Bearded Cochin Breeding Idea?

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I'd like to avoid EE and all other clean legged breeds if possible so that's why I was aiming for Cochin x Faverolles : ) since egg color doesn't matter for me, skipping past the few extra genes and generations using a EE or D'Anver would take would be nice! Plus Faverolles have softer tails and feathered legs which gets me closer to the goals

My bantam EE / Cochin crosses didn't give good results (basically just a little bit of pitiful beard and scarce leg feathering but overall just EE shape and personality haha)

D'Uccles are a decent option too, more rare in my area but not impossible to find in the US! They have very stiff hock feathers and tall tails which is opposite of what I'd want, I guess I can take Standard Faverolles and Bantam Cochins and make a medium sized bird, I think that would work well

 

[MysteryChicken]

You can also have a single combed breed with the blue egg gene.

My Easter Egger I post has a pointless single comb, & hatched out of a blue egg. The shell was so blue, the inside of the shell was blue too.

 

[MysteryChicken]

My EE has lightly feathered legs.

 

[NatJ]

You can also have a single combed breed with the blue egg gene.

My Easter Egger I post has a pointless single comb, & hatched out of a blue egg. The shell was so blue, the inside of the shell was blue too.

Cream Legbars, too.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Cream Legbars, too.

I forgot their comb type. Haven't slept really well for the past few days. So, tired.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

Guys, comb type and egg colors doesn't matter much to me, I want Cochins with a beard my EE/Cochin crosses I've made over the years, even 75% Cochin EE crosses I could see that that route would take a lot longer than if I went with Favorelle and Cochin. Favorelles have a nice body type that's already similar to a Cochin with their semi-soft tails, plus the round teapot-esc shape, their huge beard is a major plus and the feathered legs are super handy. I think I can work with size seeing how impossibly rare bantam Favorelles are, they don't have to be typey or lay a certain color egg, comb doesn't matter to me as it doesn't get cold enough in my areas of Oregon and Washington to really have frostbite being an issue, so single combs are fine, since favorelles and Cochins both have them I'm a-ok with this mix breed having single combs too : ) I like to natural variations in them too! : D

Maybe one day once I can breed some decent looking Cochin mixes with a beard I can try crossing in some blue egg genes. I'd use EE or Legbar, probably Legbar as I love their crele/creole color and the chance of being able to breed their little partial crests sounds adorable, but egg color is a non-issue for me : D I'll keep EEs for fun egg color, maybe Marans or Welsummers for dark eggs, so I'm 100% okay with these project birds and mixes laying light/tan/white/brown eggs for me to fill that niche : D

Maybe one day we'll have blue egg laying bearded heart shaped chicken but putting a beard on these cute heart shaped is already a plan far from now and step one in it all : )

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Guys, comb type and egg colors doesn't matter much to me, I want Cochins with a beard my EE/Cochin crosses I've made over the years, even 75% Cochin EE crosses I could see that that route would take a lot longer than if I went with Favorelle and Cochin. Favorelles have a nice body type that's already similar to a Cochin with their semi-soft tails, plus the round teapot-esc shape, their huge beard is a major plus and the feathered legs are super handy. I think I can work with size seeing how impossibly rare bantam Favorelles are, they don't have to be typey or lay a certain color egg, comb doesn't matter to me as it doesn't get cold enough in my areas of Oregon and Washington to really have frostbite being an issue, so single combs are fine, since favorelles and Cochins both have them I'm a-ok with this mix breed having single combs too : ) I like to natural variations in them too! : D

Maybe one day once I can breed some decent looking Cochin mixes with a beard I can try crossing in some blue egg genes. I'd use EE or Legbar, probably Legbar as I love their crele/creole color and the chance of being able to breed their little partial crests sounds adorable, but egg color is a non-issue for me : D I'll keep EEs for fun egg color, maybe Marans or Welsummers for dark eggs, so I'm 100% okay with these project birds and mixes laying light/tan/white/brown eggs for me to fill that niche : D

Maybe one day we'll have blue egg laying bearded heart shaped chicken but putting a beard on these cute heart shaped is already a plan far from now and step one in it all : )

Why don’t you use silkie bantams?

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

Why don’t you use silkie bantams?

Also a possibility, although I'm not a big fan of crests (and crested are the most common varieties in my whole state and other closest ones, unless I wanted showgirls and I do not haha) since id want these guys free ranging if possible, I just like to see them eating bugs but we have a LOT of hawks here. Where I live right now we have 2-3 distinct families of hawks and a very large family of bald eagles who live so close I can see their nest from my house :0

 

[NatJ]

Also a possibility, although I'm not a big fan of crests (and crested are the most common varieties in my whole state and other closest ones, unless I wanted showgirls and I do not haha)

Silkies always have crests. Some are bearded, some not--but they are all supposed to have crests on the top.

Showgirls have naked necks in addition to the other usual silkie traits.

Crest is genetically simple to get rid of, because it's caused by a single, dominant gene.
Cross a silkie with a cochin, and all the chicks should have a crest.
Cross back to a cochin, and half the chicks should have no crest. Keep the no-crest ones, and you will never again see a crest unless you cross to another crested bird.
(Because it's a dominant gene, it's not going to pop up and surprise you later.)

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

Silkies always have crests. Some are bearded, some not--but they are all supposed to have crests on the top.

Showgirls have naked necks in addition to the other usual silkie traits.

Crest is genetically simple to get rid of, because it's caused by a single, dominant gene.
Cross a silkie with a cochin, and all the chicks should have a crest.
Cross back to a cochin, and half the chicks should have no crest. Keep the no-crest ones, and you will never again see a crest unless you cross to another crested bird.
(Because it's a dominant gene, it's not going to pop up and surprise you later.)

I'm aware : ) there's some people in my county who breed non crested showgirls though so those would be a little closer to what I'm going for, sorry for the confusion. Using a silkie would give a few extra genes that are just not really necessary (even if hidden/recessive), like the toes, skin, earlobes, etc. I would like to keep silkies still in the future though so I guess if I can't find any D'Uccle or Favorelles I could use silkie and just deal with the fact that it may be a little harder to get back to a more Cochin looking bird : D every day I get a little bit more and more excited about this despite it being so far away...