General Info
Cuckoo Marans are generally quite friendly chickens which grow to a very good size. They should live to around 8-9 years. Laying may stop around year 6-7. Beautiful Very dark eggs will lighten over time. Egg laying generally starts at about 6 months with the genetics we currently have.
White Leghorns lay eggs faithfully with high production but can be flighty and a little skittish in the coop. They often like to roost high up in trees which can be a hassle. Lifespan is often 5-7 years. While egg production will drop after 3-4 years they will normally lay up to 5 years with the last year being possibly only 1 egg a week. Small high production birds often have shorter lives and for these reasons egg factories often cull them between year 2-3.
The Mix
Our cross of these two breeds was done with a highly fertile and well tempered Cuckoo Maran Rooster and very true to breed, high egg production Purebred Leghorn Layers. The Leghorns we chose are all smaller birds which have good traits and are faithful early morning layers.
Eggs
Egg laying abilities match quite well with both breeds and combining them leads to good long-term results with nice brown eggs.
Appearance
Pur CXL Crosses may have some dark random patches on their bodies and areas of slightly darker down when freshly hatched which make them stand out from Purebred Leghorn Chicks. We have also noted a slightly darker area around the eyes on these Chick’s.
Temperment
Crossing is commonly reported to give Chickens which remove a bit of the hyperactivity and flighty traits of the Leghorn while retaining some useful friendly traits of the Cuckoo Maran.
Explore all of the breeds we offer on the Chicken Breed Index page or the Mugshot page we call the Chicken Breed Gallery.