My Cuckoo Maran has gone Cuckoo!

[Mousiebby]

Princess Fluffy Butt has stopped laying and gone broody. Shes only 5 months and had recently started laying. No eggs to sit on, but that doesn't bother her. Any suggestions to get her laying again?

 

[ChickNanny13]

You're going to have to "break" her....You can start bby removing her from the nest whenever she's sitting. You can block off the nest but if you have others, they don't have a place to lay. The BEST REMEDY is putting her in a wire cage with food & water within the run/coop....Elevate the cage so air flows under her, no bedding strictly wire.

I had 2 out of 5 Wynadottes go broody, tried all the above and only the wire cage worked. It may take several days but the sooner the less cage time.

 

[Arya28]

Hi! I don't know very much about this, as I haven't had a hen go broody yet. I have heard sometimes setting them in cold water helps to break them from the broodiness, but I don't know if it works. Maybe make sure she has access to calcium such as oyster shells or egg shells? I don't know if I can help you very much with this lol. I'm sure you will get good answers though.

But on the other hand, would you mind posting a picture of what your cuckoo marans looks like? We recently got some chicks at our feed store and don't know if they are barred rocks or cuckoo marans, so I would be curious to know what yours look like! If you can't that's fine, I was just curious.

 

[GreenbrierChickens]

My cuckoo Fajita is 27w and not laying. Bummer.

 

[aart]

Princess Fluffy Butt has stopped laying and gone broody. Shes only 5 months and had recently started laying. No eggs to sit on, but that doesn't bother her. Any suggestions to get her laying again?

First make sure she's actually broody, some birds like to lounge in the nest,
or hide there from bullies or if not feeling well.
Is she on the nest most the day and all night?
Is she screaming at you and biting if you try to touch her?
I only 'call broody' if they've been on the nest 3 days/nights running.
If she is broody, CN13 is correct, a broody breaker crate is the best option,
and the sooner the better.

 

[Arya28]

Ok! This is my Cuckoo...

She's very pretty! Thank you for the picture! I think mine look a little more like the ones in @GreenbrierChickens photo, so apparently there can be a lot of color variation in the same breed! I have one that's almost all white down her front and others that look more like yours. I guess only time will tell what they really are!

 

[aart]

Yup. Has been in there for about 6 days now. Gets angry and literally scream when we open box to gather other eggs

Into the breaker with her!!

 

[jeepgrrl]

Hi! I don't know very much about this, as I haven't had a hen go broody yet. I have heard sometimes setting them in cold water helps to break them from the broodiness, but I don't know if it works. Maybe make sure she has access to calcium such as oyster shells or egg shells? I don't know if I can help you very much with this lol. I'm sure you will get good answers though.

But on the other hand, would you mind posting a picture of what your cuckoo marans looks like? We recently got some chicks at our feed store and don't know if they are barred rocks or cuckoo marans, so I would be curious to know what yours look like! If you can't that's fine, I was just curious.

Hi Arya, I love your avatar image, such a beautiful bird! I have both a Barred Rock and a Cuckoo Marans. When they were chicks I couldn't really tell them apart, I thought the hatchery made a mistake and gave me two of one or the other. I posted a pic that has them both in it; sorry about the other hens, its the only one I have of the two side-by-side, but you can tell the difference. The black australorp in the very front is Henny Penny, but if you look behind her to the left is Lacey, a Barred Rock (on the left) and on Lacey's right is Gemma, the Cuckoo Marans. They do look very similar but Lacey's white "lace" on her feathers is much more prominent compared to Gemma, where her white feathers looked kind of muted and fainter. Additionally, Lacey's legs are yellow and Gemma's are white, which is another tell-tale identifier between the two breeds. They were probably 2.5 months old before I really could see the difference in their feathers. They are both terrific hens and very friendly, especially Gemma, and both are decent egg producers, Lacey moreso than Gemma. I hope this helps you; you will find out yourself here in a few weeks! Enjoy your girls!

 

[Arya28]

My cuckoo Fajita is 27w and not laying. Bummer. View attachment 1156772 View attachment 1156773

She's beautiful!

 

[GreenbrierChickens]

Hi! I don't know very much about this, as I haven't had a hen go broody yet. I have heard sometimes setting them in cold water helps to break them from the broodiness, but I don't know if it works. Maybe make sure she has access to calcium such as oyster shells or egg shells? I don't know if I can help you very much with this lol. I'm sure you will get good answers though.

But on the other hand, would you mind posting a picture of what your cuckoo marans looks like? We recently got some chicks at our feed store and don't know if they are barred rocks or cuckoo marans, so I would be curious to know what yours look like! If you can't that's fine, I was just curious.

Look at the legs. Barred rocks are yellow. Cuckoo maran is white. That's how I roughly tell.