Cochin Thread!!!

[davony's chicks]

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I dont have any expertise but I think he is a beautiful bird.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

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Steve, How old is he? I'm not familiar with the GL Large at all, but he looks really young just based on the length of his hackle and saddle feathers. But I do see some lacing on some of the coverts. So you will probably see a change next time he molts. I'm sure Tom can tell you more, as he has LF. I want/need to do lots more SOP reading tonight regarding the desired colors in the males - my bantam GL roo is more red, rather than gold. ??

 

[swheat]

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Steve, How old is he? I'm not familiar with the GL Large at all, but he looks really young just based on the length of his hackle and saddle feathers. But I do see some lacing on some of the coverts. So you will probably see a change next time he molts. I'm sure Tom can tell you more, as he has LF. I want/need to do lots more SOP reading tonight regarding the desired colors in the males - my bantam GL roo is more red, rather than gold. ??

He is around 15 months old.

 

[cochinman2005]

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He does have lacing on his coverts. It's hard to comment on photos because it's just an evaluation of a picture. There are lots of things I look for when handling a bird, the last of which is color. Based upon the photos, he appears to have decent size, but appears a bit leggy for his depth front to back. In the photos he appears short backed. There's nothing wrong with a good tall male, but you need overall balance to make it all work, otherwise you get a stilty appearance. I like the fact that he shows lacing in his thigh fluff areas. His breast lacing is good. He is uneven in ground color front to back. His hackle and saddle about match, but his wing bow/shoulder/bay areas are too dark in comparison. The standard calls for a golden bay ground color. I'd say the hackle and saddles area a couple notches too light and the shoulder/bay/bar areas are a notch too dark. This color flaw is common in most GL Cochin Large Fowl I've seen. Main Tail appears to be a bit stiff which is also a common flaw in GL males and females. Can be improved by strict selection/breeding. Overall he appears to be a pretty nice bird.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Thought I'd get off color for just a minute and discuss weight. The SOP calls for Bantam Ckls to be 26 oz, and pullets to be 24 oz. As mine are just now right at 3 months, I just put them on my postal scale. The ckl is 22 oz, and one of the pullets is 21 oz. At 3 months, is their growth rate on track?

 

[cochinman2005]

I'd say that a good number of the Cochin Bantams shown today are overweight per the standard. You won't see a scale in the show hall, but you will see birds penalized for being over sized. You normally wouldn't see a judge mark "overweight" on the card, because unless he/she has a scale in their pocket there's no way to say for sure. Some very large birds are all feathers, but they can still be too big. Weights are a highly debated topic. If weighing birds were required in the show hall, it would take forever to judge a class and would detract from the show. Some judges like larger bantam Cochins and some smaller Cochins. Use the weights in the standard as a guide, and the size of your birds will be just fine. Some Cochins can be true gluttons. I've had females that are the proper size, but pick them up and you think you're handling a Cornish. Overweight birds don't lay well and don't breed well. Based upon the photos I've seen of your birds, they are on the mark for size.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

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He does have lacing on his coverts. It's hard to comment on photos because it's just an evaluation of a picture. There are lots of things I look for when handling a bird, the last of which is color. Based upon the photos, he appears to have decent size, but appears a bit leggy for his depth front to back. In the photos he appears short backed. There's nothing wrong with a good tall male, but you need overall balance to make it all work, otherwise you get a stilty appearance. I like the fact that he shows lacing in his thigh fluff areas. His breast lacing is good. He is uneven in ground color front to back. His hackle and saddle about match, but his wing bow/shoulder/bay areas are too dark in comparison. The standard calls for a golden bay ground color. I'd say the hackle and saddles area a couple notches too light and the shoulder/bay/bar areas are a notch too dark. This color flaw is common in most GL Cochin Large Fowl I've seen. Main Tail appears to be a bit stiff which is also a common flaw in GL males and females. Can be improved by strict selection/breeding. Overall he appears to be a pretty nice bird.

Tom, I'm looking back at the pic of your roo (GL x Partridge), that you said was also too light in the hackle and saddle. Do you have a pic of just what color is "Golden Bay"? Below is my bantam GL roo, who is really red. Is Golden Bay somewhere in between all these? (I'm actually happy about the red, because I'm also using him as my lead roo in my BLR project, and I wanted to be sure and get the Mahogany gene.)

 

[swheat]

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He does have lacing on his coverts. It's hard to comment on photos because it's just an evaluation of a picture. There are lots of things I look for when handling a bird, the last of which is color. Based upon the photos, he appears to have decent size, but appears a bit leggy for his depth front to back. In the photos he appears short backed. There's nothing wrong with a good tall male, but you need overall balance to make it all work, otherwise you get a stilty appearance. I like the fact that he shows lacing in his thigh fluff areas. His breast lacing is good. He is uneven in ground color front to back. His hackle and saddle about match, but his wing bow/shoulder/bay areas are too dark in comparison. The standard calls for a golden bay ground color. I'd say the hackle and saddles area a couple notches too light and the shoulder/bay/bar areas are a notch too dark. This color flaw is common in most GL Cochin Large Fowl I've seen. Main Tail appears to be a bit stiff which is also a common flaw in GL males and females. Can be improved by strict selection/breeding. Overall he appears to be a pretty nice bird.

I do realize it is hard to judge from a photo, but I do appreciate your comments.

 

[NellaBean]

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I have a few teeny tiny bantam cochins. A lavender hen and a partridge hen. TINY. Abnormally small. Cute as can be, but I can't imagine they are correct in any way.

And a big FAT gold laced bantam cochin hen. She is incredibly HEAVY when you pick her up. She is next on the sales list just because she MUST be eating half the darn food everyday. Super fat girl.

 

[cochinman2005]

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Actually his ground color is pretty close to what my interpretation of the GL color described in the standard. He might lean a little too much toward red in the hackle and saddle a bit, but that's really what mahogany is, dark red. I wouldn't want the deep red of a Rhode Island Red, but I think he's pretty close especially in the chest area.

In my travels this fall, I'll try to get some pictures of GL Wyandottes for comparison. They are colored pretty well I think and are good for comparison purposes.