Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Just to keep this thread up to date on all happenings in my silkied Cochin groups, I just had another batch of cockerels processed today, cutting me down to 12 remaining of the 2023 hatch boys. This is roughly twice as many as I'd planned to keep in the end, but few enough that I can at least overwinter them comfortably.

Also, due to a number of circumstances over the past several days, I haven't yet moved the blue band pullets, but I should be able to finally get that done in the next few days. Trying to fit everything in between all kinds of quick errands I want to get done before the holidays really set in and the shops and roads get too crazy. At least it's supposed to stay nice out here for a while yet, so that gives me ample opportunity to get things done outside.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

It's finally moving day for the blue band girls! They are exploring their new home and seem to be adjusting well! The cat litter bucket is there because Ottilie decided to try fighting one of the pullets through the fence and was sloshing in and out of the water dish in her side. So I put the bucket there to block that spot so at least no one will be standing in a water dish if they do fight.

You can see Inara and Ottilie in the background, here. They are not impressed with the newcomers.

I grabbed a picture of Inara since I was out there She's still filling in from molting, but fluffing back out nicely!

And a quick shot of the Splash cockerels at rooster row while I was in that area. Such handsome guys!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Thinking I'm going to name this dude Birch, like the tree He's looking pretty good for his age, but we've gotta work on that wing carriage!

Also, pullets are so nosy.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

This guy also does not have great wing carriage and doesn't seem as balanced in shape as Birch is to my eye (though part of that might be because he was standing a bit awkwardly while I took his picture), but wow, his colors are so pretty to me! Have not settled on a name yet for him.

These two are not 100% locked in as keepers, so no names in discussion yet for them. They're red banders so there are three younger boys also in competition for their spots. They are Blues, the lighting just makes them look darker than they really are in this picture. Liking the guy on the right so far!

And one pic just for the heck of it of miss Duckling

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

Thinking I'm going to name this dude Birch, like the tree He's looking pretty good for his age, but we've gotta work on that wing carriage!

View attachment 3709119
View attachment 3709122View attachment 3709123


Also, pullets are so nosy.

View attachment 3709126

This guy also does not have great wing carriage and doesn't seem as balanced in shape as Birch is to my eye (though part of that might be because he was standing a bit awkwardly while I took his picture), but wow, his colors are so pretty to me! Have not settled on a name yet for him.

View attachment 3709274


These two are not 100% locked in as keepers, so no names in discussion yet for them. They're red banders so there are three younger boys also in competition for their spots. They are Blues, the lighting just makes them look darker than they really are in this picture. Liking the guy on the right so far!

View attachment 3709278


And one pic just for the heck of it of miss Duckling

View attachment 3709279

They all look great!!

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

I think I also like Birch better than the other splash boy but they both look really nice

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

They are both so handsome, but Birch definitely does catch my eye more! I'm really happy with how a lot of these birds are shaping up at this point.

 

[dheltzel]

I have had silkied cochins for a few months and found the first egg today!
I had not intended to start setting chicken eggs yet, but this one will get saved to see if there are others laid this week.

Mine are rather mixed up in color and not great show type, but also no "silkie" characteristics, so I know these are the real deal. I have been breeding cochin bantams for several years and have made some dramatic improvements in type with a group of lavender (self blue) birds I got from a hatchery, so I am pretty confident I can get these up to good type in a few generations. The buffs are probably the color I will try to work with the most. There are also whites in there, but I prefer buff coloring over white.

I am in SE PA, near Philly, if anyone close by is interested in acquiring stock, I should have chicks later in the season.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Lovely to see someone else working with them on BYC! Congrats on that first egg!!

Yes, 'fun pens' or 'party color pens' seem to be quite popular with silkied Cochin bantams. I see them pretty frequently in the groups I've found elsewhere for breeding silkied Cochins. Lots of fun genes to play with in them, but I could definitely see there being some challenges along the way as well. I'm excited to see where you go with yours!

And if you have any tips in general for improving type and such on Cochin bantams, I'd be happy to hear them! I'm doing my best over here, but definitely feel overwhelmed sometimes trying to figure out which traits should be definite culls and which can be worked with at least for a bit.

 

[dheltzel]

Lovely to see someone else working with them on BYC! Congrats on that first egg!!

Yes, 'fun pens' or 'party color pens' seem to be quite popular with silkied Cochin bantams. I see them pretty frequently in the groups I've found elsewhere for breeding silkied Cochins. Lots of fun genes to play with in them, but I could definitely see there being some challenges along the way as well. I'm excited to see where you go with yours!

And if you have any tips in general for improving type and such on Cochin bantams, I'd be happy to hear them! I'm doing my best over here, but definitely feel overwhelmed sometimes trying to figure out which traits should be definite culls and which can be worked with at least for a bit.

When I first got my "self blue cochin bantams" from Privett, I was rather disappointed in their type. I should have expected it, hatcheries not being known for breeding to any standard other than laying a lot of eggs to make salable chicks. These could have been lavender orpington bantams, if not for the feather on their feet. Luckily, I had a black frizzle roo a friend gave me and he had much better type (and a truly wild hairdo). He was the first stud in my program to improve the type. The lavender gene (creates the "self blue" phenotype) is a complete recessive, like the hookless gene. F2's from that rooster produced about 1/4 lavender chicks, as expected. They grew up and were considerably better in type than their lavender ancestors, as well as having some lavender frizzles in the group. Careful breeding (frizzle is partially dominant and so somewhat harder tot work with) and selection resulted in a line of pretty nice lavender frizzles. They looked like dirty feather dusters, to be honest, but lavender anything sells in my area.
Then I was gifted a smooth, black mottled cochin roo from chicks acquired from Jamie Matts by a local 4-H club. He was fantastic type and it really showed on him (the frizzle gene makes type a little fuzzier, just like silkied). He became my second stud in this line and because frizzle is partially dominant, I bred back to him to create black mottled frizzles. I really like how those birds are looking, and because the lavender gene is nearly impossible to eliminate from a population, I even started getting lavender mottled chicks, in both smooth and frizzle.
The point of this story is that a single gene recessive, like the lavender or hookless alleles, is easy to work with in an outcross. Both alleles seem to have some deleterious effects that are concentrated by inbreeding. All show breeders working with the lavender gene recommend regular outcrosses to the "parent" color (usually black, sometimes partridge or wheaten) to maintain vigor and improve the line. Generally, the non-lavender lines of any breed are far ahead of the lavender birds in show quality.
If you are still working with BBS silkieds, I think you would do well to invest in a great show line of black cochins. That color is widely shown and often are near perfect in quality. A single bird is enough to work with. I think you will see a dramatic improvement in your silkied line if you do that.