Cochin Thread!!!

[Sanna]

Also, I've heard people complain about Cochins hatching the eggs and eating the chicks when they come out! Maybe they just want to sit, not mother.

I had a silkie hen that did that. Killed two chicks and ate one.

She has been fired from the mothering duties 'til the end of her days. lol She sure likes to sit on those eggs but that's it.

 

[lilcrow]

i have also had a hit and miss with cochin broodies, oddly my two black girls sat beautifully and got up every day to dust bath and eat. My two white girls currently will not move off the nest without me moving them. Very strange.

My little "brichen" frizzle is showing even weirder colours. Some feathers are perfectly laced, some double laced, and some, well see.






i am sad i am getting rid of this little boy, he is beautifully typed and has a lovely head, he is only 9 weeks at the moment.




in the rest you can see the strange "lacing" that came from the black frizzle/white smooth f1.

his chest is almost pure white






on his back there is the same white patches



here the chest and some lacing.




He doesnt factor into any of any of my breeding programs, and so is going soon, but i wish i could keep him, and maybe put him with some under marked birchen girls, and start a birchen program, but i cant find any with good type.

Andy, he's SO cute. I would at least think that he would be in high demand where you are. Have you run into Niclandia???? I think that's the handle. I know S Africa is a BIG place, but I thought maybe you have communicated with her on this site. She claims that the type is so bad there that she has had to use Naked Necks in her Cochin program.

 

[NanaKat]

Also, I've heard people complain about Cochins hatching the eggs and eating the chicks when they come out! Maybe they just want to sit, not mother.

I have never had a hen eat the hatched chicks. But it is a hen's nature to keep her nest clean. A chick that is DIS (dead in shell) will be removed by the hen either by removing it or by eating the carcass and shell.
I imagine what has happened for those complaining is that chicks were smothered by a new mom. She would remove those dead chicks.

 

[Mr. Ree]

As of right now, I still have one pair of Whites available.

~Casey

 

[guineaguy]

Anyone have some nice show potential hens or pullets to sell that can go with my cockerel Sharon hall and Fred mcgehee lines think he had pretty good type?

 

[StacyTN]

Okay, this is really a general question but it does concern one of my bantam cochin hens.

Does letting them brood WITH NO EGGS, hurt them? and if not really, then about how long will she do it before she gets bored with it?

I know there is a "brooding" thread etc but it is really long and I just need a quick simple answer.

She is 8 months old, just started laying eggs about 4 weeks ago but has now gone broody for the last week. Thankfully she is a sweet thing and does not get snippy with us, so we have been taking her off/out of the nesting box a few times a day but low and behold within minutes after a drink, food & poop, she goes right back.
I've read about how to break her and will do if it is really necessary.

We do have other hens laying eggs, maybe be fertile, may not be, but either way we do not want babies right now so we don't want to go there right now.

Thanks all

 

[ki4got]

Okay, this is really a general question but it does concern one of my bantam cochin hens.

Does letting them brood WITH NO EGGS, hurt them? and if not really, then about how long will she do it before she gets bored with it?

I know there is a "brooding" thread etc but it is really long and I just need a quick simple answer.

She is 8 months old, just started laying eggs about 4 weeks ago but has now gone broody for the last week. Thankfully she is a sweet thing and does not get snippy with us, so we have been taking her off/out of the nesting box a few times a day but low and behold within minutes after a drink, food & poop, she goes right back.
I've read about how to break her and will do if it is really necessary.

We do have other hens laying eggs, maybe be fertile, may not be, but either way we do not want babies right now so we don't want to go there right now.

Thanks all

unfortunately there is no 'easy answer' when it comes to broodies... some will sit for months, some for only days. just depends on the bird. that's why i incubate everything myself, because i don't trust them to find the right nest when they get off to go eat or sit long enough... so that's why i will only give broodies hatching eggs (usually day 18 or 19).

that being said tho, usually i want more eggs than i do broodies, so i try to break the broody. I do this by relocating her to a nest in the 'bachelor pad' pen (occasionally used for breeding, thus the nest boxes). the roosters will usually harrass her enough to chase her off the nest for good after a week or so.

besides, i like the personalities and total trust of people-hatched babies over broody babies. the last broody babies i had, when i had to catch them they'd scream like a banshee until i put them back down... my 'people babies' on the other hand, will hop onto my leg/shoulder/head when i sit down in the yard to take pics or give treats. the broodie babies still don't trust me after a year!

 

[AndyCap]

Andy, he's SO cute. I would at least think that he would be in high demand where you are. Have you run into Niclandia???? I think that's the handle. I know S Africa is a BIG place, but I thought maybe you have communicated with her on this site. She claims that the type is so bad there that she has had to use Naked Necks in her Cochin program.

He will be i high deman, i am not sure where niclandia is but will try and pm her. He is nice boy but doesnt fit with my partridge project so he is going. For free if i can find him a good home

 

[BlackPanther]

How many (standard size) chicks can a Cochin hen cover at one time?

 

[pastorwalt]

" i am not sure where niclandia is but will try and pm her."
I'm pretty sure she's a he named Marvin and lives in Nicaragua -Central America not SA
- Walt