​ The Flock 

       Back in 2025, while searching for high-quality Black Copper Marans, I stumbled across a couple of breeder pages on Facebook that were both based in the UK that completely stopped me in my tracks. These breeders were Mikes Poultry & Greenfield Marans.
       Standing out in their flock was the stunning, eye-catching Silver Lavender Marans. 
       Lavender has always been my absolute favorite poultry variety—I already keep Lavender Silkies, Satins, and Ameraucanas—but seeing it paired with crisp, cool silver-white was a whole new level of beautiful!
     After playing around with the good old chickens genetics calculator, I decided that it would be feasible if I could source some lavenders here in the US so I began my hunt. It was going to take a little bit of time but I had the space and motivation to give it a try.
       I also figured that if I couldn't source LMs, I'd also work on creating them from scratch by utilizing lavender Orpington roosters to pull in 2 copies of the lavender gene with my Black Silver hens. This would ensure that all offspring would be heterozygous for recessive lavender.
       I would also have to work with the extended black gene that the lavenders carry which would potentially work against my Black Silvers. So, it was going to be a bit of a long process. Lots of hatching and lots of growing out.
       The spring of 2026, I began to wander around the internet and FB to see if lavender Marans even existed in the States. And to my luck, they did! Much like my other breeds, I purchased from several different breeders in an attempt to start off with as much genetic diversity in my flock as possible because it was safe to assume there wasn't going to be many as it wasn't an approved variety and those Black Coppers reign supreme.
Why do a project with a lighter brown egg color when you can get those pretty dark russet reds fairly quickly from a BCM?
       But as my chicks from these hatches began to grow out, most notably the roosters, stark white started showing up in the hackles, backs, wings, and saddle feathers of these boys. I didn't want to get my hopes up thinking I had what I thought I had, so I allowed them to mature further before trusting what I saw. But there was no mistaking, these were already my end goal - Silver Lavenders!
       This finding potentially saved me YEARS of work. And to add to even more excitement, these (roosters) were homozygous for the silver (S) gene. And the egg color from these Lavenders was already fairly impressive to begin with. So, the black Silver splits produced from these birds could also potentially influence better silver and add some darker egg color in my black and blue Silver line.
       And the black Silvers will certainly contribute as well due to what's called the "shredder gene" associated with lavender. The "shredder gene" isn't a separate mutation, but a structural side effect of the recessive lavender gene (lav/lav) itself. It disrupts melanin deposition during feather development, causing the feather barbs to detach and split into a frayed, ragged look—especially on the hackles, saddles, and tails.
       To fix this, you can cross lavender birds back to strong-feathered, solid black Marans or Black Silvers. This introduces dominant, healthy feather structures and creates "split" carriers, which can then be bred back into the line to successfully restore hard, smooth plumage.
NOTE: It's important to note that crossing Silver Lavenders to solid Black Marans will lose the visual silver until further generations due to the extended black gene (E) in the solid Black. In order to maintain Silver in your Lavenders, it's necessary to use a clean Black Silver. Although I have no way of testing for it, I'm fairly certain the NWH line of Black Silvers contains the birchen (ER) gene due to several individuals displaying some degree of lacing on the breast feathers. Because the ER gene is recessive to E, you will create "splits" of ER in your first generation if you choose to use solids.


​History of the Marans
       The Marans breed originated in France, in marshy areas close to the Atlantic coast. The breed is named after the historic port town of Marans. Evolution of the Marans type bird is said to have begun as early as the 13th century, with crosses between the local marsh hens and various gamecocks brought in to the port on ships.
       Gradual development of the breed then continued through the centuries, including the introduction of Brahma and Langshan blood during the late 1800s. Marans in their modern form first began appearing in French poultry shows in 1914. The Marans Club of France was organized in 1929, and that club established the first standard for Marans in 1931.
 ​      Marans have been imported to the USA in small numbers for many years now, probably beginning around the time that soldiers returned to the States after World War II. Over the years, birds and eggs have been brought in not only from France but also from countries such as England, Canada, Australia, and possibly Belgium and Switzerland. Importations of "English type" clean-legged Marans have led to the establishment of many clean-legged flocks in this country, especially in the cuckoo variety; nonetheless, the American standard adheres to the French standard calling for lightly feathered shanks and toes.


Description
       Marans are best known for their large, russet brown eggs. This is a defining characteristic of the Marans breed, so selection for egg color and size should never be neglected.
       Physically, the Marans is a medium-sized bird with the character of a rustic farm hen, giving an impression of solidity and strength without being coarse. The legs are lightly feathered, but leg feathering should never be excessively heavy.  Eye color is bright and clear in all varieties, never darkening into brown nor paling into yellow or pearl.
       The Marans is a general-purpose fowl for production of both meat and eggs. The breed is most famous for its large, dark chocolate-russet eggs, but it is also known for the fine flavor of its meat.


Disqualifications
  • Yellow on shanks or toes.
  • White ear lobes.
  • Pearl or black eyes.
  • Absence of feathers on shanks.
  • White ("parasitic white") at base of any tail feathers
  • Presence of prominent or pale yellow/straw-colored feathering

Can I use a black Silver Marans from a BBS line to cross with lavender and black split to lavender?

YES. Blue, black, and splash chickens are all controlled by a single incompletely dominant Blue Dilution gene (Bl). This gene dilutes black eumelanin pigment in the feathers, resulting in the three possible color variations.
  • Blue (Bl / bl⁺): Birds with one copy of the dilution gene will be BLUE.
  • Splash (Bl / Bl): Birds with two copies of the dilution gene will be SPLASH.
  • Black (bl⁺ / bl⁺): Birds with no copy of the dilution gene will be BLACK.
​This means that black (bl⁺ / bl⁺) Silver Marans do not carry copies of the Bl gene and will not interfere with how lavender works. Lavender (Self Blue) also works on the eumelanin in black feathers but it is also a recessive gene. So the bird must carry two copies to appear lavender. Birds with one copy will appear black but have a 50/50% chance of passing the lav gene on to their offspring.
  • Lavender (lav/lav): Birds with two copies of the lav gene will be homozygous for lavender.
  • Black Split to Lavender (Lav/lav): Birds with one copy of the lav gene will be heterozygous black.

It is highly advised for you to not cross a Blue (Bl / bl⁺) or Splash (Bl / Bl) bird with a Lavender. The lavender is recessive and cannot be expressed over a dominant gene such as Bl.