Cochin Thread!!!

[SternRose]

I've had 1 cochin before, and I just got another bantam cochin! This is Scrambles, I sure hope s(he) is a girl! Sorry for the bad pics. Any thoughts?

Pullet.

 

[BooeyBird]

I hope you guys are right! I'm not actually sure how old s(he) is, I just took an educated guess. The other for-sure cockerels that were in with Scrambles had more red and a larger comb. They were also larger and stood taller. But, s(he) does this thing where (s)he opened his/her mouth very wide and moves his/her head back and forth. It looks like what my old ameraucana used to do before he started to crow. Is that a normal thing for pullets too? Also, how can I make a good educated guess on the age of him/her? Thanks for the help!

 

[reflections]

At what age do the cockerels start getting spur 'bumps'? I can't remember if it's 4 or 8 weeks. That was how I figured out what my 10 straight run chicks were.

 

[Toshiko24]

Hi. One of my white Cochin girls 11 weeks old got over heated yesterday although she had been let out to range in back yard and had lots of shade to get under. She is fine this morning thank goodness. It was very scary. I am keeping her inside today but have the others out in the run/coop. I'm so worried. I am stuck at this dumb job for 9 hrs today and can't check on them. It may not have gone up to about 90 yesterday in the sun. Are cochin really sensitive to heat? I feel so bad, like a bad mom. But she did come around after I brought her in, cooled her off with ice bag (just near her, not on her) and gave her ringers fluid by mouth. Took a while but this am she was up eating and drinking. Not sure if I need to quit this job or what. I'm only supposed to be part time but I seem to always get stuck working long days on fri and Monday. Guess boss wants all the cushy long weekends all the time. :-( I'm in SC. Does anyone else work full days and if so how do you leave your girls w/o them getting over heated. My coop/run is in the shade on the north face of a hill. Thanks for any advice.

I have been worrying about the heat here as well. My birds will be 7 weeks old on Wednesday and still in my house(They get to go out for 'play time' from 6:30pm-9:00pm). When I had rabbits before and they were out in the heat I would take them out 1 liter soda bottles I would use for ice packs for them and they loved to lay against them to cool off. I have seen people say to use misters, wet down their floor so they can lay in some cool mud (mud can mess up their feet feathers a bit), give them pans of water they can put their legs in, spray them off with the hose (can interfere with their insolation in their feathering and not recommended), give them chilled watermelon, put some fans out with them, and some people just bring their birds in the house during the hottest parts of the day. There is a forum on BYC just for ideas at keeping your little chicky babies cool. Type 'Keeping chickens cool in summer' in the search up top and you should get some good forums come up with some good ideas.

 

[mystonedgarden]

If it is 8 weeks I would still think pullet. My cochin that is a cockerel started getting red comb and wattles at about 3 weeks and my pullet just started getting red a couple weeks ago and she is about 12 weeks old. My cockerel is 10 weeks, here they are for comparison. BTW they are bantams.

Man he is really gorgeous! So jelly

 

[mystonedgarden]

Hey! I wanted our opinion on chicks from ideal poultry, I want to order some Cochin chicks.

My local feedstore gets their chicks from ideal, Im pretty pleased with my cochins!

 

[flockofbantams]

Hi. One of my white Cochin girls 11 wks old got over heated yesterday although she had been let out to range in back yard and had lots of shade to get under. She is fine this morning thank goodness. It was very scary. I am keeping her inside today but have the others out in the run/coop. I'm so worried. I am stuck at this dumb job for 9 hrs today and can't ck on them. It may not have gone up to about 90 yesterday in the sun. Are cochin really sensitive to heat? I feel so bad, like a bad mom. But she did come around after I brought her in, cooled her off with ice bag (just near her, not on her) and gave her ringers fluid by mouth. Took a while but this am she was up eating and drinking. Not sure if I need to quit this job or what. I'm only supposed to be part time but I seem to always get stuck working long days on fri and Monday. Guess boss wants all the cushy long weekends all the time. :-( I'm in SC. Does anyone else work full days and if so how do you leave your girls wo them getting over heated. My coop/run is in the shade on the north face of a hill. Thanks for any advice.

Cochins are naturally made for cooler weather. All the fluff that makes them so cute also makes them get hot. Everyone has given some really good advice. I would personally freeze 2 litter bottles and add a fan. As for quitting ur job.... That's all you but I used to work full time and I worked 40 min from my house. I was a nervous wreck all day worried about all my animals.(horses, dogs, chickens) but I finally got a part time job and I'm useually home by 3:30 and makes me feel do much better to get home and check on everyone.

 

[TAMMACLEAN]

I am getting my first SQ Cochin this week! I can't wait. We have some hatchery Cochins that we love cause they are super sweet, but this will be our first "real" Cochin. It will be a bantam.

 

[flockofbantams]

Congrats I love cochin bantams!!!!!!

 

[Rhandi74]

Man he is really gorgeous! So jelly

Thank you, I am really not sure where he came from. I bought him at TSC in the bantam bin. I think I really lucked out with him.