Cochin breeding, genetics, and showing

[just2rosey]

Just thought I would do an update on my Christmas chick.

He is 7 weeks old and so sweet, we just absolutely love him!!

His mature feathers are coming in, and his feather patterns a a bit of a mess right now. Pullets don't seem to go through nearly as many awkward stages. I am really disappointed to see that he is developing a crossed beak.

His bottom jaw is just a hair out of line with his top jaw at this point. I did some research and found a study report which called this a type III cross beak, it is supposed to be genetically linked and tends to show up at about 2-3 months of age. This is the special chick we hatched, we intend to keep it for pet purposes. Why does it have to be a roo with problems? Pullets are much easier to deal with if they have problems.





Here he is sitting with my daughter. He is so sweet and calm. This is was taken the night we found the beak problem. What am I gonna do with him? Getting rid of him would break her little heart.

 

[lilcrow]

If you wanted him as a pet, what is the problem with keeping him? I personally think that some roosters with problems make excellent pets. If their dispositions hold true and they remain sweet, there is just no problem that I can see. I've got a rooster right now that is in my dining room, he had a broken leg when a bit younger and he has been struck with a couple of other issues, but he recuperates very quickly and he is without a doubt the nicest, most people oriented chicken I've seen in a long time, maybe ever.
I'd say let your daughter keep her pet, love him, and he may end up being the sweetest bird in the world. When roosters are nice, they are frequently very, very nice.

Just thought I would do an update on my Christmas chick.

He is 7 weeks old and so sweet, we just absolutely love him!!

His mature feathers are coming in, and his feather patterns a a bit of a mess right now. Pullets don't seem to go through nearly as many awkward stages. I am really disappointed to see that he is developing a crossed beak.

His bottom jaw is just a hair out of line with his top jaw at this point. I did some research and found a study report which called this a type III cross beak, it is supposed to be genetically linked and tends to show up at about 2-3 months of age. This is the special chick we hatched, we intend to keep it for pet purposes. Why does it have to be a roo with problems? Pullets are much easier to deal with if they have problems.





Here he is sitting with my daughter. He is so sweet and calm. This is was taken the night we found the beak problem. What am I gonna do with him? Getting rid of him would break her little heart.

 

[just2rosey]

Keeping a rooster which should not be used for breeding means keeping it away from the laying population. It means a life of isolation or living in a run with other bachelors his whole life, or I could caponize it. Neither is a very cheerful future in my opinion. It just creates a livestock management issue for us. I currently only have 2 coops and runs, and two breeds of chickens going, one for each run during breeding season. The rest of the time my flock free ranges. My husband travels and is only home one day a week, it makes coop building difficult.

I am also upset because this confirms my fears that I have purchased inbred stock. This is the 3rd chick out of eleven with a deformity, and as the latest chicks become old enough for this form of cross beak to appear I expect my numbers will become even worse. This deformity is proven by research to be genetically based, and I am fairly certain that the other two were genetic also. I am now certain that my breeding pair is from stock which is too heavily inbred, and that they should not be bred to each other any more. I need some new breeding stock if we are going to continue with this breed/variety. They are my daughter's 4-H project, I am letting her decide if she wants to look for new stock and continue on. I love the color, they are beautiful, and I know they are few are far between, I would love to be part of keeping them going.

So who should we keep and who should we cull out of our pair? Or should we keep both to breed to stock from another breeder, would that add enough new genetic material?

 

[lilcrow]

My original stock was inbred and possibly for too many generations. I am not against line breeding or even inbreeding as long as you are careful who you breed to whom. I believe your last choice of keeping all of your and infusing new stock, but be aware the you may loose type and color in doing so. I've had to add new birds to my flock, I got a cock bird from Jamie Matts, and another from a breeder in VA. The bird from VA in particular may be the best bird to fix my color problem. He has some red in his breast and this is supposed to be the best bird for producing females. As far as living isolated from the flock, that doesn't necessarily need to be the case, he might make a nice rooster to take care of a few laying hens for someone. Just because he's with some hens doesn't mean they need to hatch, you can aways eat them, they taste great.
In your case I understand the problem of space, so maybe you can find him a nice home where he won't be used as a breeder.

