Megs Marans

Megs Marans Passionate breeder and proud advocate of Black and Blue Copper Marans. Committed to continual improvement and excellence.

Focused on breeding to the French Standard while preserving and enhancing exceptional egg colour.

24/06/2026

Avian influenza, or ‘bird flu’ is a strain of flu virus that can infect birds and humans.

Little Violette and Celeste growing well. They are getting more and more colour. I hope they kick of and put a growth ...
22/06/2026

Little Violette and Celeste growing well. They are getting more and more colour. I hope they kick of and put a growth spurt on in the next couple of weeks. I have entered them, along with Odette and Greggy, in the Rare Breeds show. 🙈

One of the things we often talk about in breeding is just how much a cockerel can change as he matures. Grégoire has cer...
20/06/2026

One of the things we often talk about in breeding is just how much a cockerel can change as he matures. Grégoire has certainly reminded me of that over the past couple of weeks.

I was genuinely surprised by how much he has developed in just a fortnight. His body has gone from being a little on the racy side to filling out very nicely, giving him a much stronger overall appearance. He has grown in size right across the board, and I’m particularly pleased with how his tail is coming along.

It will be interesting to see how much further he develops over the next couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on him again at bath time in another fortnight and having a proper assessment. So far, I’m very happy with the direction he’s heading in. 😊🐓

Jose, here are the 2 blue boys I have been hiding away. I wasn’t sure about their copper. I thought it was going to be ...
20/06/2026

Jose, here are the 2 blue boys I have been hiding away. I wasn’t sure about their copper. I thought it was going to be a bit light and more yellow than copper colour but the more copper they are getting the better it’s looking.

I’m not complaining about the rain one bit — Lord knows we need it! ☔That said, I’m pretty sure some of the chooks that ...
20/06/2026

I’m not complaining about the rain one bit — Lord knows we need it! ☔

That said, I’m pretty sure some of the chooks that are penned up and not free-ranging are about ready to ask for floaties. 🦆😂

Today’s big job was giving the two main pens a much-needed makeover. Thanks to a friend doing some detective work the other week, I discovered our local dump sells mulch for just $23 a loader bucket full. So I borrowed a good mate’s cage trailer, handed over my money, and came home with a mountain of mulch.

Several wheelbarrow loads and a lot of shovelling later, both pens are now covered with around 4 inches of fresh mulch — and the chooks absolutely love it! They were straight into it scratching, digging and generally approving of my efforts.

I still have a couple more pens to build, and this will definitely be part of the plan for those as well. There’s something incredibly satisfying about standing back and seeing the pens looking this good.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to enjoy a hot cup of tea and some pain relief for my b**g shoulder, which is thankfully on the mend. ☕💪

🐱🐭 Megs Marans Resident Pest Controller 🐭🐱Meet Miss Milly… our highly trained pest controller. Or at least that’s what h...
20/06/2026

🐱🐭 Megs Marans Resident Pest Controller 🐭🐱

Meet Miss Milly… our highly trained pest controller. Or at least that’s what her job description says. 😆

With the weather being so cold and wet lately, Miss Milly has decided that pest control is vastly overrated and has instead dedicated herself to transforming into a Norwegian Forest Cat. Her winter coat is becoming impressively fluffy, and her work ethic is becoming impressively questionable.

Rather than patrolling for mice, she can usually be found curled up on my cane chairs by the front door, enjoying what appears to be her 17th nap of the day. Apparently it’s far too cold and wet for mousing when there’s a perfectly good human inside.

These days her preferred hunting technique involves meowing dramatically and banging on the door until someone provides cat biscuits. Honestly, she seems to think the biscuits should just magically appear for her efforts.

The mice are probably thrilled. The chickens are unbothered. And Miss Milly remains convinced she’s Employee of the Month. 🙄😂🐾💕

🥚🎪 Show Season Is Upon Us… and apparently I made the questionable decision to enter an egg class again! 😆With another po...
20/06/2026

🥚🎪 Show Season Is Upon Us… and apparently I made the questionable decision to enter an egg class again! 😆

With another poultry show coming up, I’ve started collecting eggs for the 6 Brown Hen Eggs category. Unfortunately, at this time of year most of what I’m getting are pullet eggs, so they’ll just have to represent Team Marans!

