Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

[Auntiejessi3]

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

Love the splash roo

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Here is the Splash boy that may take Bucky's place in the future. Of course, trying to get any of them to pose decently without one of the other birds standing in the way is a nightmare, so it's not the best shot of him. He is not perfect, but I do think he's already got nicer fluff and type than Buck does. We'll have to see how he looks as he matures in the coming months.

This shot is blurry and angled weird because he moved, but I do really like how broad his cushion and tail are

(Slight edit for clarity)​

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Here is the Splash boy that may take Bucky's place in the future. Of course, trying to get any of them to pose decently without one of the other birds standing in the way is a nightmare, so it's not the best shot of him. I do think he's already got nicer fluff and type than Buck does, though. We'll have to see how he looks as he matures in the coming months.

View attachment 4020428

This shot is blurry and angled weird because he moved, but I do really like how broad his cushion and tail are

View attachment 4020429

He’s got a nice big tail!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I sorted through my 2024 hatch birds today! The girls, anyway. Honestly, I keep looking at the cockerels and thinking there's only one, maybe two at best that are worth hanging onto at this point. I will take a closer look at some of them tomorrow. I'd ideally like to keep back the best from each pen just so that I have a back-up on hand in case of a sudden loss.

Speaking of sudden losses, likely what has spurred on my desire to have back-ups on hand was a mink attack last Saturday. I lost Roxanne, Nora, and the youngest broody-raised blue bander pullet, and Delphine and Morena have injuries. Morena is doing okay, but, while I'd like to be optimistic, I'm not confident Del is going to pull through just yet. So, yeah, back-ups on hand. Especially for the boys. I don't know what I would have done if I lost Wyatt to the beast!

Since there are only 14 pullets from last year remaining (not including the two I hatched that were out of cull birds--I did not take their pictures, but yeah, they remain culls for various reasons), I'll just put them all in this post. Don't mind the muddy feet. I had put them all in a little loop of fence in the shade and they managed to trample it to mud before I was even half way through them.

The Blue banders. Keeps:

Positives: She has such nice roundness to her and a nice, full cushion that covers her wingtips. I also appreciate that her wings fold neatly, as messy wings seem to be a thing with these Cochins.
Negatives: Her chest could be fuller. I also feel like her back is a bit short, but it's not as bad as this picture makes it seem.

Positives: She's splash But seriously, I like her wings and her eye color. Her cushion is nice and high, too. I think she looks a lot better in person than this picture depicts.
Negatives: She is a bit shallow-chested and I'm keeping an eye on those tail feathers that stick out a bit more than I'd like...

Positives: Good length of back, good width and bulk
Negatives: Her wings are just a smidge lower than I'd prefer and her cushion should be fuller to cover the tips. I also feel like her beak is a little long.


Cull:

Why: Her head shape is a bit too narrow and long, wings are a bit low, cushion undersized and pinched, and back too short. She's also narrow when viewed from behind, lacking a nice spread to her tail to fill out that cushion better. Honestly, despite this, she's better looking than some of the pullets from other coops, so I may actually hold onto her and see if maybe maturity rounds her out better.


The Green banders. Keeps:

Positives: Back length, wing angle, overall roundness
Negatives: That left wing is iffy on whether it folds just right. Also her cushion is a bit undersized.

Tentatively:

Positives: Back length, depth, good blocky Cochin head. I also find her neck arch pleasing to my eye; bear in mind a lot of them have good neck arches, they just don't pose well for pictures.
Negatives: That wing, ugh. She also has some tail feathers that stick out some, and she lacks fullness in her cushion.

Positives: She is very round and hefty with some nice depth to her body. Nice wing angle and the tips are hidden in her fluff. I love her head shape!
Negatives: Very undersized cushion, the poor gal looks so front heavy! Her wings also have the issue of not folding proper consistently.


Culls. Most of these are issues with the tail and cushion, plus a lot of wing issues as well. There are also some long backs and shallow chests.

Might give this girl more time before I 100% decide on her since she is a bit younger than the above. I do think I see some potential in her.

The Red banders. I only have 3 girls from the small amount of hatching I did out of this coop, so...

Tentative keep:

Positives: She has good bulk to her and a nice, blocky head with good eye color.
Negatives: Shallow chest, low wings that don't fold right, undersized cushion, narrowness to the body. Honestly, she's got a lot of flaws, but she's the best out of the red coop pullets from last year.


