Cochin Thread!!!

[Sanna]

Hey guys,

Ideal hatchery was having an 85 cent bantam sale, so I went ahead and purchased 55 cochin bantams. I've never ordered anything from a hatchery before because I know the quality is usually pretty low, but the price was just too good. They arrived on Thursday and they are all very healthy, but I didn't realize how many 55 chicks really is. The plan was to raise them until 3 months before I chose which ones to keep, but now I'm hoping to lower the number sooner. What are some faults that I can look for as chicks? The only one I could think of is leg color. There was a good assorment so I have buff, white, red, partridge, barred, black, moltted, silver laced, and I think there may be gold laced and brichen as well.

Thanks.

I'm still learning also, but I know things like split wings are something you want to avoid. Proper combs, wattles, feet and such. And for different colors, you want to make sure it's up to the SOP. As a newbie to Cochins, those are some of the things I would personally look for if I had 55 to choose from.

The comb I wouldnt worry about to much. The thing that I would focus my energy on is the color of his beak. It should be very yellow, not white(ish) looking like his, and usually if the beak is a light color so is the legs/feet. Something to breed away from for sure.

~Casey

Thank you for pointing that out. I still have so much to learn about Cochins. His legs are very yellow at least.
This cockerel is my first Cochin and I think he's a good start for me. The pullet I have, has split wings.

But nice type.


If I may ask for everyone's opinion on my cockerel? I don't have any great pictures of this guy, but what are some of the good and bad things you would be able to see in these shots? As soon as I have some extra cash, I will buy myself the bantam SOP book so I can study more. But this is the only cockerel I own and he is what I have to start out with.

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

Buff Cochin Bantam babies. They will be 2 w/o tomorrow. They sure grow fast! All have right number of toes, correct leg color, correct beak and eye color. I even counted 5 points on one of the babies comb! I hope I get a nice pair or trio out of these guys.

 

[Mr. Ree]

I'm still learning also, but I know things like split wings are something you want to avoid. Proper combs, wattles, feet and such. And for different colors, you want to make sure it's up to the SOP. As a newbie to Cochins, those are some of the things I would personally look for if I had 55 to choose from.

Thank you for pointing that out. I still have so much to learn about Cochins. His legs are very yellow at least.
This cockerel is my first Cochin and I think he's a good start for me. The pullet I have, has split wings.

But nice type.


If I may ask for everyone's opinion on my cockerel? I don't have any great pictures of this guy, but what are some of the good and bad things you would be able to see in these shots? As soon as I have some extra cash, I will buy myself the bantam SOP book so I can study more. But this is the only cockerel I own and he is what I have to start out with.

From what I can tell, he isnt half bad. Good bird to start with. I wouldnt even use the bird with split wing, I think it is an inherited defect (others can elaborate on that). His wings look a bit weak as well, not as tightly held to his body or high enough, but that is something to work on, I had to in my own flock, especially with the males! I would suggest finding some nicely typed hens, with tighter wings to breed him too. You got to start somewhere, and he is just a good a bird as any to start with IMO.

~Casey

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

I'm still learning also, but I know things like split wings are something you want to avoid. Proper combs, wattles, feet and such. And for different colors, you want to make sure it's up to the SOP. As a newbie to Cochins, those are some of the things I would personally look for if I had 55 to choose from.

Thank you for pointing that out. I still have so much to learn about Cochins. His legs are very yellow at least.
This cockerel is my first Cochin and I think he's a good start for me. The pullet I have, has split wings.

But nice type.


If I may ask for everyone's opinion on my cockerel? I don't have any great pictures of this guy, but what are some of the good and bad things you would be able to see in these shots? As soon as I have some extra cash, I will buy myself the bantam SOP book so I can study more. But this is the only cockerel I own and he is what I have to start out with.

I agree that you don't want split wings. Is it missing its axial feather or is it just a weak wing? You want to get away from that either way but sometimes we can only work with what we have.

