are bantam cochins a healthy breed?

[homeschoolchick]

I am starting over with my flock. I am very interested in bantam cochins. I would like to know if they are a healthy breed. I know there are some sickly breeds out there. Apparently I had two of them!

I want to start over on the right foot!

Any help/thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[MuscovyMad]

I know the terms pekins and cochins are used interchangably in the US. I had pekins / cochins and found that there nails grew really long despite having the ability to free range on a farm all day. There extensive feet feathering used to get really dirty aswell. And they are rubbish at getting out of trouble.

However if they are enclosed and in a dry environment then i guess they are fine.

Hope this helps.

 

[homeschoolchick]

Quote:
Thank you for the response! I will keep them as dry as possible! Good to know!

 

[just2rosey]

We have a few partridge bantam cochins and ours have been the picture of health.

I free range my chickens and my little cochins are survivors! They are really good about ducking for cover and are smart about hiding from predators. I had a short spell of a respiratory virus passing through my flock, but my cochins never showed any signs of illness. I had to put my Ameraucana roo on antibiotics and some leghorn pullets showe a few symptoms. I am a very practical person, and love the idea of a self sustaining flock of LF chicknes, but the cochins are winning my heart.

I don't have a problem with mud in the feathers of my cochins.

I live in a primarily wooded area, so they spend a lot of time scratching in piles of dead leaves. They have sweet personalities,

are cute as can be, and have been laying consistently. I was very tempted to get another color when I saw an ad for some black bantams earlier today, but I resisted because I have eggs in the incubator as I type. Good luck chosing a breed. Why are you interested in bantam cohins? What kind of flock do you want? What are your goals? Just pick a breed that suits your goals. We have them because they are my daughter's choice for her 4H project, and we have LF Ameraucana's to be our dual purpose self sufficient flock. Have fun deciding.

 

[satay]

They are a great healthy breed. My chooka is a bantam cochin and she is 7 years old still lays well and will be a broody mama to anything she can get hold of. I have seen her chase goannas too. She seems to fear nothing lol. (Goanna is a massive big lizard we have over here)

 

[hdowden]

any breed can be healthy its all in how you care for your flock. as always you want to try and find the healthest chickens you can find. i have d'uccles and oegb. feather footed breeds i have noticed are hard to keep those feet clean and i have heard/read many different post on how its so diffacult to keep their feathers nice but i dont mind they are very pretty chickens with sweet personalites. mud and water are the enimies of the feather footed and long tail breeds lol. i like the light brhamas to

 

[homeschoolchick]

Thank you all! It seems that the biggest con is there foot feathers.

I had silkies and polish and they ended up being positive for MS. I don't know if they were carriers when I got them or if they picked it up at my place. They were healthy for several months and then problems started. They all came from the same breeder. I am going to start with eggs this time and only use eggs in the future.

I have liked the cochins because I have heard they are very sweet and great broodies. I want a bantam size because of limited space for housing.

I had problems with crest mites in my polish and so I decided to get a non crested breed. I know I can still get mites but the crests for the polish and silkies also inhibited their sight and I felt sorry for them, but didn't want to cut their beautiful crests either.


Are there any more cons?

 

[dickhorstman]

Cochins are hardy, but do need to be kept dry. They are good layers. You do need to trim around their vent for natural breeding. A lot of people who show Cochin bantams artificially breed them.

 

[homeschoolchick]

Quote:
Can I ask why they need to be kept dry? Is it because of their foot feathers?

AI, huh? Something new to learn

 

[dickhorstman]

Wet damp pens are hard on any chicken. They are especially hard on birds with feather legs,crests,or beards. When the crests,beards,feather feet get wet especially in cooler or cold weather the bird is more susceptible to colds etc.