Best sources for gorgeous Cochins....Hatchery, or private?

[HotDesertChick]

I have been having a lot of fun with my Belgian d'Anvers, the hens are total sweetie pies (roos,...err, generally the opposite). But I would like to add some quality Cochins to my/our "herd".

Have only had experience with standard Cochins decades ago, but they were not quality birds by breed standards. Basically, I love bantams over larger chicken breeds, but would like to possibly try BOTH standard, and bantam Cochins. My experience with commercial hatcheries has been that much of their stock seems to be poor quality for breed standards in most breeds. Disappointing.

Any reliable source, of high-quality Cochin chicks? Commercial, or "otherwise"?
Thanks....Cochin Fanatics

 

[sylviethecochin]

There is a breeder on ebay--and before I get ragged on about ebay eggs, I was looking for myself, as I was seriously considering putting some eggs under my own stock.

Her feedback is really good--and none of that "you gave me a bad review, you b****!" or the other, lovely, "You must have done something completely, utterly wrong, and it's all the post office's fault and don't you dare leave reviews on my hatch rate or the fact that my eggs explode when you put them under a hen!" nonsense.

"8 Awesome Cochin bantam chicken hatching eggs Lavender Calico Blue Assorted" by fthrdfmlyfrnds appears legitimate, and several of the reviews talk about their very good hatch rate. I'm seriously considering coughing up the thirty dollars this spring and slipping some eggs under my own cochin hen. Anyway, if you have an incubator, that might be the way to go.

Or you could try the "buy~sell~trade" thread, and see if any NPIPs are willing to ship you chicks. If it's someone on here and they cheat you, you'll have a serious community of angry chicken ladies willing to back you up, if you show pictures.

Wishing you luck (and myself as well, because I'm looking for the exact same thing this spring)

 

[HotDesertChick]

Thanks sylviethecochin for your comments. The only "incubator" I have is a sweetheart Black Maran hen. She hatched/impeccably-reared two small clutches of d'Anvers this past summer. She was soooooo proud of her tiny chicks and was a great Mama, even though the combo looked a little goofy. If I could get her to go broody at the "right time", I would consider getting eggs to try.

Thanks, for your other tips as well. I am hoping to find a breeder through BYC if I can.

Good luck, to you too

 

[Gray Farms]

Hatchery and Quality are two words that do not belong in the same sentence in my opinion. If your just wanting birds to lay eggs, buy from a hatchery. If you wanting breeding stock and especially want to breed to the APA standard, buy from an experienced breeder.

Now that's not to say that all hatchery birds are crap. There are some hatchery birds out there that are fairly nice. And some hatcheries are actually working hard to improve their stock. But the vast majority of the time hatchery birds don't conform to their APA standard. And sometimes not even fit most of their breed traits.

 

[HotDesertChick]

Thanks, Gray Farms for your comments. I completely agree with you.

My mom went through a big "chicken phase" over 70 years ago on the Oregon coast. Dad built her an 80-foot long "chicken-stall barn" (think a line of 10' box stalls for birds). It was a lot of fun, and practically all of her chix came from commercial hatcheries (mainly Strombergs). The different breeds were healthy/strong, but not sparkling examples of their breeds. We had some really nice Cochin bantams and Silkies from a breeder/friend near Portland. Difference in quality was "night & day".
Decades later, in WA, I did buy some nice Old English Game bantams from a commercial hatchery, that weren't bad though.
In GA, I bought some quite nice Golden Seabrights (sp?) and a trio of d'Anvers, and pearl guineas through private breeders (unfortunately, the d'Anvers were frail).
Presently, in NM, I bought very nice d'Anver chicks through Boggy Bottom Bantams in GA. Here, my remaining Black Marans and Welsummers are only "so-so" through Cackle H, so I will eliminate all of them except for the one starring/dependable Black Maran hen.

So far, I have not been successful at finding breeders in my general area, other than those who have only produced first-generation eggs/chicks from "commercial DNA".

By your signature, you obviously have an amazing array of poultry breeds! The "bully" in your avatar is most interesting though. What breed is this guy?

Again,....Thanks.

 

[CSAchook]

You can also try posting on the BYC Cochins thread. I am sure there are plenty of people there who would be willing to either sell some eggs or suggest other reliable sources to buy from.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cochin-thread.195235/

 

[annaBsChick]

As long as your not planning to eat them or anything awful like that, you should consider adopting! there are so many beautiful breeds of birds in need of adoption across the US .... http://adoptabirdnetwork.com/

 

[Gray Farms]

Thanks, Gray Farms for your comments. I completely agree with you.

My mom went through a big "chicken phase" over 70 years ago on the Oregon coast. Dad built her an 80-foot long "chicken-stall barn" (think a line of 10' box stalls for birds). It was a lot of fun, and practically all of her chix came from commercial hatcheries (mainly Strombergs). The different breeds were healthy/strong, but not sparkling examples of their breeds. We had some really nice Cochin bantams and Silkies from a breeder/friend near Portland. Difference in quality was "night & day".
Decades later, in WA, I did buy some nice Old English Game bantams from a commercial hatchery, that weren't bad though.
In GA, I bought some quite nice Golden Seabrights (sp?) and a trio of d'Anvers, and pearl guineas through private breeders (unfortunately, the d'Anvers were frail).
Presently, in NM, I bought very nice d'Anver chicks through Boggy Bottom Bantams in GA. Here, my remaining Black Marans and Welsummers are only "so-so" through Cackle H, so I will eliminate all of them except for the one starring/dependable Black Maran hen.

So far, I have not been successful at finding breeders in my general area, other than those who have only produced first-generation eggs/chicks from "commercial DNA".

By your signature, you obviously have an amazing array of poultry breeds! The "bully" in your avatar is most interesting though. What breed is this guy?

Again,....Thanks.

I have a similar set up with my breeding pens. A 30x50 building with 10 pens down each side with an alley way in the middle. The bull's name is Bear and he is 12 years old now. He is a Scottish Highland. I've raised them for a little over ten years now. And I just love them.