Cochin Breeding

[FreckledFourCoop]

Hello, I’m new to breeding and would love to know more of what possibilities I would get. I have 2 Roos, who I’m not sure on which to keep.

Roosters:
1 Barred
1 White Frizzle

Hens:
1 Barred
1 Red Frizzle
1 White Frizzle
3 Splash

I do know not to put frizzle and frizzle together so if I got rid of my him, would I end up with only barred offspring?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

A male pure for barring will pass the gene to all of his offspring, yes. His chicks would be as follows:
- With the Barred hen, you'll obviously get 100% Barred offspring.
- With the Splash hens, you'll get Blue Barred offspring. Bear in mind that, since the Splash hens are not barred, the cockerels resulting from this cross will, like their sisters, be single-factor or dark barred, meaning that they can go on to produce chicks that are not barred. Since the barring gene is sexlinked, females only need one copy from their father to be 'pure' for barring, but males need two copies, one from each parent.
- With the Red hen, you'll get mixed color offspring. More than likely, they'll hatch out looking Barred, but feather in with patches of red or gold, possibly even silver depending on the father's genes.
- With the White hen, it's hard to say. White Cochins have the recessive white gene, which hides everything, so what her offspring will look like depend on what genes are hiding under her white exterior. She may produce pure Barred offspring, or she may produce mixed-color offspring with leakage like the Red hen. Any of her chicks will also carry the recessive white gene, so if bred back to a White Cochin or to another Cochin carrying the gene, they could produce more Whites.
And, with either of the frizzled birds, independent of plumage coloring, about half of their offspring will be frizzled and half smooth when bred to a smooth Cochin.

With the White male bred to any of the non-White females, it's again hard to say for the same reasons I gave above with the White hen. Breeding White to White will produce 100% White offspring, but as you already know, breeding frizzle to frizzle is not a good idea. This is because a bird that inherits two copies of the frizzling gene has many health problems, including metabolic and heart issues, along with the infamous brittle feathering that often breaks off soon after it's grown in.

Given those birds, I, personally, would set up a pen with the Barred male over the Barred and Splash hens, and leave the Red and White hens out. If you really want to keep frizzling in your flock, keep the White hen in that breeding group as well and see what happens with her offspring. I would not breed the Red hen at all, as neither male is likely to produce anything but mixed-color offspring from her. If you're fine with that, then no big deal, go ahead and breed her! But, if you're wanting to produce chicks pure for specific varieties, then she will not help you toward that goal. I would not keep the White male for breeding except maybe to breed to the smooth pullets that the White hen produces with the Barred rooster.