Breeding silkie and cochin together.

[Fluffychicky]

So I have heard it vaguely mentioned before that silkie breeders sometimes breed cochin into their silkie line. Why do they do this is it for different coloration? Are there other benefits to crossing these breeds? I'm just kind of curious since I'm getting ready to breed some of the silkies I have and I'm debating on whether or not to keep the cochin chick I have.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

If those Silkie breeders are keeping pure Silkies, they wouldn't be breeding them with Cochins. That being said, some of us are working on Sizzles (birds that look like Silkies, but have normal frizzled or smooth feathers), and many of us have used Cochins to introduce the frizzle gene. They have feathered legs and a similar body shape, so it just made sense (to me) to use them