Keeping a rooster which should not be used for breeding means keeping it away from the laying population. It means a life of isolation or living in a run with other bachelors his whole life, or I could caponize it. Neither is a very cheerful future in my opinion. It just creates a livestock management issue for us. I currently only have 2 coops and runs, and two breeds of chickens going, one for each run during breeding season. The rest of the time my flock free ranges. My husband travels and is only home one day a week, it makes coop building difficult.

I am also upset because this confirms my fears that I have purchased inbred stock. This is the 3rd chick out of eleven with a deformity, and as the latest chicks become old enough for this form of cross beak to appear I expect my numbers will become even worse. This deformity is proven by research to be genetically based, and I am fairly certain that the other two were genetic also. I am now certain that my breeding pair is from stock which is too heavily inbred, and that they should not be bred to each other any more. I need some new breeding stock if we are going to continue with this breed/variety. They are my daughter's 4-H project, I am letting her decide if she wants to look for new stock and continue on. I love the color, they are beautiful, and I know they are few are far between, I would love to be part of keeping them going.

So who should we keep and who should we cull out of our pair? Or should we keep both to breed to stock from another breeder, would that add enough new genetic material?

 

[lilcrow]

I was rereading this and thought I should clarify - it sounds terrible the way it was originally written. I meant, you can always eat the "eggs," not that there is anything wrong with eating the chickens..................Oh well for heaven sake........I'll shut up now, you know what I mean.

My original stock was inbred and possibly for too many generations. I am not against line breeding or even inbreeding as long as you are careful who you breed to whom. I believe your last choice of keeping all of your original stock and infusing new stock if an excellent plan, but be aware the you may loose type and color in doing so. I've had to add new birds to my flock, I got a cock bird from Jamie Matts, and another from a breeder in VA. The bird from VA in particular may be the best bird to fix my color problem. He has some red in his breast and this is supposed to be the best bird for producing females. As far as living isolated from the flock, that doesn't necessarily need to be the case, he might make a nice rooster to take care of a few laying hens for someone. Just because he's with some hens doesn't mean they need to hatch, you can aways eat them, they taste great.
In your case I understand the problem of space, so maybe you can find him a nice home where he won't be used as a breeder.

 

[lilcrow]

Craig, here are the pics of the Buff and Silver Columbian chicks.

This is the darker Silver Columbian. It looks dramatically darker than the other chick, and I would say from your analysis earlier, this chick will be much too dark as an adult.

This is the lighter Silver Columbian chick. It looks a bit "buff" in this picture, but it really is very light, pale yellow.

Here are the Buff Columbians. I wondered if the same principal that applies to the Sil Columbian, applies to the Buffs regarding their coloring?

Thanks for your help Craig.
Nancy

 

[Featherland26]

Just a quick question.......

I have got a black Cochin bantam, her parents are Lavender (self-blue) x Cukoo
and a lavender cockeral whose parents are Lavender x Lavender

If I breed these two together what would be the percentage colour outcomes?

 

[cochinman2005]

Just a quick question.......

I have got a black Cochin bantam, her parents are Lavender (self-blue) x Cukoo
and a lavender cockeral whose parents are Lavender x Lavender

If I breed these two together what would be the percentage colour outcomes?

Should be 50% Self-Blue, 50% Black, but you may wind up with some Cuckoo Self-Blues as well, although the pattern may be more defined in some body areas than others.
Typically, Self-Blue X Self Blue yields 100% Self Blue, Self-Blue X Split yields, 50% Self-Blue, 50% Black (assuming split to Black), Self-Blue X Black yields 100% Self-Blue split to Black (every single chick will be Black), and Split x Split yields 25% Self-Blue, 50% Split, and 25% Pure Black (With the latter there is no way to tell the splits from the pure blacks).

 

[mjgigax]

Should be 50% Self-Blue, 50% Black, but you may wind up with some Cuckoo Self-Blues as well, although the pattern may be more defined in some body areas than others.
Typically, Self-Blue X Self Blue yields 100% Self Blue, Self-Blue X Split yields, 50% Self-Blue, 50% Black (assuming split to Black), Self-Blue X Black yields 100% Self-Blue split to Black (every single chick will be Black), and Split x Split yields 25% Self-Blue, 50% Split, and 25% Pure Black (With the latter there is no way to tell the splits from the pure blacks).

My first Split x Split are in the incubator now! - can't wait!

 

[Featherland26]

Thanks cochin man, I know what to look out for now!