
The Cuckoo maran hen is a good and faithful mom. Marans are very popular because the roosters are mated with Araucana hens to develop Olive egger chickens.įertile cuckoo maran eggs for sale can be bought from any tractor supply near you or from reputable breeders. Under good management, 3 to 4 eggs can be laid in a week. The egg shell color is deep brown and sometimes may contain some speckles on it. In a year, cuckoo marans hens will lay between 150-200 large eggs. Some will mate with roosters in case they are together. When they are about to lay, these teenage females will often be seen hanging near the nesting boxes. Pullets are ready and sexually mature at the age of 5 to 6 months. Egg laying and usesĬuckoo maran hens are faithful layers of chocolate eggs with a rich dark brown color. But have a rooster to guard them against chicken predators like possums, hawks and chicken snakes. Out on their own they will supplement their diet with insects, grubs and small weeds. Letting these birds roam on the backyard will help lower the cost of feeds.
#Broken age golden egg free
They are fine when raised in confinement and do equally fine on free range. Additionally, they will adapt and do well in hot climate zones as long as there are enough shaded areas and plenty of cold drinking water. They do well in areas where temperatures plummet. These chooks are among the cold tolerant chickens. They are likely not going to get intimidated like the ISA Brown and the Serama bantams that have a calm demeanor. Learn to call your girls by the name and they will get used with time.Ĭuckoo maran chicken ranks neither on the top nor at the bottom of the pecking order. Toss those celery chops, whole corn or feed them from your hand if you want them to easily bond with you.Īdditionally, these feathered friends will appreciate if you brand them cute chicken names. They will always follow you around as you go on with your daily chores. They are not the type you would want to get close to kids because they can peck or bully them. Maran roosters have a game bird temperament and are at times aggressive towards other roosters. The hens are some of the friendliest chicken breeds accepting to be held and sat on the lap. Temperament and HardinessĬuckoo maran chickens are sweet, calm and chatty. Their wings are closely packed on the body. These birds have a compact plumage like that of game birds. Eyes are orange in color though sometimes the color may vary. The beak is short, strong, slightly curved and of horn color. On each clean foot there are four well-spaced toes with short claws.
#Broken age golden egg skin
The legs are slate or pink so is the skin color.Ĭuckoo maran chickens do not have feathered legs. The tails are held at an angle and the back has a visible U-shape between the tail and neck. The comb is single, upright and has well-marked points on it. Its dark feathers are barred with irregular dark and light slate colored bars.Ĭombs, earlobes and wattles are red in color. There are bantam marans where the cocks weigh just 500g while the ladies weigh 400g.Ĭuckoo maran chickens can be easily confused with the Plymouth Barred Rock. They are medium to large sized chickens with roosters weighing 3.6kgs while the hens weighing around 3.2kgs. The marans are one of the favorite dual purpose chicken breeds. Black copper marans and the Cuckoo marans are the most popular among all the other strains in the United States.Ĭuckoo maran was officially recognized by the APA in 2011. Not all the color varieties of the Maran chicken are recognized by the APA. They include: Columbian, White, Wheaten, Copper Blue, Birchen, Brown Red, Black tailed Buff, Golden Cuckoo, Silver Cuckoo, Black and Dark Cuckoo. There are a number of color varieties of this chicken breed.

The leg feathered strain is known as French marans or just Marans. In some strains, the legs are feathered while in some they are not.

Although the actual birds that were used to create the Cuckoo marans remain unknown, Langshans and feverolles are said to have contributed their genes.

To arrive at the marans chickens, in 1800s, local game birds were bred with other breeds. This demand was triggered by the rapid growing population which needed to be well fed. French farmers needed a breed that could offer both meat and eggs.Īt the time, there was a growing demand for chicken and other poultry products. The cuckoo marans chicken breed traces their ancestry origin in the port town of Marans, France. 8 Final Thoughts History of the cuckoo maran
