Cochin Thread!!!

[Coopa Cabana]

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Must be the Portage show I heard about - Best of Luck!

Ooh, yay! The Wisconsin International Poultry Club Show in Portage! I only live 1/2 hour away from that one, I'll be there. Jim from Royal Oaks Farm is bringing me a really nice breeder pair of White Indian Runner ducks.

No plans to get any Cochins (yet!

The last thing I need is more birds - I have 17 Mottled eggs in the 'bator right now from Frizzledhen that are due October 2nd...I candled the other day, and it's still very early, but I see 9 developing for sure!

), and I didn't enter any birds. I have two or three Columbians I would have liked to have entered just to see how they'd place, but they're too young yet, and I didn't want to show any of the new Blue Mottleds or Whites yet because...well, I haven't had them very long - I mean, I've had them long enough that I could show them, but it seems unsportsmanlike because I haven't really done much with them, you know? I'd rather show some of their offspring that I bred myself.

Anyways, hope to see you there, Black Cochin Bantams! You can't miss me, I'm the tall, skinny, pale girl with long dark hair! And I'll bring my camera along and take lots of pictures to post.

Best of Luck to both of you! Annarie, be to take lots of Cochin pics! We'd love to see as many different color varieties as you can find.

 

[mame1616]

Speaking of being too young to show - how young is that exactly? I don't want to sound lie an ignoramus here, but since they are ALL pullets until a year, and since they don't really get good looking until after a year or so (the large fowl anyway), how do you know if they are too young to show? Do they have to get past that awkward all-knees-and-elbows teenage stage, or do you show them if they have good feather coverage? I have a pullet now that is just about six months (LF) and she has a nice shape and an even covering of feathers -she looks like she's wearing feather pants! But, she's still pretty bony and thin - no meat on her yet. You can tell she's gonna be a cochin when she grows up, but how cochin-like do they have to be when you show them at under a year? And, more importantly, is it even worth it? I have a very pretty BLRW pullet in the same boat.

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

I have entered 5 birds at Portage. 1 Black cock and 1 Black hen. 1 Columbian Cock (he has started molt) and `1 each Columbian cockeral and pullet. I have about 50 chicks growing out from 1 week to 3 months old 30 blacks and 20 columbians. I am looking forward to meeting other cochin enthusiasts! I hatched and raised the blacks. The Columbians are all birds that I bought from other breeders so I could get started in Columbians.

 

[serendipityfarm]

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OMG, WHAT is that in the bottom right corner of the second barred picture? Barred Cochin X Silkie??? LOVE to see aother pic of that one!

 

[serendipityfarm]

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My bantam cochin roo mounts my LF Cochin ladies, but I don't think he's managing fertilization through all that fluffy butt!

 

[swheat]

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OMG, WHAT is that in the bottom right corner of the second barred picture? Barred Cochin X Silkie??? LOVE to see aother pic of that one!

That one is a cuckoo Silkie...like these older ones.

But if you like the barred silkie here is Silkied black and barred cochins(not crossed to silkies).

and here side-by-side comparison

 

[Hens and Roos]

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We will be there as well, my DD(10) and DS(8) are each showing 1 Partridge Bantam pullet, 1 Partridge Bantam cockeral and 1 Blue Andalusian pullet. They are excited to do this.

 

[mjgigax]

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OMG, WHAT is that in the bottom right corner of the second barred picture? Barred Cochin X Silkie??? LOVE to see aother pic of that one!

That one is a cuckoo Silkie...like these older ones.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/7576_cucksk17.jpg

But if you like the barred silkie here is Silkied black and barred cochins(not crossed to silkies).
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/7576_sico.jpg

and here side-by-side comparison
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/7576_dsc2838.jpg

Thanks for all the good pics!!!

 

[cochinman2005]

Since there's been a good amount of interest in the Columbians I thought I'd post a pic of one of my 2010 pullets. She's about 6 months old and still molting, but shaping up nicely.

 

[cochinman2005]

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It's a judgement call. You certainly wouldn't want to show a bird that was so young it still peeped, but certainly anywhere from around 8 or 9 months to a year, they should be ready to show as pullets or cockerels. I don't think I've shown any large fowl that are younger than 9 months ever. They just aren't mature enough nor do they have the size to compete against a more mature bird. I've seen plenty of times where a bird that is still in the gangly awkward stage is put in the show, but they don't get more than a glance from the judge, or they may get "age" marked on the coop tag or something similar. I wouldn't waste the entry fee on a bird that is too young.