The Marans, , is a French

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of dual-purpose

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

, reared both for meat and for its dark brown eggs. It originated in or near the port town of Marans, in the

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Chérente-Marine''; ) is a Departments of France, department in the French Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, on the country's west coast. Named after the river Charente (river), Charen ...

, in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

region of south-western France. The eggs are of an unusual rich brown, varying from

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

; only one other chicken breed, the Penedesenca of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, lays such a dark egg.

History

The Marans originated in – and is named for – the town of Marans, in the

, in the

region of south-western France. It is believed to derive partly from birds brought by passing British ships to the port of

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

, partly from local birds of the

Marais Poitevin The Marais Poitevin () or Poitevin Marsh is a large area of marshland in the former province of Poitou in western France. It is a remnant of what was the former . The western zone near the sea (about two-thirds of the area) is called the "dry ...

, and partly from imported Croad Langshan stock, of which from 1876 there were three breeders in the region. It was first shown in La Rochelle in 1914 under the name or 'local chicken'. A

breed society Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members ...

was formed in 1929, and in 1931 the first

breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include phenotype, physical or morphology (biology), morphological detail, genotype, g ...

was drawn up. Several clutches of fertile eggs were imported to the United Kingdom in or soon after 1929 by Charles Kelvynge Greenway, the second Baron Greenway, and some were hatched. However, it is not certain that the Marans – with unfeathered shanks – shown by Lord Greenway at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in 1934 descended even partly from this French stock. According to the

Poultry Club of Great Britain The Poultry Club of Great Britain is a registered charity founded in 1877. Its stated purpose is to "safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys". The club main ...

, the British Marans derives from

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

of a variety of breeds including the Braekel, the Coucou de Malines, the Coucou de Rennes, the Croad Langshan, the Gâtinaise, the Faverolles and the barred

Plymouth Rock Plymouth Rock is a boulder in Plymouth, Massachusetts, that symbolizes the historical disembarkation site of the '' Mayflower'' Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in December 1620, and has been claimed to be the Pilgrims' actual landing site. ...

. It may be a distinct breed, unconnected to the French Marans.

Characteristics

Ten

colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

are recognised in the French

for large fowl: white, wheaten, silver cuckoo, golden cuckoo, black, copper-black, silver-black, copper-blue, black-tailed buff and Columbian. Bantam colours are black, white, copper-black and silver cuckoo. Fourteen colours are listed by the

Entente Européenne Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...

. The British type, with unfeathered legs, is not recognised in Europe. The

Australian Poultry Standard The ''Australian Poultry Standards'' is the official breed standard for poultry fancy in Australia. It is the standard of perfection from which all poultry in Australia is supposed to be judged when exhibited at poultry shows. It is published ...

recognises both feather- and clean-legged. In the United Kingdom five colours are recognised: black, dark cuckoo, golden cuckoo and silver cuckoo, with unfeathered shanks; and copper-black, with feathered shanks. The eyes are red or orange, the

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

, face, earlobes and wattles are red. The shanks and the soles of the feet are usually greyish or pinkish white, depending on the plumage; the colour of the beak also depends on the plumage colour, and varies from pale horn to dark horn.

Use

It is a dual-purpose bird, reared both for its dark brown eggs and for its table qualities.

References

Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in France {{bots, deny=Citation bot