Cochin Thread!!!

[Scifisarah]

Back to the topic of this thread.... can a few of you please post pics of your cochin's eggs? I know mine just started laying (the girl in my avatar is all grown up) but I can't figure out which one is hers. I think I know but I'm getting confused. Those darn chickens don't make it easy! I'd also love to see how similar or different they all are.

If you have some food coloring, you can use a Q-tip and put some on her vent. That way it will color the egg slightly on the way out. I did this with two of my hens using Wilton cake frosting colors and it worked nicely. It helped me figure out that one of my hens consistently had infertile eggs. I also found that one of the two hens always laid skinny long eggs, and the other one more roundish fat eggs so I didn't have to color their butts once I realized that.

 

[Ashdoes]

Hi guys! I have a question that I think Cochin people will better answer then just an open topic. My Cochin girls started laying last year in October/November and they laid all winter, now all of a sudden I don't think I'm getting any from them. I've got five other girls that are still laying fairly well, so I'm wondering if slowing down is just a Cochin thing? I don't mind if it's a natural slow down, I just want to make sure they're not lacking in anything. They aren't really molting, and I feed them Feather Fixer and add a little calf manna twice a week.

 

[trsturself]

If you have some food coloring, you can use a Q-tip and put some on her vent. That way it will color the egg slightly on the way out. I did this with two of my hens using Wilton cake frosting colors and it worked nicely. It helped me figure out that one of my hens consistently had infertile eggs. I also found that one of the two hens always laid skinny long eggs, and the other one more roundish fat eggs so I didn't have to color their butts once I realized that.

I have heard this before. I think I'll just try the old fashion method of catching her in the nest box and seeing what's there. The problem is she's quiet and I haven't heard her do an egg song, even in practice. I've also never seen her even look at the nest boxes. She's definitely laying though (3 fingers wide and her vent is obviously a layer). It would also help if I could get all 4 brown eggs in one day. Then I could find the differences better. I organized all the ones we had sitting on the counter and I think I have it narrowed down. Oh well, as long as they are all happy!

 

[Ashdoes]

It's pretty easy to use the liquid food coloring, when you drip it on their vent they pull it in. I've done a few of the girls already, and it worked that same day.

 

[trsturself]

It's pretty easy to use the liquid food coloring, when you drip it on their vent they pull it in. I've done a few of the girls already, and it worked that same day.

Ok, you convinced me. I'm going to go put in on her if she hasn't laid yet.

 

[trsturself]

Ok, you convinced me. I'm going to go put in on her if she hasn't laid yet.

There were no eggs yet when I went out so I dyed all of the brown eggs layers (we only have 4). One has laid since then and it has one tiny streak of color on it. Hopefully the rest have it too, and hopefully at least 3 of them lay!

 

[ki4got]

well, got a little bit of good news... kinda funny actually.

I mentioned on wed that i'd lost my 2 roos... well, they're gone. unless they can walk around without a tail/preen gland, or one wing... not too likely.

and the girl that left behind a pile of feathers, she's gone too, for sure. but the incompletely laced cochin I was missing (since Monday), I never did find much evidence of anything. just a few feathers here and there, which could have been attributed to moulting as much as anything else...

the last few days it's been raining intermittently so I haven't done much outside, but today was nice, so I got some more done on my next 2 pens, which I hope to put into service ASAP for my crowded red/mottled/laced/partridge group. anyways, I kept hearing someone pecking on a plastic *something*... tap tap tap. i'd look around and see nothing. start back on the pen and 'tap tap tap'...

finally i'd had enough. it was driving me. so I sent the dog to 'go get em'. not that he will, but he'll find the noisemaker and make them stop usually. well, he ran around the truck and came back to me. 'tap tap tap'. Sunny! go get it! find it! by now i'm more curious than annoyed.

side note... my standard poodle has also become a self-taught tracker too, when I shot my first deer last week (crossbow) and she took off down into the woods. so now 'go find it' is part of his vocabulary. LOL

so he starts coursing around the yard, trying to find whatever 'it' is... even he's not sure, but he's trying. I'm following along, watching him to see what he's doing, and I heard it again. right next to me!

