French Copper Black Marans : chocolate eggs for hatching egg and farm gate sales

Copper Black Marans

We now have a third  breed of dual purpose hens to add to the Ixworths and the Bresse Gauloise hatching egg sales in 2015.

These are French Copper Black Marans, Herman the cockerel was hatched from eggs imported from Germany and his hens came from Hampshire so although they are the same breed there is a huge amount of genetic variation in this new flock.

The cockerels grow as fast as the Bresse Gauloise and the hens lay chocolate eggs. There is of course no nutritional  difference between these eggs and white ones but they are very attractive.

Farm gate sales

Although I bought 20 of these Copper Black hatching  eggs most of the chicks were males  Herman was the best looking, the rest were reared for the pot.



Fresh eggs of any colour disappear from the retail outlet as quickly as I put them out there so more hens are needed.