Cochin Thread!!!

[cochinman2005]

Quote:
Yes. You'll still see the smutty chicks. But, as you cull for that you should see less of them. I still get a few chicks that are sort of mealy grey looking. you want your females to be as clearly marked in the hackles as possible and to have good slate undercolor if you can.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Thanks cochinman! Now another question. Should I cull ALL of my chicks that have the mealy gray markings? Even if their hackles and undercolor are good? That's what I've been doing, but now I'm not so sure if that's been a wise thing.

 

[magsrags]

cochinman....you hve some awesome birds. Oh the work involved must be mind boggling..........good job and your info is helping me to understand the breed so much more. I appreciate all your hard work.

 

[Hens and Roos]

very nice looking birds Cochinman2005, thanks for the pictures showing what to look for. My DD took a pair of Partridge Bantams for fair this year.

Roohe went to fair-took top blue in his class)

Boo:

Any suggestions about them would be welcome

 

[Freckle Face Farm]

OMG cochinman2005 I love those partridge

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

What is the definition of smut on columbian cochins? How early or how long should one wait before starting to cull? Do they need to be 4-5 months old so you can see the type develop?

 

[joanie_maine]

Sorry.....

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
Thank you!!! Very informative (so it IS beneficial to match up a darker roo to an undermarked hen? I wasn't sure if that's how the genetics of the pattern worked, evening one another out like that - I mean, I know I'd still get both extremes, but I wasn't sure if I'd get much of anything in-between). Your pictures made me feel much better about what I have - it's just that the Columbians look SO scrawny next to the Whites and the Blue Mottles I have running around now, I've been starting to get really pessimistic about them!

Here are a few pictures of what I have right now...these birds are not trained to pose, and it's been super-wet, humid, and muddy here, so you'll have to excuse the condition they're in.

This is my favorite pullet in terms of color - she was hatched on April 6th, I think:

Another on of her, along with the girl with NO color on her in the background (well, no color in her hackles - she has some smutty black in her tail):

And this is my favorite cockerel - he's younger, I think he's exactly 4 months old this week - he's SO calm, he's laying down in this picture!

He IS brassy, but they're out in the sun all day every day...he doesn't have any of the nice, black saddle feathers yet - one of my older cockerels who looked just like him a month ago has a whole profusion of them now (he also has some stiff feathers in his tail that stick straight out though

, so my hopes are higher for this younger guy now. )

And I wanted to get a picture of that cockerel standing up, along with another pullet, also 4 months old this week:

And gosh, don't post pictures of the Buff Columbians!

Those are next on my wishlist, but I already put enough money into new coop projects so I have the space to work with three different varieties this year! Buff Columbian and Splash are the last two varieties on my wishlist, and I already have all the genetics I need to get a Splash pen going...so maybe next year...

And, to those you you interested in Columbians, cotttagegarden is selling a flock of 9 of them (6 roosters and 3 hens) over on the BST section right now! (Incidentally, I'd say the pullet pictured has pretty "smutty" markings, Black Cochin Bantams - it's not "clean", there's too much black/gray smudged and peppered where it shouldn't be - like most of my birds! The little rooster is pretty though!

) Here's the link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=387087

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Quote:
Good morning. Since you mentioned wanting to raise and sell these eggs as Partridge, I wanted to make a couple comments. The females in the pictures are not correctly marked. They display typical lack of pattern that we see in the Partridge Cochin bantams. Check your standard. For Partridge or Silver Penciled (pattern description is the same), they should have distinct penciling throughout the entire body. Your females appear to have some limited penciling in their breast area, and then fade to no pattern definition across back and through the cushion. Additionally, they have shafting, which is the light quill color (straw color) that you see in the photo. This is a serious defect and once established very hard to get rid of in a line. I am not trying to put your birds down, simply pointing out that they do not display the proper color pattern. I raise Partridge Bantams and it is a very difficult pattern to get correct. I cull hard for shafting. Out of about 20 that I raised this year I have culled to 3 ckls and 5 pullets. The pullets that show barring in their juvenile plumage are usually the ones stand a good chance of being penciled, although the penciling on Partridge Bantams is still too thick. You said that the pullet in the photo was the better of what you had hatched. What does the male look like? He does impact the color of the female offspring as well, although when breeding for well marked pullets you want to start with the best marked females possible.

