Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

[SwampPrincessChick]

I'm not sure I can answer you on that, to be honest. This is only my second year of pairing and hatching from my own birds, after all! The shape does seem a bit tricky on them, only because there are so many factors involved in getting it just right. The size and shape of the cushion and tail, how the tail meets the body, the depth of the chest to disguise the legs, the feathering of the legs and feet, the shape of the back, how the neck arches, the shape of the head and beak, the width and roundness of the bird from various angles, the depth of their fluff, etc. I have heard that it can take many, many years of work to start a line and get it up to show quality. But, I imagine that's the case with any breed, really!

I have always liked seeing a round, fluffy ball of a Cochin that you can definitely tell has been bred to the standard. First of all, they are super cute, and second, standard-bred birds just look way better than those who are not (almost all the time). Where did you first get your silkied Cochins from? I am assuming a breeder because I have never seen silkied Cochins elsewhere.

But the level of dedication and investment it takes is something you should keep in mind before you get into breeding toward the standard, and be ready for if you do.

It is easy for me to get not attached to cockerels (unless they are friendly to humans, then that is out of the question), but it is hard for me to not get attached to pullets. Females are much more predictable than males, I can never guess whether my cockerels will turn out either aggressive to females or aggressive to humans or both. So I have the mindset of getting ready to get rid of those at any moment. Meanwhile, getting rid of pullets would be hard.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

This is Slate. If I had to breed Cochin Bantams, I would want to use him. Only, there is one issue . . . he has a deformed leg and I would never want to breed that problem into a line. Other than that, his appearance is really good for a chicken who came from a hatchery.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

I have always liked seeing a round, fluffy ball of a Cochin that you can definitely tell has been bred to the standard. First of all, they are super cute, and second, standard-bred birds just look way better than those who are not (almost all the time). Where did you first get your silkied Cochins from? I am assuming a breeder because I have never seen silkied Cochins elsewhere.

There are hatching eggs on eBay

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I have always liked seeing a round, fluffy ball of a Cochin that you can definitely tell has been bred to the standard. First of all, they are super cute, and second, standard-bred birds just look way better than those who are not (almost all the time). Where did you first get your silkied Cochins from? I am assuming a breeder because I have never seen silkied Cochins elsewhere.

Yes, mine came from a breeder via hatching eggs. I'm always happy to help connect people to breeders if they're interested in silkied Cochins, so feel free to reach out if you're ever in the market for them!

It is easy for me to get not attached to cockerels (unless they are friendly to humans, then that is out of the question), but it is hard for me to not get attached to pullets. Females are much more predictable than males, I can never guess whether my cockerels will turn out either aggressive to females or aggressive to humans or both. So I have the mindset of getting ready to get rid of those at any moment. Meanwhile, getting rid of pullets would be hard.

I get that for sure! At the moment I have I think around 10 hens that I probably should have sold months ago, but I just keep putting off making an ad for them. They're just so sweet and fuzzy

The cockerels for sure can be a wild card, though I've found that with this line of Cochins, they tend to go through a 'butthead' phase for a few months, usually from like 4-7 months of age or so, and then they mellow out and are pretty chill guys from that point on. I've also found myself getting overly attached to my boys as a result, which makes selling or making soup with them even more difficult, but of course they're a lot more complicated to house for extended periods of time than hens are so it's inevitable they can't stick around as long as the girls.

Editing just for a little clarification, when I say they go into a 'butthead' phase, I mean they get a bit big for their britches, start wanting to fight everyone, harass the pullets, etc. They do tend to be bitey at this phase if I try to pick them up, but I've never had any actually become human aggressive during it. They're just buttheads toward the other birds during that phase.

This is Slate. If I had to breed Cochin Bantams, I would want to use him. Only, there is one issue . . . he has a deformed leg and I would never want to breed that problem into a line. Other than that, his appearance is really good for a chicken who came from a hatchery.

View attachment 3921488

He's a handsome guy! I also have a rooster (smooth, not silkied) who I'd love to get chicks from, but he had issues as a chick, himself, so I don't want those being passed on. It's always the ones with issues that get ya.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Just to keep this up to date, I did go ahead and send the middle and right cockerel in this picture:

...to the processors yesterday, keeping the one on the left just to see how he fills out.

I also sent the remainder of my 2023 hatch boys (minus Gus III, Buck, and Birch, of course) and my last extra from 2022, Zeke, along with them. With two exceptions, they were all great little guys, I just unfortunately wasn't having any luck finding homes for them and I really needed the space. But, they won't go to waste.

So I'm down to 16 cockerels and 18 pullets from this year's hatches, that including the one cockerel and two pullets from the extras I hatched out of the cull hens at Easter. There are a few definite culls among them thus far that were too young to have processed with the others yesterday, so probably closer to like a dozen cockerels and 15 or so pullets that are potentially keepers for next year's pens.

 

[Nicks_Chicks]

Are silkied feathers a regonized feather type in bantam cochins

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Are silkied feathers a regonized feather type in bantam cochins

Not recognized, but immensely enjoyed

 

[Nicks_Chicks]

Are silkied feathers a regonized feather type in bantam cochins

Addicted you stalker

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Are silkied feathers a regonized feather type in bantam cochins

I missed this post somehow, apologies for that! But Jacin is right, silkied feathering in Cochins is not recognized, at least not in the U.S. I'd like to see it added to the standard alongside frizzled feathering some day, but we're probably a long ways off from that.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I wanted to get one last post in this year just because it's been a while since I've updated here. I would have liked to have added updated pictures of all my 2024 hatch birds with some notes for future reference, but unfortunately, despite the mild temps we've had here, the weather has otherwise not been cooperative to that idea. We're a muddy mess at the moment!

I've been busy, but not so much with the birds. Not much has changed since my last post other than 2024 hatch birds filling out. I actually don't have much to say other than to reiterate next year's goals:
- I'll probably hatch around the same number as this year, 30 or so, just to keep some young blood in the flocks until life is less hectic for me.
- I'll also be reducing numbers in my flocks to see if that helps with fertility. Part of that will be scrutinizing birds so that only the very, very best I have go forward, which I believe will mean that several birds that have only had a single year in the breeding pens will be cut.
- I've also been considering swapping Bucky out for one of his younger brothers who has been catching my eye a lot lately, but I do not want to be too hasty in doing so, so I'm giving the youngster plenty of time to fill out before I fully decide.

I actually think that's about it. Since I don't have any real recent pictures of the birds, here are the past several months' worth of random pics I've grabbed with my cell phone of the grow outs and breeders for your enjoyment.

And one shot of my last two silkied Reds. Yup, they're just as sassy in their old age as they look here