Marans
 A cuckoo Marans hen | |
| Other names |
|
|---|---|
| Country of origin | France |
| Standard | Marans-Club de France (in French) |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Egg colour | dark brown |
| Comb type | single |
| Classification | |
| APA | Continental[2] |
| EE | yes[3] |
| PCGB | soft feather: heavy[4] |
| |
The Marans, French: Poule de Marans, is a French breed of dual-purpose chicken, reared both for meat and for its dark brown eggs. It originated in or near the port town of Marans, in the département of Charente-Maritime, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.
The eggs are of an unusual rich brown, varying from mahogany to chocolate; only one other chicken breed, the Penedesenca of Catalonia, lays such a dark egg.[5]: 210
History
[edit]The Marans originated in – and is named for – the town of Marans, in the département of Charente-Maritime, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.[6]: 194 [7]: 172
It is believed to derive partly from birds brought by passing British ships to the port of La Rochelle, partly from local birds of the Marais Poitevin, and partly from imported Croad Langshan stock, of which from 1876 there were three breeders in the region.[8]
It was first shown in La Rochelle in 1914 under the name poule du pays or 'local chicken'. A breed society was formed in 1929, and in 1931 the first breed standard was drawn up.[9]: 56
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.[8]: 126 However, it is not certain that the Marans – with unfeathered shanks – shown by Lord Greenway at the Crystal Palace in 1934 descended even partly from this French stock.[8]: 126 According to the Poultry Club of Great Britain, the British Marans derives from cross-breeding 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.[6]: 194 [7]: 172 It may be a distinct breed, unconnected to the French Marans.[8]: 127
Characteristics
[edit]Ten colours are recognised in the French breed standard for large fowl: white, wheaten, silver cuckoo, golden cuckoo, black, copper-black, silver-black, copper-blue, black-tailed buff and Columbian.[1] Bantam colours are black, white, copper-black and silver cuckoo.[1] Fourteen colours are listed by the Entente Européenne.[3] The British type, with unfeathered legs, is not recognised in Europe.[1] The Australian Poultry Standard recognises both feather- and clean-legged.[10]
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.[6]: 195 [7]: 172
The eyes are red or orange, the comb, 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.[1]
Use
[edit]
It is a dual-purpose bird, reared both for its dark brown eggs and for its table qualities.
References
[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Standard officiel de la Marans (in French). Marans-Club de France. Archived 4 March 2016.
- ^ APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
- ^ a b Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
- ^ Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
- ^ Pascale Nuttall, Laurent Bessol, Caroline Lesage (2020). Le guide Larousse des poules et du poulailler (in French). [Paris]: Larousse. ISBN 9782035939647.
- ^ a b c J. Ian H. Allonby, Philippe B. Wilson (editors) (2018). British Poultry Standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain, seventh edition. Chichester; Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 9781119509141.
- ^ a b c Victoria Roberts (2008). British Poultry Standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain, sixth edition. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 9781405156424.
- ^ a b c d David Scrivener (2009). Popular Poultry Breeds. Ramsbury, Marlborough: The Crowood Press Ltd. ISBN 9781847979711.
- ^ Nathalie Semenuik, Georges Pernot (2008). Les poules (in French). [Paris]: Editions Artémis. ISBN 9782844166937.
- ^ 2nd Australian Poultry Standard, 2012, published by the Victorian Poultry Breeder Association (trading as Poultry Stud Breeders and Exhibitors Victoria).