Cochin Thread!!!

[FarkerFarms]

So we recently bought two black Cochins at a show, a pullet and a cockerel. They are sure both looking like cockerels now. I am afraid one was just younger than the other, so the neck feathers weren't all cockerel-ie. They started fighting today, getting all puffed up and glaring and pecking each other in the face. They are really going at it. Is anyone versed enough in Cochins to tell me if we got scammed? The second pic is the one that we thought was a pullet - the first and third we knew was a cockerel.

 

[ki4got]

So we recently bought two black Cochins at a show, a pullet and a cockerel. They are sure both looking like cockerels now. I am afraid one was just younger than the other, so the neck feathers weren't all cockerel-ie. They started fighting today, getting all puffed up and glaring and pecking each other in the face. They are really going at it. Is anyone versed enough in Cochins to tell me if we got scammed? The second pic is the one that we thought was a pullet - the first and third we knew was a cockerel.

how old are they? the one you thought was a pullet looks like a girl that's nearing point of lay. depending on age that is...

 

[FarkerFarms]

how old are they? the one you thought was a pullet looks like a girl that's nearing point of lay. depending on age that is...

We believe they are around 5 months old - but we are not sure. The one we knew was a boy def. has boy like neck feathers, but now that they have started fighting I feel like I'm not sure the "pullet" doesn't also have some.

 

[Jharper]

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

She said he was filling out so nicely, even better than the dad. She said if we couldn't get him any sooner she might just have to keep him(that was meant as a joke apparently). Do you think he actually didn't die and she just decided to keep him for herself? I don't think she would really do that though. My friend had that happen to her though.

 

[Aamanda]

Im so glad I found this thread!!!! Im a bantam Cochiin Newb. I got some bantam Cochin that were hatched locally on Aug 20th. I got them mostly so they could sit eggs for me. But fell in love with them! They are so sweet (for the most part lol) But other than broodiness I have little knowledge on them. I got 12 and think I have 8 cockerels. I keep in touch with the breeder and she says that some I think are boys might be girls. But I don't understand. I have four with teeny tiny combs and 8 with big ones. As much as I like them I have to get rid of the Cochin boys. I have Heritage RIRs and don't want them to breed in. Thinking about crossing my Red roo with one but cant have the other way round. Also...Some of them are only 1/3 of the size of the others? I have a few pics and can take some tomorrow but would really like to understand comb development and the dif in size. Any help is much appreciated!

Breeder says this is a hen



Roo for sure lol. He already crows. Is that normal for this age?



Same roo in the background. This guy is TINY!



Breeder says this is a hen.



Breeder says maybe a hen


Better pic of above "hen"


Let me know what you think. I know that two have large combs but hen bodies. Also any idea on why such a size differ. I will try to get some pics side by side if you need.

 

[wwmicasa1]

She said he was filling out so nicely, even better than the dad. She said if we couldn't get him any sooner she might just have to keep him(that was meant as a joke apparently). Do you think he actually didn't die and she just decided to keep him for herself? I don't think she would really do that though. My friend had that happen to her though.

Are you close enough to do a "drive by"??? Who knows what some people will do

 

[Jharper]

Are you close enough to do a "drive by"??? Who knows what some people will do

I'm a few hours away.

 

[wwmicasa1]

I'm a few hours away.

Well, it would accomplish one of two things. It will either make you mad or sad. Perhaps not knowing is better.....

 

[Jharper]

Well, it would accomplish one of two things. It will either make you mad or sad. Perhaps not knowing is better.....

She's is the one I got my paint silkies from, and she seems really nice and she was selling him to me, but we couldn't get him really soon. Her job makes her travel all over south ga and north Florida and we were supposed to get him this Wednesday, but she got moved to a different town that wasn't so close to us. So it was definite yes that we were going to Cairo to get him tomorrow.

 

[Fancy Feathers]

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.

So glad for your good news!!