 

[mjgigax]

I just got my first cochin yesterday. She was hidden in a cage of easter eggers, I wasn't too sure what she was, but I saw her beautiful color and just couldn't leave her crammed in that little cage. $28 later her and one of her EE cagemates became mine. I know she probably doesn't have much cochin type, but she's a pretty girl, and being such a huge LF (she's bigger than my wyandottes) I can use her as a brooder for lots of LF eggs

I think she is lovely too!

 

[Sanna]

From what I can tell, he isnt half bad. Good bird to start with. I wouldnt even use the bird with split wing, I think it is an inherited defect (others can elaborate on that). His wings look a bit weak as well, not as tightly held to his body or high enough, but that is something to work on, I had to in my own flock, especially with the males! I would suggest finding some nicely typed hens, with tighter wings to breed him too. You got to start somewhere, and he is just a good a bird as any to start with IMO.

~Casey

I agree that you don't want split wings. Is it missing its axial feather or is it just a weak wing? You want to get away from that either way but sometimes we can only work with what we have.

I can't seem to find good pictures of my hen either. Time to take the camera outside again!
This is her. As you can see in these pictures, my cockerels wings are much better than hers. And it sure looks like a split wing when you open her wings up. There's a feather missing. At least that's what it looks like to my eye.

I don't think these pictures do my pullet justice, but you get a good idea on how she looks. These are the two birds that I have right now. I'm not looking to get into a big breeding program, maybe some day. But for right now, I just want to do this as a hobby. With the limited amount of space and Silkies being my bigger favorite, I think I will take my chances and breed the two whites and hope for the best knowing that the hens wings might kick me in the butt in the future.. Like Casey said, you got to start somewhere and I think this is my "somewhere".

My goal is to improve!

 

[Timster881]

Does anyone have LF Cochin Chicks or Eggs for sale?

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to post updated pics of my Cochins. They are 2 w/o today, and they sure grow fast! Some of these pics are from today, some from yesterday. I have some questions about their feathering in. They are buff, and their quils when they come in are a very dark brown, and so are the feathers, but they lighten up after a few days. I've never had buff before, so I'm assuming this is normal. They are from the Urch line. Here are the pics!

Feathering

I'm pretty sure this guy is a boy. Anyone with me on that? That's him/her in the pic above.

All of them. The one on the front right is my favorite. S/he (I'm hoping she's a she, but I saw her sparring with Modern Game who I'm sure is a boy

) is the sweetest of all. S/he has a name, Hope, because at one point I was sure she wasn't going to make it. Hope is a runt, as you can tell from the pics.

This pic really shows how much bigger the Modern Game is from them.

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to post updated pics of my Cochins. They are 2 w/o today, and they sure grow fast! Some of these pics are from today, some from yesterday. I have some questions about their feathering in. They are buff, and their quils when they come in are a very dark brown, and so are the feathers, but they lighten up after a few days. I've never had buff before, so I'm assuming this is normal. They are from the Urch line. Here are the pics!

Feathering

I'm pretty sure this guy is a boy. Anyone with me on that? That's him/her in the pic above.

All of them. The one on the front right is my favorite. S/he (I'm hoping she's a she, but I saw her sparring with Modern Game who I'm sure is a boy

) is the sweetest of all. S/he has a name, Hope, because at one point I was sure she wasn't going to make it. Hope is a runt, as you can tell from the pics.

This pic really shows how much bigger the Modern Game is from them.

If they all hatched on the same day I find that the wing feathers start to come in faster on the pullets . Something you can check. Comb develops faster on males.

 

[BlackPanther]

A cochin hen is less that 2 lbs in top condition. I would guess about 5-6 Lf eggs. That was how many duck eggs my bantam hen covered a few years back.

That's wonderful! I've been told the number of chicks they can handle is higher than the number of eggs, so I'm guessing about nine?