[Stereo]

Still struggling to get my head around this. We hatched 3 Black Copper Marans last year and got 2 boys and a hen. One of the boys is very good, heavy and true to type. The hen is very good as well except she has never laid dark brown eggs.

Now, this year I have hatched a load more with a view to getting some good unrelated hens for the good cockerel. From what I'm reading though it's likely that he doesn't have dark egg genetics as his sister doesn't. I gather that it is him who will pass the egg colour to his offspring. Is that correct and if so, should I not breed from him?

[Womble]

I don't know the theory, but I do know that a Welsummer hen crossed with a RIR cockerel gives mid-brown eggs, i.e. lighter than Welsummer, but definitely tinted and darker than an RIR.

HTH!

[Stereo]

Yeah, that's true. What I need to understand is where the dark brown genetic comes from. If I buy (which I did) a load of really dark brown hatching eggs and hatch them into hens, will they lay dark brown eggs or does it depend entirely on their father? I ask because our 3 original BCMs were from super dark eggs but the only hen lays mid brown eggs. I'm interested in how this can be and if it means that her brothers are not going to create dark egg laying offspring.

[cuckoomarans]

breeding for dark brown eggs is very difficult,just because a chick was hatched from a dark egg is no guarantee that a pullet produced from that egg will go on to lay dark eggs or that her brother will carry the dark egg gene
If you purchased the eggs the breeder might be running a cockerel with them that is unrelated and perhaps not from the same quality of egg,or just doesnt nick with his mate  for egg colour
I find to produce a dark brown egg strain you need to use quite a bit of in-breeding/line breeding.Many breeders/sellers of eggs are obsessed with using unrelated stock
it is also true that the males seem to have more input in egg colour than the females
The only way i have found to breed dark brown egg layers is to retain quite a lot of pullets,usually 10-20 that were all  hatched from dark eggs ,over the first year i whittle them down to perhaps 1 or 2 birds that have stayed the distance as regards egg colour and laying performance. next year i will breed from them,i usually put them in with a related cock. i will save pullets and  cockerels from this mating,if the eggs have improved in the next generation,i use that cockerel again,if it hasnt i mate one of the young cockerels back to mum/aunty

[Victorian Farmer]

Let's help you out firstly the estate what's some dark layers I've gone through the genetics and it is the cock birds .So I've bought eggs from darbey they are prize winning dark eggs I'm going to use the cock birds onto a dark cuckoo marran hens that will give me sex link young about 4 dark brown cross then use the dark line hens to a blue marran from them I'll go back to the black marrans as other members have said breed plenty and work on them dark brown eggs web site will help. The darbey eggs are the best I've seen.Also mick grogan is also a natshnal winner for brown eggs 3 hens will cost 45 pound in ding wall in  November. That would give you a start the sex link hens are very nice looking hens .I've done blue eggs as well as Cotswold leg bars made from Morrison's of Ireland cross Leghorn dominant D 229

[Stereo]

Thanks all. I guess it's trial and error. The only way is to put some hens to him next year and see what their offspring lay. By which time he'll be knocking on a bit. Hmmm. Tough this pure breed stuff.