Likely cull:

Why: that wing is the glaring issue with her. Her cushion is undersized, back too short, and she lacks bulk to her.


Definite cull:

Why: Narrow head, long back, shallow body, terrible cushion, tail feathers apparent, wings are not great. I don't think I had a single positive written down for her, the poor girl.


Now, the cockerels... UGH! Only one or two of them catch my eye anyway: the fellow I mentioned in my post above from January and possibly one other, both blue banders. So, I guess I'll look at what I have of the other two coops tomorrow and try to pick the best of them to hold back. In the meantime, since they were out in their pens and I didn't want to chase them around to catch them, I only have a group shot of some of them together.

 

[NagemTX]

I like the notes so I can follow why of keeping and culling. Thank you.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I sorted through my 2024 hatch birds today! The girls, anyway. Honestly, I keep looking at the cockerels and thinking there's only one, maybe two at best that are worth hanging onto at this point. I will take a closer look at some of them tomorrow. I'd ideally like to keep back the best from each pen just so that I have a back-up on hand in case of a sudden loss.

Speaking of sudden losses, likely what has spurred on my desire to have back-ups on hand was a mink attack last Saturday. I lost Roxanne, Nora, and the youngest broody-raised blue bander pullet, and Delphine and Morena have injuries. Morena is doing okay, but, while I'd like to be optimistic, I'm not confident Del is going to pull through just yet. So, yeah, back-ups on hand. Especially for the boys. I don't know what I would have done if I lost Wyatt to the beast!

Since there are only 14 pullets from last year remaining (not including the two I hatched that were out of cull birds--I did not take their pictures, but yeah, they remain culls for various reasons), I'll just put them all in this post. Don't mind the muddy feet. I had put them all in a little loop of fence in the shade and they managed to trample it to mud before I was even half way through them.

The Blue banders. Keeps:

View attachment 4071905

Positives: She has such nice roundness to her and a nice, full cushion that covers her wingtips. I also appreciate that her wings fold neatly, as messy wings seem to be a thing with these Cochins.
Negatives: Her chest could be fuller. I also feel like her back is a bit short, but it's not as bad as this picture makes it seem.


View attachment 4071906

Positives: She's splash But seriously, I like her wings and her eye color. Her cushion is nice and high, too. I think she looks a lot better in person than this picture depicts.
Negatives: She is a bit shallow-chested and I'm keeping an eye on those tail feathers that stick out a bit more than I'd like...



View attachment 4071907

Positives: Good length of back, good width and bulk
Negatives: Her wings are just a smidge lower than I'd prefer and her cushion should be fuller to cover the tips. I also feel like her beak is a little long.


Cull:

View attachment 4071911

Why: Her head shape is a bit too narrow and long, wings are a bit low, cushion undersized and pinched, and back too short. She's also narrow when viewed from behind, lacking a nice spread to her tail to fill out that cushion better. Honestly, despite this, she's better looking than some of the pullets from other coops, so I may actually hold onto her and see if maybe maturity rounds her out better.


The Green banders. Keeps:

View attachment 4071913

Positives: Back length, wing angle, overall roundness
Negatives: That left wing is iffy on whether it folds just right. Also her cushion is a bit undersized.

Tentatively:

View attachment 4071914

Positives: Back length, depth, good blocky Cochin head. I also find her neck arch pleasing to my eye; bear in mind a lot of them have good neck arches, they just don't pose well for pictures.
Negatives: That wing, ugh. She also has some tail feathers that stick out some, and she lacks fullness in her cushion.



View attachment 4071924

Positives: She is very round and hefty with some nice depth to her body. Nice wing angle and the tips are hidden in her fluff. I love her head shape!
Negatives: Very undersized cushion, the poor gal looks so front heavy! Her wings also have the issue of not folding proper consistently.


Culls. Most of these are issues with the tail and cushion, plus a lot of wing issues as well. There are also some long backs and shallow chests.

View attachment 4071919
View attachment 4071920View attachment 4071921View attachment 4071923

Might give this girl more time before I 100% decide on her since she is a bit younger than the above. I do think I see some potential in her.

View attachment 4071925



The Red banders. I only have 3 girls from the small amount of hatching I did out of this coop, so...

Tentative keep:

View attachment 4071935

Positives: She has good bulk to her and a nice, blocky head with good eye color.
Negatives: Shallow chest, low wings that don't fold right, undersized cushion, narrowness to the body. Honestly, she's got a lot of flaws, but she's the best out of the red coop pullets from last year.


