Blue/grey cochin bantam

[mchen1234]

I have 15 chickens, 13 are large fowl hens, two of each of the following, Americana, Barred Rocks, blue andalusians, Golden sexlink, rhode island reds, delawares, and one australorp. The other two are bantams, I'm pretty sure they are blue or grey cochin bantams, I can't be sure though. The hen is very fluffy and round, she is a light grey color, almost the same color as the blue andalusians, the rooster is the same color but his neck has slightly darker feather and they are a bit iridescent, they both have feathered feet. I got them at coastal and they were in an assorted bantams section, I'm not sure if coastal even carries blue cochins but that's what they look like. The rooster is not on the top of the pecking order, the delewares are, but he doesn't get picked on. The hen on the other hand is really submissive and gets picked on a lot, the rooster looks out for her so she is never physically injured, but she never lays eggs and isn't as active as the rest of the chickens. She has always been like this and they are all now about 1 year old. Is she sick or is her submissive behavior and lack of eggs normal for her? Also, the rooster hasn't yet successfully bred with any of other hens but keeps trying to. If he does manage to, and the hens brood and have chicks, will the chicks be large fowl or bantams? What other traits will they inherent?

 

[donrae]

Those sound like blue cochins, you can post pics if you want to confirm breeds.


A stressed hen can be a poor layer, and cochins don't have a reputation as stellar layers in the first place. Have you tried separating her from the flock to see if she relaxes a little? That would be the first thing to try, maybe put the rooster or another hen in with her so she's not completely alone, but not so picked on. If she settles down and starts laying and acting more normal, you might need to evaluate her future in your flock. Being with all those big hens might not be the best thing for her, and she may need to be rehomed to a more appropriate setting, or you might need to have two separate coops.

Your little roo will have fertility issues mating such larger hens, but he'll have fun trying! The chicks would be a mix of large fowl and bantam, not one or the other. They'll have feathered legs as that's a dominate trait. None of the breeds you mentioned have a good rep for going broody, but it does happen once in a while. The bantam cochins, however, have a great rep as broody hens (that's the reason I have some, just for broodys) and can easily handle 6 large fowl eggs.

 

[mchen1234]

Well, when they were chicks, i only had the bantams, i originally had four, two of them were roosters and there was another hen, but one rooster was extremely loud and aggresive so i got rid of him, the other hen got sick later and didn't make it, but they were all full grown and the hen who died laid eggs, the bantam I currently have never laid eggs and was always on the bottom of the pecking order. But I will try seperating the bantams from the others, thanks. These are my two bantams, I think the rooster could also be a black cochin...

 

[donrae]

they're both hatchery quality blues.