Cochin Thread!!!

[joanie_maine]

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I do like the hen - hope they are comfortable there.

I don't like sending my birds to the fairs. I used to do at least three fairs.

Now I only participate in one fair show, which is put on by a local club and I'm a club member. I can go every day and check on my birds. Plus I know all the folks who do the feeding and watering. Our club makes a big effort to make sure the birds stay well and safe.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

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There is an excellent photo/example of what Partridge Lacing should look like on this thread (below). You only have to scroll down just a little. It is a clear, distinct "reverse" double lacing. I refer to it as reverse, because normally the dark lacing is around the outer edge. On Partridge, it is double-laced, but 'within' the feather, i.e. the outside edge of the feather is the base color of the bird. Sorry I'm so bad at describing it - it's very clear in the pic:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=343605

I'm not seeing the distinct double-lacing pattern in your hen. She looks to me more of a cuckoo/barring pattern.

 

[cochinman2005]

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Joanie,
Well you've already ID'd the shafting. However, this pullet will have decent markings as she matures. I would not be afraid to use her for breeding. She is showing some pattern and the fact that she's only 5 1/2 months showing some penciling is good. Normally the better colored pullets are sort of Black and Brown barred when they have their juvenile feathers, which she does. Overall her ground color is a bit light, but that's a fault of just about all the Partridge Bantams. Her hackles lack the solid black centers, but again, so do many of the bantam Partridge out there. You don't want to breed her to a male that also is showing shafting though. I wasn't able to see the pic you posted of your male bird, but do his primary feathers have solid black quills or are they red? You want solid Black. How is the marking in his saddle and hackles? Let this pullet grow out and see how she develops. Definitely better color than the pullet in your previous post.

Tom

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Quote:
Joanie,
Well you've already ID'd the shafting. However, this pullet will have decent markings as she matures. I would not be afraid to use her for breeding. She is showing some pattern and the fact that she's only 5 1/2 months showing some penciling is good. Normally the better colored pullets are sort of Black and Brown barred when they have their juvenile feathers, which she does. Overall her ground color is a bit light, but that's a fault of just about all the Partridge Bantams. Her hackles lack the solid black centers, but again, so do many of the bantam Partridge out there. You don't want to breed her to a male that also is showing shafting though. I wasn't able to see the pic you posted of your male bird, but do his primary feathers have solid black quills or are they red? You want solid Black. How is the marking in his saddle and hackles? Let this pullet grow out and see how she develops. Definitely better color than the pullet in your previous post.

Tom

OK - I was seeing that barring, also - just didn't realize they would grow out of it, and can actually be the better marked birds in the long run. That is so good to know.
One of my Golden Laced pullets that I got out of my pair from Bernita started out with what I called "broken" lacing. She has better type than some of the other pullets, so I was really disappointed in what I was seeing in the lacing. She's only 2-1/2 months old, and I'm seeing some good lacing on her back coming in, too, so hopefully it will replace all the broken lacing. I was ready to take her to the swap or sell her as pet - think now I'll keep her around for a while!

 

[Sweetfolly]

Question for those of you who breed using artificial insemination - we're getting more into showing the Cochins now and I don't want to hack at the feathers around the birds vents for breeding, so what do you use for collecting the roosters...biological contribution (trying to keep it G-rated here

)?

Would these little pipettes do the trick?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00207CO7I/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A2OYHESA9NQ4HT

 

[swheat]

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Those pipettes should work. You can also use eye droppers, or even plastic spoons.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

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I'm sure they will work, but when I was given a demonstration, he used a LARGE eye dropper, which he held in his mouth by the big rubber end the entire time of collection and dispensing. That left BOTH his hands free to hold and 'work' the bird, put the bird back in its cage, and get the hen out of her cage. That eye dropper never left his mouth. Fascinating to say the least.
I would certainly do a lot of practicing first of both collecting and dispensing - maybe with heavy cream(!) - before I held an eye dropper in my mouth and aimed it at a bird's bottom . . . I'm just saying . . .

(But I've heard that's actually how a lot of the more experienced breeders do it.)

 

[cochinman2005]

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She shows some pretty good penciling in the breast. Centers of the hackle need to be solid instead of the multiple pencilings. I do like her base color, it's more the mahogany that you are looking for. She lacks depth to her body. Not much fluff, but also you see that alot with the rarer varieties. Matching her up to a good typed male will help the overall type. She's not horrible, just lacks the body fluff that is a desired Cochin characteristic.

 

[cochinman2005]

I took a couple pics the other day of a couple other 2010 hatch Cochins.

Barred Pullet 5 1/2 months old

White Cockerel 5 1/2 months old

Large Golden Laced Pullet 6 months old

 

[mossfamilyfarm]

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She shows some pretty good penciling in the breast. Centers of the hackle need to be solid instead of the multiple pencilings. I do like her base color, it's more the mahogany that you are looking for. She lacks depth to her body. Not much fluff, but also you see that alot with the rarer varieties. Matching her up to a good typed male will help the overall type. She's not horrible, just lacks the body fluff that is a desired Cochin characteristic.

I'm surprised to hear that... especially the part that she not horrible... she was from a hatchery...

I thought I knew better and was buying my laying hens and saw the tub with the cute little ones... and bought some... guess I lucked out