I hardly dare to post, now that I have to get rid of all my Partridge birds and start over. I got the pair last fall from a fellow in Georgia and now, a year later, I'm back to square one. lol

I'll never be a Master Breeder.......you won't see my birds on the pages of the Poultry Press anytime soon

But here's the roo...yeah, he's oversized and probably not the right color, but he's sweet and helps me when I'm weeding the garden. And, I had the only partridge birds at the CMBF Spring Show and the NNEBFC Basket Show. They may be poor reprensentatives, but at least the Variety was represented! Don't worry, I won't be selling any eggs.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/7083_009_518x640.jpg

Joanie, 99.99% of us will never be Master Breeders or Master Exhibitors, and you won't see pics of our birds in Poultry Press. And that's just fine - unless your goal is to be a Master Breeder. But if your goal was to be a Master Breeder or Exhibitor, then I'm thinking you probably never would have bought the birds in the first place, because you would already know the SOP inside-out.

So 99.99% of us are Master Hobbyists or Fanciers.

All of us have had our birds critiqued at one time or another - and most of the time, although it's meant as constructive criticism, it's still hard to take. We have fallen in love with what we thought was the perfect bird, only to find out its not perfect - only average.

I've had my share of let-downs here, too, but I consider each a stepping stone to improving my knowledge and breeding techniques.

We need breeders such as yourself to continue posting - many of us learn just as much when you share your experiences as we do from Tom's. And we truly enjoy seeing pics of your birds. (Personnally, I'd love to see more on how your Lemon Blues are progressing - if I remember right, you were getting pretty close to getting the color stabilized while maintaining type.)

And we need Tom to continue his great contributions, as well as his constructive criticisms. I don't want to see him to hold back on his critiques, any more than I want to see you hold back on your posts.

 

[joanie_maine]

Quote:
I hardly dare to post, now that I have to get rid of all my Partridge birds and start over. I got the pair last fall from a fellow in Georgia and now, a year later, I'm back to square one. lol

I'll never be a Master Breeder.......you won't see my birds on the pages of the Poultry Press anytime soon

But here's the roo...yeah, he's oversized and probably not the right color, but he's sweet and helps me when I'm weeding the garden. And, I had the only partridge birds at the CMBF Spring Show and the NNEBFC Basket Show. They may be poor reprensentatives, but at least the Variety was represented! Don't worry, I won't be selling any eggs.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/7083_009_518x640.jpg

Joanie, 99.99% of us will never be Master Breeders or Master Exhibitors, and you won't see pics of our birds in Poultry Press. And that's just fine - unless your goal is to be a Master Breeder. But if your goal was to be a Master Breeder or Exhibitor, then I'm thinking you probably never would have bought the birds in the first place, because you would already know the SOP inside-out.

So 99.99% of us are Master Hobbyists or Fanciers.

All of us have had our birds critiqued at one time or another - and most of the time, although it's meant as constructive criticism, it's still hard to take. We have fallen in love with what we thought was the perfect bird, only to find out its not perfect - only average.

I've had my share of let-downs here, too, but I consider each a stepping stone to improving my knowledge and breeding techniques.

We need breeders such as yourself to continue posting - many of us learn just as much when you share your experiences as we do from Tom's. And we truly enjoy seeing pics of your birds. (Personnally, I'd love to see more on how your Lemon Blues are progressing - if I remember right, you were getting pretty close to getting the color stabilized while maintaining type.)

And we need Tom to continue his great contributions, as well as his constructive criticisms. I don't want to see him to hold back on his critiques, any more than I want to see you hold back on your posts.

Sorry....