Not An Ordinary Egg - Black Copper Marans

At first glance you may not see the beauty of this egg.  But in my eyes, it is a dream come true.  I was fortunate to receive a Black Copper Marans rooster and hen from a friend on Christmas Eve.  A few weeks later, we got our first egg.  Typical of the breed, the eggs are a very dark brown.  Some people refer to them as “chocolate”.  We saved several eggs and put them in the incubator.  After a week, we candled the eggs and found out not a single egg in the first batch was fertile.  With young birds, this is not uncommon.  Soon a second group of eggs was placed in the incubator.  Our first chick was born on February 25.  To date five chicks have hatched and appear happy and healthy.  We hope to have a few more hatching out this weekend.  Raising our own chickens is an exciting step toward becoming a more self-sustainable farm.