My Cuckoo Maran has gone Cuckoo!

[aart]

How long do I keep her on time out?

My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

 

[Mousiebby]

My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

I blocked off all, but 1 box. My red didn’t lay yesterday so I needed to leave one. As soon as she laid I was out there ready to gather and block box. Maran beat me and sat on the egg. I might have to isolate her

 

[aart]

I blocked off all, but 1 box. My red didn’t lay yesterday so I needed to leave one. As soon as she laid I was out there ready to gather and block box. Maran beat me and sat on the egg. I might have to isolate her

That's where the broody crate works best, you don't have to block the other birds from using the nests...or be down there watching all the time.

 

[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]

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!
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Thank you for posting this picture! It definitely helps seeing them side by side.

All of your hens in the picture are very beautiful! After looking at this, I'm pretty sure we have barred rocks. They definitely have legs that are more yellow, and their barring is very distinct. They are super friendly and sweet, and pretty. We did get them out of the pullet bin though, and half of them are roosters! Lol. I can definitely see differences between them now that I haven't seen in the other pictures of them. Thanks again

Also, I noticed you have a chair where you can watch your chickens, too! Everyone picks on us for that!

And thank you! The chicken in my picture is one of my silkie hens. She is such a sweetheart!

 

[jeepgrrl]

Thank you for posting this picture! It definitely helps seeing them side by side.

All of your hens in the picture are very beautiful! After looking at this, I'm pretty sure we have barred rocks. They definitely have legs that are more yellow, and their barring is very distinct. They are super friendly and sweet, and pretty. We did get them out of the pullet bin though, and half of them are roosters! Lol. I can definitely see differences between them now that I haven't seen in the other pictures of them. Thanks again

Also, I noticed you have a chair where you can watch your chickens, too! Everyone picks on us for that!

And thank you! The chicken in my picture is one of my silkie hens. She is such a sweetheart!

My neighbors all think I'm nuts when it comes to my hens. We moved out to the country from the city/suburbs, so my attitude towards animals makes me an outlier in our area! They all tell me that they laugh whenever they see me out there with my girls and they are following me around like I am the Pied Piper. LOL, you saw my chair! Yes, I do love to sit outside with my girls. They are so entertaining to watch, and a couple of them will usually fly onto the arms of the chair and sit with me (really begging for treats ). When I'm not sitting in it, they usually are on it...I have to hose it off frequently, as you can imagine!

I'm glad I could be of some help in identifying your birds. I'm new at this (since April) but have learned a lot. You will like your BRs, the girls are so friendly, and my girl lays almost every day. Not sure about the boys, though...I was afraid to get a rooster b/c I heard they could be mean, and I didn't want any unplanned baby chicks because I would never be able to give them up! I'll have to read up on the Silkies, they are so beautiful and I would love to add one to my flock next Spring.

 

[boatagor]

Add me to the chair in the backyard to watch my chickens club! jeepgrrl, you have a beautiful flock! I can't really offer any insight on the OP, but I had a barred rock pullet that I had to return to the farm where I bought her because she was MEAN. She was very friendly with me, but she was so horrible to the other pullets. She almost took my face off once flying at one of them sitting on my lap. It makes me sad when i read everyone saying their BRs are so friendly. We replaced her with 2 other pullets, a BO and BA, and they absolutely hate me

 

[jeepgrrl]

Add me to the chair in the backyard to watch my chickens club! jeepgrrl, you have a beautiful flock! I can't really offer any insight on the OP, but I had a barred rock pullet that I had to return to the farm where I bought her because she was MEAN. She was very friendly with me, but she was so horrible to the other pullets. She almost took my face off once flying at one of them sitting on my lap. It makes me sad when i read everyone saying their BRs are so friendly. We replaced her with 2 other pullets, a BO and BA, and they absolutely hate me

Thank you, boatagor! Sadly, the Buff Brahma (the light tan one in the back right of the pic I posted and also my avatar) was picked off by a hawk (we think) in the middle of the day last September. Her name was Feather Feet, she was a bit shy but was just starting to come out of her shell (no pun intended) when we lost her. That's the price we pay for free ranging, unfortunately. Sorry about your luck with the BR! My BA was a bit put off with me for the first few months, then she started to become more friendly as she got older. She is beautiful, with the green sheen on her feathers but boy is she LOUD! My god, when she wants something, the whole township where I live can hear her! She's worse than a roo! Maybe try getting a CM next time you add to your flock. The CM was recommended to me because I was looking for friendly breeds that produce well, and mine definitely lives up to that. I am going to start a new thread - "Chair by the chicken coop club". I am curious to see how many of us like to partake in that activity. There's at least three of us on this thread that belong!