Hypothetical Cochin Breeding Questions

[black_cat]

So....I think that sometime in the future I would like to breed cochins to the SOP. This would happen in a setting where roosters are legal, and I have enough space/funds to set up a breeding setup. I think that the easiest would be blue, black, and splash, because when bred together, no matter the color of the hen or the roo, you'll always get some combination of blue, black, or splash chicks. The problem with this is that splash is not a recognized color for cochins. Would I just want to focus on one color, instead of the three? Would I want to pick colors that breed true, and just keep them seperate? How many different sources do you have to use for birds to prevent over inbreeding? How many eggs do you usually hatch at once? How many do you cull down to? For cochins, who are a broody breed, would you let the birds hatch their own eggs, or no?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Unless you have the patience and concentration, I would do one color at a time. You can always do blacks and blues and just sell the resulting splashes as pets.

I hatch as many at a time as I have room to. If you can get them to brood, why not, but know they don't lay eggs while broody or for a few months afterwards

 

[black_cat]

Also questions on selling chicks, eggs, and birds:
Do you ever sell unwanted cockerels and pullets as 'show quality xyz', or do you cull all of them?
Do you vent sex your chicks or sell straight run?
How do you get your birds to the point where they're calm enough to show?
Are there some traits that are easier to breed out than others? (e.g. if a bird is great everywhere else but has poorly feathered feet, is it easier to fix the feathered feet, than, say, wrong eye color?)

 

[Sally PB]

Interesting. I will be following this to learn some more about genetics...

 

[black_cat]

Unless you have the patience and concentration, I would do one color at a time. You can always do blacks and blues and just sell the resulting splashes as pets.

I hatch as many at a time as I have room to. If you can get them to brood, why not, but know they don't lay eggs while broody or for a few months afterwards

That probably makes sense- I'd probably want something that would breed true, then, right? (not blue, for example)

Would letting the chicks be broody raised ruin chances of getting them tame enough to show?

 

[black_cat]

Interesting. I will be following this to learn some more about genetics...

That's a good point about the genetics side of things- I know that birds can be 'split' for some things? What does that mean?

 

[black_cat]

@OneHappyRooster I see you in my notifications Though I love our cochin orp debate, this isn't the place to tell me that orps are better.

 

[black_cat]

Are there any reasons that someone would advise avoiding cochins (aside from orps being 'better') for breeding? For example, are there any traits that are hard to get right (i.e. feathered legs, tail shape, etc) that don't really apply to other breeds? If I wasn't going to do cochins, I would probably do leghorns, focusing mainly on exchequer, or plymouth rocks, focusing mainly on partridge or barred.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Heck if I know what's easier to breed on cochins. I have 1 pure bantam, one 1/2 mix and 2 1/4 mixes

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I don't sell birds for shows because I don't have shows in my state.

Do you mean calm enough for APA shows or 4H shows?