As low as: $15.99
Order now for estimated delivery by July 17, 2025.
Not Sexed = 3
Female = 3
Male = 1
Total of 3 birds to ship
Seasonal/Shipped Feb thru mid August
Limit of 24.
This line was established from birds selected by prominent breeders throughout the US and is still a project in the works. Cackle Hatchery started this project in 2016 along with some bloodlines from Bill Grover. The hens are capable of laying eggs as dark as any other Marans. Selection should reflect a balance of type, egg color, as well as the chestnut feather color of the New Hampshire. The French Standard suggests the variety should, “correspond to those of the New Hampshire breed in color”.
Notable defects to consider before buying this breed are: 30% chance of fused toes and/or web toes and 30% chance of males with extreme large combs. The feather coloring is still a long way from project standard we are working on. We hope to improve the genetic inefficiencies as this project develops but this is what you can expect for the 2025 hatching season. Our cackle flock lays eggshell colors of 6-9 on the French Marans Egg color chart found in the gallery.
Like all Marans, the Black Tailed Red is a dual purpose breed. The hens can go broody, and make excellent mothers. They are VERY rare, and will make an exceptional addition to your homestead.
We also offer the French Marans Female Surplus and the Dark Brown Egg Female Surplus
Sexing Note: Most of our breeds we can average 90% accuracy on gender sexing. However, with the French Marans breed it is more difficult for the vent sexor to make this determination, so for this breed our guarantee is 75% accuracy.
| Date | Available? |
|---|---|
| 2025-07-14 | |
| 2025-07-16 | |
| 2025-07-21 | |
| 2025-07-23 | |
| 2025-07-28 | |
| 2025-07-30 | |
| 2025-08-04 | |
| 2025-08-06 | |
| 2025-08-11 | |
| 2025-08-13 | |
| 2025-08-20 | |
| 2025-08-27 | |
| 2025-09-03 | |
| 2025-09-10 | |
| 2025-09-17 | |
| 2025-09-24 | |
| 2025-10-08 | |
| 2025-10-15 | |
| 2025-10-22 | |
| 2025-10-29 |
Click link for details: Vaccination Policy
| 5 star | 76% | |
| 4 star | 0% | |
| 3 star | 23% | |
| 2 star | 0% | |
| 1 star | 0% |
You must be logged in to post a review.
Audrey Gibbs –
All the birds I received arrived healthy of the 11 straight run I ordered- 5 turned out to be hens, 6 were boys. Overall the birds were healthy and calm as Marans tend to be with only one hen being excessively vocal even as an adult. Laying didn’t start until 7-8 months but the eggs are great color. Now the hens are almost a year old and only one hen lays regularly; all the others only lay 1-2 a week.
These are wheaten color marans; there is nothing unusually red about them and the coloring is mostly dark cream/tan.
mickicottam –
These are the most hardy chicks I’ve ever raised. I ordered 12 last year and I’m used to losing a couple of chicks (at least) with every shipment of chicks no matter where I order from, shipping is just rough. But I did not lose any of the BTR chicks, they were super healthy and hardy, visibly so compared to the other breeds I ordered at the same time. None of the chicks I received had fused toes! The grown birds are beautiful. The coloring in the feathers of the hens is inconsistent (it’s a new breed which is actively being improved upon so it’s to be expected) the boys have more consistent coloring. Some did have larger combs that I will be breeding out but it’s nothing that was alarming. The eggs are beautiful and have a dark cherry tint to it. I would say my hens lay between a 5-7 sometimes an 8 but they don’t have a pure brown look to them like the BCM, they definitely have a rosy undertone which I personally think is beautiful. Some of them lay speckles. I’m really excited to keep working with this breed!
lajems65 –
I ordered 3 straight run chicks in April, received 4, ended up with 2 females and 2 males. Now 6 months later they are laying beautiful dark eggs, one lays maybe a 7 on the darkness scale and the other slightly lighter at a 6 but with darker speckles. Gorgeous eggs and gorgeous birds. One hen is a beautiful even salmon color, the other a bit darker but not as even coloring. One rooster has coloring like a new hampshire, the others coloring is a little off. They all behave well and don’t cause any problems, also none had the webbed toes that was mentioned as a possibility in the description. Overall, love them, and would like to buy some more.
Dylan Ely –
Love these gals. Great layers, beautiful eggs, and very mild mannered hens.
k.kohtalo –
I ordered 3 pullets, and received 4. One was a little weirdo who was obsessed with pecking eyes, but after a long separation (for about 4 weeks!!) she finally grew out if it. They are very skittish, remind me of my leghorns, but they lay beautiful chocolate brown eggs. Mine grew to be a light brown tan, with just a bit of black on their tails! (They vary a bit, some more than others, but generally a relatively small black tail.) Overall, I would recommend these!
Jon Edwards –
Ordered 4 straight run chicks. Seven were sent, all very heathy. Of the seven, ONE was a pullet, way off the law of averages for any straight run I’ve ever ordered. One cockerel was “off color” (the coloring of a pullet not a cockerel) and the one I kept developed webbed feet as Cackle said these birds might. No eggs yet so cannot comment on their color. All in all, not a very satisfying experience, which is unusual for my experience with this hatchery.
ruf_girl –
I ordered 3 and received 4 but one was DOA. It was a rough shipment and I don not fault Cackle for it. They started out MEAN and would peck at the eyes of the other chicks. I had to place them in a separate brooder with some turkey chicks and they were fine. I chalk it up to stress. After about 10 days I was able to integrate them back into the chicken brooder and they have been perfectly nice ever since. At about 3 months I found one dead with no apparent cause and our birds are checked twice daily so it was a bit of a mystery. The 2 remaining hens are well mannered, matured early and both lay. One produces a beautiful dark chocolate egg (my favorite), the other’s is much lighter and speckled but I don’t mind the variety. I have had Lavender Marans and Black Coppers. These Black Tailed Reds are my favorite Marans so far. I will be purchasing again
Toni Johnson –
I wanted to add to my review that the shade of red varied.. some are darker red; some are creme on undercarriage, red on top; some have darker red head and neck and lighter red on the bodies and creme on the under carriage..I like them all.. enjoy!
Toni Johnson –
Ordered 14 females. all arrived healthy at the end of may..it’s almost first of Nov now.. still waiting on the eggs to start dropping.. the personality of the birds are inquisitive, not a cuddling type if that’s what you’re after.. they like to roam/forage..half of them have taken to roosting in a crepe myrtle in their run instead of the coop.. worried about all of that when and if it ever storms here..(drought conditions now).. the hens seem to be pretty layed back and don’t like confrontation..I’m enjoying them currently..
lily.alisa2899 –
Though the eggs were a gorgeous deep chocolate color, and all the hens were laying an egg a day, they only laid eggs for a year. Though their living conditions and diet are still exceptionally good, none of my 13 hens lay eggs. The last one I got was 7 months ago, and no, they’re not hiding them someplace.
Andrea Hunter –
I need more of these! I love this breed. Eggs are dark, hens are nice. And they lay almost every day!
audra oldham –
Beautiful birds. Docile and inquisitive. I really love them. We just started getting eggs and I was delighted that they were 7-9 on the egg color scale. Definitely the darkest eggs I’ve ever seen in person. I would highly recommend this breed. I would advise getting straight run though. I ordered hens and Roosters separately but got 50/50.
danamb45 –
Thank you for the excellent service and the extra baby. All Beautiful & healthy chicks.