Cochin Thread!!!

[goldeneggtees]

Hi all, I saw a beautiful buff cochin pullet at a show yesterday and fell in love. I love buff orps too but this bird was very big and beautiful! I was wondering before I start my search for a bird like the one I saw, is it really hard to keep their feet and legs clean? Are they more trouble than non-feathered feet birds? Can they free range without getting completely wrecked feet? I don't want to show, I would love to just have her as eye candy. Of course, if she is walking around with yucky feet all the time, it might take away from the eye candy part. I live on Long Island, NY BTW.

I asked the guy showing her if he'd sell her and he said someone offered him $100.00 and he refused him. Whew! My hatchery birds cost $3.00 a piece! But there is such a difference. If we were allowed, I'd love to breed them since it seems they are hard to find. But alas, we aren't allowed roosters here so that's out!

Any and all advice would be much appreciated

 

[ki4got]

all my non-breeding cochins are free ranged and the feathers get a bit more wear on them, but not nasty looking... unless it's raining and muddy everywhere. but they do dry out. i love watching the cochins preening their feet. the dorkings look at them like they've lost their minds. LOL

 

[goldeneggtees]

all my non-breeding cochins are free ranged and the feathers get a bit more wear on them, but not nasty looking... unless it's raining and muddy everywhere. but they do dry out. i love watching the cochins preening their feet. the dorkings look at them like they've lost their minds. LOL

Thanks Karen, I can't stop thinking about her so that's good news.

Do you know where I might be able to purchase show quality chicks or eggs, not bantams? I have a broody australorp currently so it would work great if I could get some soon.

 

[Patsy2757]

Beautiful chicken! Where did you get her/?

 

[wildwoodcochins]

Ok, I broke down and typed out an article explaining a lot of "What Is ____".  I've answered a lot of people privately, some publicly. but now I can just paste a link. 

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/my-feather-anatomy-guide

hope it's helpful. 

and regarding the birchen, I have a lovely little birchen pullet for sale, if anyone's interested. She's about 8 weeks old now. I have no idea of her background other than she came from a bin of cochin chicks at a rabbit show in Greensboro NC back in March. If anyone's interested I'll try to get pics of her tomorrow. she's got beautiful lacing around her neck. it reminds me of a Dahlia flower pattern.

then again, if i can't find a home for her, maybe i'll try my hand at birchen cochins.

I am selling out of my Birchens if you want to work with Birchens

 

[ki4got]

Quote:

I am selling out of my Birchens if you want to work with Birchens

i'd love to get some good stock, but am totally out of money right now, especially for shipping birds... thanks though.

 

[ki4got]

ok here's an odd question maybe... I've got mandy's blue partridge split mille girls, and have them with my mille roo. so far fertility is 100%. their first eggs are due the 30th.

what i don't understand is partridge genetics. I know it's a dominant gene, but is it carried at the same location as the mille fleur or separately? if it's the same location then they are heterozygous for partridge and mille, so i could get blue/black mille and blue/black partridge, but if it's on a different loci, then depending if they're hetero/homozygous, i could get any combination of blue/black/partridge/mille/solid?

 

[chicknadventure]

ok, so you all let me know when you are ready to part with some hatching eggs, ok? Cause I do want to class up my joint

 

[thecochincoop]

Tom uses 1" square x 2' ft wide vinyl or PVC coated wire for all his male birds if I remember correctly . We all know the quality of Cochins he raises. It is not inexpensive but does not have any sharp area to catch feathers. I saw it at his place several years ago. I have never used it so I have no personal experience with it but it seemed to be perfect for his setup.

I use pine shavings. I have used the larger course chips that sort of expand when removed from the packaging and the smaller finer chips. Both have an advantage over the other type. The course ones fill more space but do not absorb as well. The feet stay a little cleaner on the finer chips and there are fewer carts of bedding/manure to the compost pile with the smaller sized wood bedding. The course stuff is large livestock bedding. Living in Iowa more large animal type is kept in stock by our local elevator.
Craig

craig I did look into the vinyl wire but there is none around here unless it's 1/2 or 1/8" squares and to order the correct size online is very cost prohibitive. perhaps there are other places that sell it at a more reasonable price locally for others

 

[ki4got]

craig I did look into the vinyl wire but there is none around here unless it's 1/2 or 1/8" squares and to order the correct size online is very cost prohibitive. perhaps there are other places that sell it at a more reasonable price locally for others

the best place i've found wire at is www.wireclothman.com the prices are reasonable. 16 gauge 1x1, 48" wide 50' roll is $85.00 with shipping to your town, about $118 or so.
you might also check lowes, home depot and TSC... i know they've carried the coated wire before. also in a 1" hex that might work for you.