Breed to egg color first. The Marans Chicken Club, USA issues a standard egg shade card (a 1–9 scale) and recommends breeding only from hens whose eggs rate a 4 or darker — grade your own eggs against the card and set only your darkest layers, since shade is heritable but drifts lighter across a laying cycle.
Black Copper is the classic type most breeders start with: select for the rich beetle-green black body with restrained copper hackle in the male, and cull birds whose copper bleeds too far into the back or breast.
Foot-feathering is a live debate: the French standard (which the American standard follows) calls for lightly feathered shanks and outer toes, while imported 'English type' Marans are clean-legged. Pick a standard and breed to it consistently — mixing feathered and clean-legged lines muddies both and produces unshowable shank feathering.
For olive eggers, put a dark-laying Marans rooster over blue-egg hens (or vice versa): the brown coating over the blue base yields olive. The darker the Marans parent's egg, the deeper the olive in the F1 daughters.

Showing notes

Marans are exhibited in the APA's Continental class; enter by variety (e.g. 'Black Copper Marans, large fowl'). The APA currently recognizes Black Copper, Wheaten, White and Cuckoo, though many more varieties exist in the fancy.
Because the American standard adheres to the French pattern, judges expect lightly feathered shanks and outer toes — an absence of shank feathering is a disqualification under that standard, so clean-legged English-type birds are not showable to it.
Condition matters as much as type: Black Copper birds should show a hard, tight feather with green sheen and clean copper markings, and white varieties must be free of brassiness. Bring an egg — a dark sample egg helps demonstrate the breed's defining trait.

Hatching & incubation

Standard chicken incubation — 99.5–100°F forced-air, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch — with no special temperature or humidity needs.
The heavy dark pigment makes eggs very hard to candle: light barely passes through the shell, so fertility and air-cell checks are difficult and you often can't see clear development until late. Candle in a fully dark room with a bright, focused LED, and rely more on weight loss than on visual detail.
Don't wash or scrub hatching eggs to judge color — the pigment sits on the surface, and scrubbing removes the protective cuticle and can drive bacteria into the porous shell.

Recognized varieties

Black CopperWheatenWhiteCuckooBirchenBlackBlueBlue CopperSplashColumbian

Frequently asked questions

What color eggs do Marans lay?: A very dark chocolate brown — the darkest egg of any chicken breed. The color is rated on a 1–9 shade scale, and the Marans Chicken Club, USA recommends breeding only from hens laying a 4 or darker. The shade is deepest at the start of a laying cycle and fades as the hen lays on.
Are Marans good for showing?: Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's Continental class, with four APA-recognized varieties (Black Copper, Wheaten, White, Cuckoo). The American standard follows the French pattern of lightly feathered shanks, so clean-legged 'English type' birds aren't showable to it.
How hard are Marans to hatch?: The eggs incubate like any chicken egg — 99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch — but the dark pigment makes them very hard to candle because little light passes through the shell. Candle in a dark room with a bright LED and lean on weight loss rather than what you can see.
What's the difference between French and English Marans?: The French standard (which the American standard follows) calls for lightly feathered shanks and outer toes; imported English type Marans are clean-legged. Both lay dark eggs, but only feather-legged birds are showable under the American/French standard.
Are Marans good for making olive eggers?: They're the classic choice. Crossing a dark-brown Marans over a blue-egg breed like an Ameraucana gives olive-laying daughters — the darker the Marans parent's egg, the deeper the olive.
Are Marans broody?: Generally not strongly broody — most keepers report they rarely sit, so plan on an incubator or a broody hen of another breed to hatch their eggs. Individual hens vary.

Sources

Marans General Description (varieties, French vs English shanks) — Marans Chicken Club, USA (Breed club)
Marans Chicken Club, USA (egg shade card & breeding standard) — Marans Chicken Club, USA (Breed club)
Breed Spotlight: The Marans — Meyer Hatchery (Hatchery)

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