Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

[Lwilson1968]

Thank u!
Seriously I wish you had eggs or birds for sale. The pics of your birds show way better type!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

My birds? I appreciate that a lot! We've got a long way to go before we really start getting to good, showy Cochin type, I think, but they've progressed quite a bit since I started with them.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Cockerel evaluation day! I've progressed in my choices, but still am stuck on which red bander to keep. On the positive side, I'm only keeping one of them as a back up in case something happens to Wyatt, so I don't need a decision right away.

The red banders are... definitely lacking. Honestly, I don't know if I should keep any of them. I already have some Wyatt babies cooking and most likely will set more as soon as the pens are split up for the year, so I feel like a back up for Wyatt may not even be necessary. And none of these guys are great.

This cockerel is definitely a cull. Among his many other flaws, he has a slight wry tail.

This guy is likely also a cull. His wings appear to be split or at least not as neat as they should be, wing set low and slightly slipped, and his cushion is undersized. He does have nice broadness and a bit less shallowness to the chest and stern than some of the other red band guys, but not sure if that's enough to make up for his flaws. He currently sits as second best in my eyes out of the red banders. Note that he and one of the other cockerels had a brawl not that long ago, so the two of them have bald heads.

This guy is way too lanky, shallow in the chest, lacking fullness in the stern and cushion, and has similar wings to the above guy. So, he's also a cull.

This guy, who I've been calling Baldy for his current lack of head feathering, is probably the best out of the red banders. No split in the wing, not as shallow in the chest and stern, and a good hefty feel to his body, although he is a touch smaller in stature than the others. His cushion is definitely undersized and wings low, but he's better than the others. So if I keep any for a back up, it'll probably be Baldy.

On to the green banders, we have this guy, who is most likely my pick for replacing Pete. His cushion is lacking, but he has good fullness in his stern, decent in his chest, and look at that wing set!! He also has the sweetest temperament! He was so chill while I was looking him over and taking pictures, and never once pecked or even made motions like he wanted to like many of the other guys! So, this is officially Gus III.

This guy has a nice chest and good, broad back. However, he is lacking in the cushion and stern, and his back is a bit short, giving him a weird almost Serama-reminiscent shape. He also had a similar almost-split wing to the red banders above. Much as I'd like to keep many of Gus's progeny as possible, I think this guy's going to have to be a cull.

And lastly, the blue banders. Let me start off by saying that these pictures do neither of them justice because they are gorgeous little round fluffs in person! Getting them to pose nicely is a task, though, and they both had some poopy bottoms that needed cleaned up, so that gives them both a smaller looking booty than they actually have.

First up, Birch. This picture makes him look awful, but he's a lot better for type in person, and his temperament is gentle like Gus III. His cushion is way better balanced than it looks here, but his wings are pretty low and he does have a twisted feather in one of his wings.

This guy is still unnamed. Great wing set and back, good fullness in the stern and chest. He is lacking in cushion size and his beak is a bit long and straight, but he's pretty solid otherwise. He filled in pretty nicely compared to the last time I took pictures of him! I'm actually now leaning toward him as my pick for rotating to the green pen for breeding, though it's a tougher choice because these boys both look pretty great in person.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, though colder than today, so I'm going to try and get about half of the pullets evaluated more thoroughly then, and the other half on Sunday when it's supposed to be a bit warmer like today. Will post my notes and pictures when I do!

 

[dheltzel]

Found this thread. Super interested in starting a pen of these unique birds. I currently raise silkies to the sop. Anyone selling eggs?

Where are you located? I am in SE PA, near Philly. I am hatching lots of silkied cochin chicks this spring. Not sure if I will have enough to ship safely, unless combined with other chicks. If you are nearby, a trip to get chicks would be ideal.
I try not to ship eggs, the USPS seems intent on scrambling them for you.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

After a long few days, I think I've got my coops figured out for the year! I still need to get birds rearranged (will be done before the end of the week), but these are my picks.

In the red coop:

Gus III

Covering:

Bella (2021 hatch red coop hen)

Duckling

And two yet-to-be-named Blue pullets

In the green coop:

Unnamed Splash cockerel

Covering 6 yet-to-be-named Black pullets (some of which may be dark Blues)

In the blue coop:

Wyatt (2022 hatch blue coop cock)

Covering

Inara (2022 hatch blue coop hen)

Judy

Another yet-to-be-named Splash pullet

A yet-to-be-named Black pullet

And 3 yet-to-be-named Blue pullets

Phew!!

I took a lot of notes, but keeping it all straight and coherent in a post is proving tough for my currently frazzled brain, so I'll just leave it at this for now.