on the ground next to where I'm standing is an old pallet with some tractor parts on it, a couple bags of sand, and an old leaky bucket that's been standing upside down for months. Hubby uses it to carry tools around mostly. a few other odds and ends and my 'swap' cages.

well, as i'm looking around, I hear the tapping again. this time I noticed something poking out of one of the bucket's small holes. no idea what it might be, i tell Sunny to wait there, go get my net and get ready to catch whatever it might be. (i'm thinking possum or squirrel or something.) i get the dog ready to 'get' whatever comes running out in case i miss it with my net, and flip the bucket over!.

and she just stands there looking pitiful. my incompletely laced girl that's been missing since Monday! it'd been raining so apparently she's been drinking water thru the holes in the bucket as it pooled on top, and from the amount of dirt on her beak, has also been snacking on worms and such. so I went straight to one of the pens and put her in with my mottled bunch (smallest group) and she proceeded to gobble up as much food as she could hold, then drank half a bucket of water before heading to the roost...

so i'm back UP to having 3 girls for my silver laced project, if i ever get another roo. the 2 incompletely laced girls may not have good lacing, but they do have good type, which is why I kept them... now i'm just missing the other half of the project.

 

[wwmicasa1]

well, got a little bit of good news... kinda funny actually.

I mentioned on wed that i'd lost my 2 roos... well, they're gone. unless they can walk around without a tail/preen gland, or one wing... not too likely.

and the girl that left behind a pile of feathers, she's gone too, for sure. but the incompletely laced cochin I was missing (since Monday), I never did find much evidence of anything. just a few feathers here and there, which could have been attributed to moulting as much as anything else...

the last few days it's been raining intermittently so I haven't done much outside, but today was nice, so I got some more done on my next 2 pens, which I hope to put into service ASAP for my crowded red/mottled/laced/partridge group. anyways, I kept hearing someone pecking on a plastic *something*... tap tap tap. i'd look around and see nothing. start back on the pen and 'tap tap tap'...

finally i'd had enough. it was driving me. so I sent the dog to 'go get em'. not that he will, but he'll find the noisemaker and make them stop usually. well, he ran around the truck and came back to me. 'tap tap tap'. Sunny! go get it! find it! by now i'm more curious than annoyed.

side note... my standard poodle has also become a self-taught tracker too, when I shot my first deer last week (crossbow) and she took off down into the woods. so now 'go find it' is part of his vocabulary. LOL

so he starts coursing around the yard, trying to find whatever 'it' is... even he's not sure, but he's trying. I'm following along, watching him to see what he's doing, and I heard it again. right next to me!

on the ground next to where I'm standing is an old pallet with some tractor parts on it, a couple bags of sand, and an old leaky bucket that's been standing upside down for months. Hubby uses it to carry tools around mostly. a few other odds and ends and my 'swap' cages.

well, as i'm looking around, I hear the tapping again. this time I noticed something poking out of one of the bucket's small holes. no idea what it might be, i tell Sunny to wait there, go get my net and get ready to catch whatever it might be. (i'm thinking possum or squirrel or something.) i get the dog ready to 'get' whatever comes running out in case i miss it with my net, and flip the bucket over!.

and she just stands there looking pitiful. my incompletely laced girl that's been missing since Monday! it'd been raining so apparently she's been drinking water thru the holes in the bucket as it pooled on top, and from the amount of dirt on her beak, has also been snacking on worms and such. so I went straight to one of the pens and put her in with my mottled bunch (smallest group) and she proceeded to gobble up as much food as she could hold, then drank half a bucket of water before heading to the roost...

so i'm back UP to having 3 girls for my silver laced project, if i ever get another roo. the 2 incompletely laced girls may not have good lacing, but they do have good type, which is why I kept them... now i'm just missing the other half of the project.

Karen, so happy for the "good" news~!

 

[Jharper]

I'm so mad, the little birchen bantam rooster we were going to get this Sunday got attacked by a raccoon and died.

 

[wwmicasa1]

I'm so mad, the little birchen bantam rooster we were going to get this Sunday got attacked by a raccoon and died.

OMG...so sorry to hear. What a bummer....