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?

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[GreenbrierChickens]

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

 

[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.

 

[Arya28]

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

See that's what I read in several places for the general qualifications of the breeds... but then I read that when they are from a hatchery (mine are) that the breeding isn't as pure, so the leg colors (and even combs) of barred rocks, cuckoo marans, and dominiques can all be interchangeable.

To be honest, these guys have me a bit stumped... when they were babies, their beaks and legs were definitely white, and the legs had a black wash down them, like yours does. But now, their beaks and legs have a slightly yellow tint. But they still have that black wash down them that barred rocks are not supposed to have but marans do! It's like they are a mixture of them both

And the barring isn't as clean as most barred rocks, its more like the barring on yours. But that can be interchangeable as well so I have no clue. I am leaning more towards marans though.

 

[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.

 

[Mousiebby]

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.

Sure thing! Let me just kick her out the coop

 

[Mousiebby]

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.

Sweet! Thank you! I’ll do this today