Black Bantam Cochin... not all black, whats up?

[Msbear]

We used to have barred rocks growing up and I remember they hatched all black with a white spot on their head... Then, they slowly got their barring. I would guess that this chick is one of "those" chicks your breeder was telling you about. You could keep it in your flock.. I just wouldn't breed from it. Over time, that gene will die out.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Quote:
I was thinking that. The only problem is... my frizzle roo is exactly the same

 

[Msbear]

When breeding for show stock, the rule is hatch, hatch, hatch then cull, cull, cull. Big breeders set 100+ eggs per year. Out of these 100 chicks, they may keep a dozen then sell the rest. Im a small operation and my spring hatch is a dozen so I may be able to keep one. So, you see, it takes a lot to find those good ones. As your line matures, you will get better ratios.

I would hatch as many as you can for the first couple seasons til you get some decent breeding stock.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Quote:
Thank you, I will do that. I only have one pullet so far that Im going to use to breed too. She seems to have the body type and feathering.

As for my roo, Im not sure if he has the body type or not. I think I might start a thread to find out. But I might have to wait till he is older.

 

[Scott]

Black cochin bantam chicks often have white in them when they are very young. This eventually goes away. If she is a true black, she will be all black by the time she is an adult. As you can see from the pics below, these black cochin bantam chicks (born this May) have white in their wing tips. As they age this will go away.

 

[Krys109uk]

It seems unlikely that the bird is barred. Barring would usually show well enough on a black bird.
It is very normal for young birds to have white primaries. However the white tips of feathers could possibly be indicative of heterozygous mottling. If the bird still has white tips on some feathers when mature it is probably carrying a mottling gene.

 

[siimis]

Can the mottling gene show if heterozygous? I have two hens that are mottled, one had a lot of white in her first feathers and the other has developed tiny white dots only now at year old. Is the latter heterozygous?

 

[Krys109uk]

Mottling does often leak a bit when heterozygous. Usually just showing on the tips of just a few feathers in the adult plumage.
I've also seen homozygous mo birds show very little mottling at all.

 

[joanie_maine]

Quote:
I agree with cull,cull,cull

With off color feathers, I may keep a bird for a few months just to see....but usually I keep only those with good, obvious color for breeding.

 

[tellynpeep]

My "black" cochin (8 weeks now) is feathering out with some white lacing on his breast and neck feathers, as well as some red on his shoulders. And his black is a gorgeous irridescent greenish in the sun.