I don’t go into these shows expecting big results, especially for a couple of reasons:

🐓 Firstly, I breed Marans. The birds and eggs I’m showing are still quite young, and in my experience it’s often the more established, widely recognised breeds that tend to catch the judge’s eye. That said, any placing we do get is always a lovely bonus and something I’m genuinely proud of.

🥚 Secondly, showing Marans eggs is HARD! One of the things judges look for is clean, unmarked eggs. Right now I have a pen full of enthusiastic but slightly clumsy pullets learning the finer points of laying box etiquette. Between crowded nest boxes, accidental kicks, and general pullet chaos, collecting scratch-free eggs can feel like an Olympic sport! 😂

For those who haven’t exhibited eggs before, it’s not just about colour. Judges are looking for:
• Uniform shape and size
• Consistent colour across the exhibit
• Clean shells free from marks and damage
• Freshness and good overall presentation

So every egg I collect is dated, and by show day I’ll select the best six—the most uniform, freshest, darkest, and hopefully the least scratched examples I can find.

For now, the collection process continues… and the pullets are doing their very best to make it as challenging as possible! 🤣🥚🐓

19/06/2026

Well look what I pulled out of the hen pen this afternoon! 😍

This beauty is from one of my pullets and I think she’s done a pretty good job! The colour on this egg is stunning, with that rich russet depth that Marans enthusiasts love to see. A good Marans egg should have a deep red/ruddy base colour, with the additional pigment coating adding that darker “spray-painted” appearance.

What’s really interesting is that this particular hen lays a shiny egg, whereas Odette and a couple of my other girls lay matte eggs. I’ve noticed that matte eggs often appear darker, while shiny eggs can look a little lighter, even when the actual pigment level is very similar.

There also seems to be a difference in how the pigment is applied. My matte eggs tend to be very even and uniform in colour, while the shiny eggs often have what I can only describe as a “blocked spray gun” effect — speckles, shading and variations right through the coating. It’s a fascinating little observation I’ve made within my own flock.

Personally, I like both styles, but if I had to choose, I do have a soft spot for the matte eggs. They’re much easier to photograph and usually appear closer to their true colour in pictures.

Speaking of photos, none of my bird or egg photos are enhanced and I don’t use filters. In fact, this egg actually looks darker to my eye than it does in the photo, and even the egg chart appears a little different in person. Capturing egg colour accurately is surprisingly difficult!

I’m always happy to send shell samples to prospective buyers before they purchase fertile eggs (when I have eggs available), so people can see the colour for themselves.

But as much as we all love a dark egg, egg colour is only one part of the Marans breed. Type, temperament, vigour, fertility, feather quality and breeding to the standard are all equally important pieces of the puzzle. A beautiful egg is wonderful, but a quality Marans should be so much more than just the shell it lays. 🥚❤️🐓

These 2 younger boys are both 15-16 weeks old. These 2 fella’s I have chosen to run on for myself. Boy 1 I like much be...
14/06/2026

These 2 younger boys are both 15-16 weeks old. These 2 fella’s I have chosen to run on for myself. Boy 1 I like much better than boy 2. Boy 1 has better length and depth of body, better tail set & a better comb. He also has much richer copper and richer ear feather copper. They both are going to have good eye colour, both have good leg colour and feather for their age. I am leaning towards boy 1 at this stage, but as we all know, they can change rapidly from bad to good and good to bad.

✨Sold✨Spent a bit of time sitting in the grow-out pen today, just watching the boys and weighing up the pros and cons of...
14/06/2026

✨Sold✨
Spent a bit of time sitting in the grow-out pen today, just watching the boys and weighing up the pros and cons of each one.

This fellow was one I had been considering keeping, but after a chat with a trusted mentor, I’ve decided he may be better suited to another breeding program. A breeder contacted me late last year looking for a Black Copper cockerel, so I have offered him this guy. I’m just waiting to hear back.

I’m also keeping an eye on three others for a second breeder, knowing what traits he is hoping to improve in his line. Two of them are currently going through that awkward ugly duckling stage, so I’ll give them another couple of weeks before deciding which one might be the best fit.

One of the hardest parts of breeding is deciding who stays and who goes, but it’s all part of working towards improving the breed. 🖤🐓

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Adelaide Hills
Hills

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+61408682770

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