Blue Cochin or Blue Brahma?

[Fur-N-Fowl]

I'm hoping someone can help here!

Blue Cochin or Blue Brahma?
(Or potentially Cochin x Brahma?)

We got 4 of these girls about 8 months back and for the life of us can we remember what they said they were.

I've had a scan through some of my poultry breed books and narrowed it down to either Brahma or Cochin.

I originally thought Orpington but these have super feathery legs so they can't be.

Identifying chicken breeds isn't something I'm fantastic on, especially when they look so similar!

Some of the best pictures I can find of them:

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Comb says Brahma. @speckledhen maybe will add her expertise on the breed.

 

[speckledhen]

Looks like a Brahma to me, pea comb and all. Cochin would have a single comb.

 

[AltonaAcres]

It's a Brahma. Cochins have single combs.

 

[Stepnout]

Well I really have little knowledge of breed standards etc. My hens are all Barnyard mixes but I managed to have one Easter egged and one olive egged.
I just wanted to say that is a very pretty bird in my eyes.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Comb says Brahma. @speckledhen maybe will add her expertise on the breed.

Looks like a Brahma to me, pea comb and all. Cochin would have a single comb.

It's a Brahma. Cochins have single combs.

Thankyou all! That's helped clear it up.

2 of them had more prominent combs but I'd say they were still the pea comb.

The thing that confused me between if they were Cochin or Brahma was the leg feathering. I read that Brahma has less leg feathering but by gosh these have tonnes of it!
​

Well I really have little knowledge of breed standards etc. My hens are all Barnyard mixes but I managed to have one Easter egged and one olive egged.
I just wanted to say that is a very pretty bird in my eyes.

Barnyard mixes are just as cute in my opinion!

Thankyou though, they have pretty faces I think. Sadly I don't have a big enough male to breed from them. My little Belgium Bantam would struggle with these, although he does try!​

 

[speckledhen]

I will say that I've crossed Orpingtons over Brahmas and because pea combs are dominant, the offspring usually came out with perfect pea combs rather than single or even the gobby single-pea combo-combs. Brahmas should have leg feathering on the outside of the leg, outer toe and onto the middle toe, but no the inside of the leg. It's always possible that it is a cross.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

I will say that I've crossed Orpingtons over Brahmas and because pea combs are dominant, the offspring usually came out with perfect pea combs rather than single or even the gobby single-pea combo-combs. Brahmas should have leg feathering on the outside of the leg, outer toe and onto the middle toe, but no the inside of the leg. It's always possible that it is a cross.

Yes a cross is a possibility. I guess if they are finding out would be near enough impossible as we don't know the breeders.

Regardless, they are super broody, worse than my Silkies...but they're so big and cuddly.

I can live with knowing that they are either Brahma or Brahma crosses!

When I get home next week I can get pictures of their leg feathering

The feathers aren't on the middle of their legs it's all down the outside and on their first few toes. A few fell off after a scaly leg incident...poor things came to us riddled with the mite and their legs were just giant white scabs.​

 

[speckledhen]

My breeder quality Blue Partridge/Partridge Brahmas are also super broody. Two of them are broody every quarter. A true Brahma will be broody, though not all will brood. A couple of mine have never gone broody and they're three years old now. But, Bonnie and Brandy more than make up for it. They're both broody right now and I refuse to let them have eggs since I have other broodies as well. Ridiculous, these hormonal women.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

My breeder quality Blue Partridge/Partridge Brahmas are also super broody. Two of them are broody every quarter. A true Brahma will be broody, though not all will brood. A couple of mine have never gone broody and they're three years old now. But, Bonnie and Brandy more than make up for it. They're both broody right now and I refuse to let them have eggs since I have other broodies as well. Ridiculous, these hormonal women.

Oh we also have two that aren't broody, however over the past few days one of those two has started going broody and we have no fertile eggs for her.

We just keep blocking off the boxes and she comes out of it. We did let our biggest one sit eggs alongside another hen both in the same box and they hatched two of our light Sussex hens eggs back when we had our rooster.

It seems all their main life goal is, is to sit on eggs even when you don't want them too!

I'd let them sit my Silkie eggs but I need to keep check on which are from which parents so it'd get too confusing ​