I also took pictures of the cull pullets, but am opting not to add them here because the image load is already getting up there for my backwoods internet connection. Suffice it to say, they are certainly not flawless, but these are the best birds I have in my opinion to progress my flocks until I look into bringing in some good smooth-feathered stock to add into the groups.

 

[CastielH]

After a long few days, I think I've got my coops figured out for the year! I still need to get birds rearranged (will be done before the end of the week), but these are my picks.

In the red coop:

Gus III

View attachment 3781654

Covering:

Bella (2021 hatch red coop hen)

View attachment 3781652


Duckling

View attachment 3781653


And two yet-to-be-named Blue pullets

View attachment 3781655View attachment 3781656


In the green coop:

Unnamed Splash cockerel

View attachment 3781660

Covering 6 yet-to-be-named Black pullets (some of which may be dark Blues)

View attachment 3781661View attachment 3781662View attachment 3781663View attachment 3781664View attachment 3781665View attachment 3781666


In the blue coop:

Wyatt (2022 hatch blue coop cock)

View attachment 3781689

Covering

Inara (2022 hatch blue coop hen)

View attachment 3781682


Judy

View attachment 3781683


Another yet-to-be-named Splash pullet

View attachment 3781688


A yet-to-be-named Black pullet

View attachment 3781684


And 3 yet-to-be-named Blue pullets

View attachment 3781685View attachment 3781686View attachment 3781687


Phew!!

I took a lot of notes, but keeping it all straight and coherent in a post is proving tough for my currently frazzled brain, so I'll just leave it at this for now.

I also took pictures of the cull pullets, but am opting not to add them here because the image load is already getting up there for my backwoods internet connection. Suffice it to say, they are certainly not flawless, but these are the best birds I have in my opinion to progress my flocks until I look into bringing in some good smooth-feathered stock to add into the groups.

I love watching your process! I need to do pictures and finalize my decisions for my breeding pens too. I'm excited to see what your pens produce this year!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Haha, I'm relieved that it hasn't just been completely frustrating to watch! I feel like I've gone in circles with these birds for the last month and a half! I'm definitely excited to see the results of all this work, too.

You're working with Watermaals, right? Looking forward to seeing how your pens shape up for the year, too!




Unrelated, but I updated my pens on my page for the silkied Cochin bantams with the above birds: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pipds-peeps.72248/page/silkied-cochin-bantams.95/ We're having crazy wind today with random, strong gusts, so I think I'm waiting until tomorrow to finish moving birds around

 

[CastielH]

Haha, I'm relieved that it hasn't just been completely frustrating to watch! I feel like I've gone in circles with these birds for the last month and a half! I'm definitely excited to see the results of all this work, too.

You're working with Watermaals, right? Looking forward to seeing how your pens shape up for the year, too!




Unrelated, but I updated my pens on my page for the silkied Cochin bantams with the above birds: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pipds-peeps.72248/page/silkied-cochin-bantams.95/ We're having crazy wind today with random, strong gusts, so I think I'm waiting until tomorrow to finish moving birds around

I am indeed! White and black so nothing as colorful as your BBS pens. I don't even have pens built yet but with the cold snap we've had up here it'll be a while before I separate them out anyway. Plus the pullet I'm most looking forward to breeding is still not laying since she's broody which pushes stuff back too. Also I might steal your member page journal idea if that's ok with you because it looks like a great way to track stuff and I can't misplace it like my endless google doc's.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I just took a peek at your Watermaal thread. Maybe not as colorful as BBS, but your birds are gorgeous anyway!

I was fortunate in that most of the pens I use for the Cochins already existed from experimenting with raising other poultry years ago. Come to find out, I'm solidly a chicken lady and just not that into other poultry. Hopefully you're able to get your pens set up soon, too!

By all means, I'm certainly not the first to record my breeding pens on a member page here! I am also a serial doc maker so my files on my computer are similarly rather endless. My favorite is when I name a file something I'll 'definitely' remember and then later have no clue how to find it because it actually has some bizarre, obscure name that only vaguely relates to its contents.

 

[CastielH]

I just took a peek at your Watermaal thread. Maybe not as colorful as BBS, but your birds are gorgeous anyway!

I was fortunate in that most of the pens I use for the Cochins already existed from experimenting with raising other poultry years ago. Come to find out, I'm solidly a chicken lady and just not that into other poultry. Hopefully you're able to get your pens set up soon, too!

By all means, I'm certainly not the first to record my breeding pens on a member page here! I am also a serial doc maker so my files on my computer are similarly rather endless. My favorite is when I name a file something I'll 'definitely' remember and then later have no clue how to find it because it actually has some bizarre, obscure name that only vaguely relates to its contents.

I tend to have several documents named the same thing and then I never remember to go back and rename them