Likely cull:

View attachment 4071937

Why: that wing is the glaring issue with her. Her cushion is undersized, back too short, and she lacks bulk to her.


Definite cull:

View attachment 4071936

Why: Narrow head, long back, shallow body, terrible cushion, tail feathers apparent, wings are not great. I don't think I had a single positive written down for her, the poor girl.


Now, the cockerels... UGH! Only one or two of them catch my eye anyway: the fellow I mentioned in my post above from January and possibly one other, both blue banders. So, I guess I'll look at what I have of the other two coops tomorrow and try to pick the best of them to hold back. In the meantime, since they were out in their pens and I didn't want to chase them around to catch them, I only have a group shot of some of them together.

View attachment 4071995

You have very nice looking birds, despite some of their faults. I love the way you break down and categorize them!

 

[NanaK]

Sorry for your losses.

Lovely birds!

All the splash!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I like the notes so I can follow why of keeping and culling. Thank you.

You have very nice looking birds, despite some of their faults. I love the way you break down and categorize them!

Thanks, y'all! I'm glad the notes were appreciated--and not too scattered! I figured that a lot of what I'm seeing in person isn't shown in the pictures (and in some cases the pictures make the birds look a lot better or worse than they are!), so I felt like it was worth explaining my decisions in some way, especially to reference back on later.

All the splash!

Remember when it was such an event to see a Splash hatch out in my incubator?




I looked at my boys again today and I think I've decided on keeps from them as well.

I actually took this guy's picture yesterday after the pullets and before I decided that I wasn't up for chasing down all these boys. He has scabbing all over his face and is missing a comb point because, earlier this week, he and one of his bachelor flockmates decided they needed to determine who was boss for the spring, I guess. He's my green band keep:

Positives: good cushion width and height, decent back length
Negatives: Like most of my boys, his wings are so low His chest is also pretty shallow, but he could fill out more as he matures.



This guy, the one mentioned back in January, is the blue band keep and I will probably actually swap him for Bucky in my green pen this year. Poor angle on this picture, but every time I crouched, he postured weird so I couldn't get a good side-profile shot.

Positives: He's so round! He has good depth and width to him, has that nice Cochin roundness from all angles, and when he's not being a doofus (as in this picture), his wings are held nicely at his thighs.
Negatives: His beak is not well curved, but it had been damaged last year and the damaged portion is still growing out, so it's hard to say if that's actually a flaw of his or not. He's also short a comb point if I'm being extra picky.


For red banders, I only had two to choose from, so this guy is going to be it:

He is very flawed. His positives are pretty much just that he's not as flawed as his brother. That cushion is undersized and low, wings are low, and stern and chest could be fuller (though again that could fill in with age, we'll see). He does have good heft and decent width to him, and his head is nice and blocky.

Also, yeah, he has been duking it out with his flockmates as well and has taken some comb and wattle damage as a result. Roosters.

 

[NanaK]

Remember when it was such an event to see a Splash hatch out in my incubator?

Yes, I do remember! I can't wait to see this years babies.

He has scabbing all over his face and is missing a comb point because, earlier this week, he and one of his bachelor flockmates decided they needed to determine who was boss for the spring, I guess.

Boys will be boys. Hopefully they will work it out.

I have 2 older hens age 9 and 11 years that were getting picked on by younger hens. They have been in 2 side by side pens for a while. I've been trying to integrate them together so I can have the extra pen/coop to raise some chicks. I've integrated young birds many times. These 2 old gals want to fight.

I'm glad they still got some spunk but for some reason I thought this would be easy. We are going to keep at it!

We make plans. Chickens change those plans.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yes, I do remember! I can't wait to see this years babies.

Might have to wait until May for that with everything I've got going on at the moment, but hopefully it'll be worth the wait.

Boys will be boys. Hopefully they will work it out.

I have 2 older hens age 9 and 11 years that were getting picked on by younger hens. They have been in 2 side by side pens for a while. I've been trying to integrate them together so I can have the extra pen/coop to raise some chicks. I've integrated young birds many times. These 2 old gals want to fight.

I'm glad they still got some spunk but for some reason I thought this would be easy. We are going to keep at it!

Oh, goodness, it's always the ones you least expect, isn't it? Hopefully they eventually settle their differences as well! My boys seem to be settled now, but every now and then I catch them posturing at each other still.

We make plans. Chickens change those plans.

For sure!! And it's like they know just what they're doing when they do it, too!