Mille Cochin Info

[amazondoc]

Quote:
It isn't a silly question, the roos do tend to be a lot darker, and I don't really know why that is. But do consider that a lot of "regular" varieties also have roos darker than hens -- like "regular" wheaten, for instance.

 

[Msbear]

Amazon, I would say it IS the wheaten gene. Buff columbian males tend to be darker as well (the gold gene?)

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Cochins/WheatenCochinBtyRoo.JPEG

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Cochins/WheatenCochinBtyH.JPEG

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
It can't just be the wheaten gene, since so many mille fleurs are based on eb or e+. But it might be a contributor in some cases, like my flock!

ETA: my, those are pretty little birds in those pics, aren't they??

 

[Msbear]

yeah...

maybe one day our milles will be that fluffy..

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

So a lady from the westside of WA is buying a rooster from me (one of my project birds) and she wants to know which one of my sale birds would best match with her hen. Her hen was supposed to be a buff columbian but doesn't look quite pure...I'll see if I can upload pics...

 

[Msbear]

Quote:
You'll want to match the buff columbian looking hen with a roo with good mottling pattern. (black on his chest) I think

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

okay, her hen has no white...so would I want to go with the black one, the red one, or one of the two whitish ones (with too much white?)

 

[Msbear]

Quote:
I am no expert but this is what I would do... until Krys tells me otherwise

The columbian gene is necessary for mille but, without melanizers (which allow a bit of black on each feather to form a chevron) it will restrict the black entirely. The ones with too much white don't have the melanizers which allow black. When you put a roo lacking melanizers with a hen lacking melanizers, it would be difficult to achieve mille fleur. So, I would go with the roo which has black on his chest. ...the darker one? Amazon, Krys? I think the white mottling can come from the darkest of roos. Check out my progress page in my tage line and you can see Lynne crossed buff columbian with a dark mille guy and got a good start that way.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Quote:
I am no expert but this is what I would do... until Krys tells me otherwise

The columbian gene is necessary for mille but, without melanizers (which allow a bit of black on each feather to form a chevron) it will restrict the black entirely. The ones with too much white don't have the melanizers which allow black. When you put a roo lacking melanizers with a hen lacking melanizers, it would be difficult to achieve mille fleur. So, I would go with the roo which has black on his chest. ...the darker one? Amazon, Krys? I think the white mottling can come from the darkest of roos. Check out my progress page in my tage line and you can see Lynne crossed buff columbian with a dark mille guy and got a good start that way.

Do the melanizers (allowing the black on the chevrons) only affect the breast feathers? My roo has proper chevrons with black on the hackle and tail, but the chest chevrons are lacking the black. Why do the proper chevrons with black appear on some parts of the body and not others?

Everything time I think I've taken one step forward understanding this, it seems I've actually taken two steps back!!!

 

[Msbear]

I see you have columbians

Looking at them, you can see how the columbian gene restricts black in the breast, back and body but allows it in the hackles and tail. ..Just like buff columbian.

This can cause a lack of black in those places as well in the mille fleur. That is what I am breeding toward now... a uniformed pattern. A mille with no black on the chest/back/body should be bred to a bird that has the black mottling in those places. I think ..I always add that at the end as some sort of disclaimer

Believe me, I totally understand how difficult all this is to take in...