Culling Black Chicks | Tips in Raising Blacks?

[Birdie2019]

I have a pair of Black Cochin Bantams, Tonya and Jasper. I expect them to start producing come spring time. Tonya has a black beak with black on her shanks, but also yellow on the bottom of her feet. However, she also has some black on her feet as well. Jasper has mostly yellow feet and shanks, but does have some black, too. His beak is black, but has a tad bit of yellow tint to it in some places.


The standard calls for this:


beak- yellow, shaded with black; shanks and toes- yellow (swarthy yellow allowed on females, though yellow preferred); bottoms of feet- yellow.


This next breeding season, I would like to work on getting that nice yellow in my future flock of Blacks. However, I have heard that having that yellow pigment everywhere takes away the green sheen and makes the black dull, as well as other things. I’ve noticed that my chicks’ beaks have changed colors throughout their lives, as well as the feet. If I had a bunch of chicks, could I cull them at hatch for the black, or would I have to wait till they’re a few weeks old to get rid of them? Just trying to be as efficient as possible. Also, if anyone has any tips on taking care of blacks, having to do with the green sheen, yellow pigment, and whatnot, I would greatly appreciate it.

(They aren’t giving their best poses in the pics, pics taken at only 5 months of age)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@Overo Mare

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Here's a very old thread that addressed this:

Thread 'Cochin leg color' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cochin-leg-color.305578/

 

[Birdie2019]

Here's a very old thread that addressed this:

Thread 'Cochin leg color' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cochin-leg-color.305578/

Interesting. I was looking more for if I can cull for beak and leg color at hatch or if I had to wait later (if so, how much later?), but thank you for that. Never heard about putting whites with a black to intensify the white. Right now, I will try to work with this pair before purchasing others.

 

[ChickenLeg]

You can cull to an extent as chicks, In my ameraucana bantams I can tell who is going to have some real short beaks as chicks but I cant always tell who will have longer beaks until they fill out more. Same with legs, u can tell on some who will have more black on legs. Usually the cleaner and pinker/yellower with least amount of black will give you cleaner adults, but not always the case. I wouldnt be as concerned about leg color right now as much as type, big heads, and shorter beaks, try to avoid crow heads

 

[Birdie2019]

You can cull to an extent as chicks, In my ameraucana bantams I can tell who is going to have some real short beaks as chicks but I cant always tell who will have longer beaks until they fill out more. Same with legs, u can tell on some who will have more black on legs. Usually the cleaner and pinker/yellower with least amount of black will give you cleaner adults, but not always the case. I wouldnt be as concerned about leg color right now as much as type, big heads, and shorter beaks, try to avoid crow heads

Okay thank you! And yes. I have some white babies right now at 7ish weeks, and one has a side sprig popping up with more of a crow headed, slimmer skull look to him. It’s not very big of a difference compared to the others, but He’ll be gone soon because I know how hard side sprigs are to get rid of.

 

[Silkie Princess]

How many chicks do you usually hatch? Couldn't you sell them? Sorry no advice.

 

[ChickenLeg]

Okay thank you! And yes. I have some white babies right now at 7ish weeks, and one has a side sprig popping up with more of a crow headed, slimmer skull look to him. It’s not very big of a difference compared to the others, but He’ll be gone soon because I know how hard side sprigs are to get rid of.

Best of luck with your grow outs

 

[Birdie2019]

How many chicks do you usually hatch? Couldn't you sell them? Sorry no advice.

Here is the long story:
We got our first SQ Cochin Bantams back in August/September. We got two trios of Whites at over a year old, and a pair of a few week old Blacks. We bred the Whites and chicks hatched in the span of a week from late September to early October. All fertilized eggs (19) hatched. But that’s a lot of chicks to care for at once, at least for me and my setup at home. We’re trying to get rid of them as soon as possible, by also not culling too early. Now that some of the boys’ combs are growing big, I’m keeping an eye out for side sprigs. I’ve seen one so far with a sprig, but haven’t checked too hard with many others. Whites are easy in culling— basically just type, not much color. This year I’m just focusing on whichever chicks have the best type, nothing yet in particular I’m focusing on, though there is lots to improve upon.
The issue is the Black chicks I have. The breeder I got all these birds from bred in particular for nice feather width. And little Tonya has amazing feather width. But I’m not sure the breeder culled too hard on the pigmentation of the beak and feet. That is what I want to work on this coming year. When I breed that pair this spring and get some chicks, I want to cull ASAP as well. Some have said that you can cull for beak color and leg/foot color at hatch, but I have noticed that some other chicks I’ve raised had constantly changed in beak color (the main focus. leg color is something I want to maintain roughly, while beak color I want to change. My goal is to have the yellow beaks and legs like blacks back in the day used to have), and I am worried I will cull too soon. I was just wondering about how old would the chicks have mainly the same constant beak/leg color without much changing. Does that make sense? I’m not very good with words…
Looks like I sidetracked a little— back to your question.

As this is my first time, I don’t have a usual for how many chicks to hatch yet. I guess I’ll just hatch till I get good birds, but probably not over 40 chicks. Yes, we will either sell or give away the chicks (hence using the word cull and not kill). I understand that culling sometimes means actually killing, but it only means removing from the flock. I don’t like to kill birds just because they’re not good enough for me.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Interesting. I was looking more for if I can cull for beak and leg color at hatch or if I had to wait later (if so, how much later?), but thank you for that. Never heard about putting whites with a black to intensify the white. Right now, I will try to work with this pair before purchasing others.

Sorry. To elaborate on that and my takeaway as it applies to you, I wonder if what the primary responder (the breeder that sounded like she knew what she was talking about, I forget the name,) called green or willow legs is what you're seeing on your male, and if that's the case I wonder if you'll be able to produce any yellow-legged chicks from this pair.

Have you hatched from this pair before? Did you produce any clear yellow shanks? If they're both showing incorrect leg color and if they're both from the same source (IE; likely related which ingrains the trait) it may be very difficult to get what you want from this pairing at all so the age of culling could be irrelevant.