Cochin Thread!!!

[Coopa Cabana]

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Andrea, it's very difficult to answer your question without knowing what your breeding goals are, and without seeing pics of your birds.

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

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I use pine chips. I change them when dirty. It depends on the number of birds per pen how long I can go between bedding changes. I also have some birds that seem to always find a way to soil/stain foot feathers quicker than the others in the same pen. I don't clean out coop over the winter but just add another 2-3 inches of chips and really clean in the spring. Makes for large compost piles.

Craig

so i would probably be better off keeping about 2 birds in a 2x2 cage with shavings to keep them in good condition and just keep an eye on the cleanliness of the chips instead of trying to do wire with droppings trays. I was planning on making all the cages roughly 2x2 or 2x3. perhaps I'll just use wire for the brooder cages then

I was talking about my larger pens. If I was doing 2 x 2 cages I think I would try a few of each and see what worked better for me. I already was committed to solid bottom cages so I use chips everywhere. If I was planning to start over again I would be seriously considering wire.

Craig

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Tom has some great pics, as well as detailed information, of his housing set-ups - here the link to the poultry housing page on his website:

http://gff.cochinsrule.com/coops.htm

 

[thecochincoop]

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thanks Gail I forgot about Tom's site. thinking I will go with wood on the top row and wire on the bottom then move birds as needed. I'm leaving the rest of the coop open for my free rangers and will have two rows of cages all along the walls

 

[mjgigax]

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OHHHHHHH chicks!!!!!!

 

[Beth G.]

Mandy I've had problems trying to figure this out in the past too. I've found that when they are in the middle of a moult I move them into a huge area 10x13 stall with wood shavings on the bottom and separate the boys from the girls. I keep them separate and do the A.I. b/c whenever I keep the boys and girls together over winter they always seem to look ratty! But, I did try the wire bottoms and they were not coated. I found that you have to be careful how big the opening is b/c if too big it breaks off the feathers more and if too small the poo can't fall through and sticks to the wire making feet all messy. So, after trying this the past few years my DH and I have just stuck to the solid floors and I strip and clean the pen every other weekend and use a kitty litter scoop to do quick clean ups when checking on food and water twice a day. I don't go crazy with it but, the big clunky stuff I take out and it works for us. Not saying its the right way but, just the only thing I can find that helps with foot feathering with my silkies and cochins. Hope this is helpful

I wind up using the breeding cages for my button quail as to not waste them and so I lucked out there! Otherwise buying all the wire was sooo expensive!!!

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thanks Gail I forgot about Tom's site. thinking I will go with wood on the top row and wire on the bottom then move birds as needed. I'm leaving the rest of the coop open for my free rangers and will have two rows of cages all along the walls

 

[RS]

Are Lemon Blues a recognized color?

 

[Coopa Cabana]

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The Bantams are recognized by the ABA.

 

[stephanie1992]

My new baby!! FRIZZLE BANTAM!

 

[Coopa Cabana]

I could use the expertise of all you more experienced hatchers, please. If you've been following BooBoo's story, she(?) is the first I've ever had accidently hatch out in the coop. All my previous hatches have been in the incubator, and then the chicks were raised in the house in a brooder. BooBoo seems to be absolutely thriving out in the coop with all the adults, even with the overnight freezing temps we've had lately.

So here's my question - is there a difference in overall growth rate and feather development between chicks hatched in incubators and raised indoors in brooders versus chicks hatched outside and raised with the flock?

BooBoo was 4 weeks old yesterday, and below are pictures I took yesterday morning. When I compare her feather growth to pics I've taken of chicks in the house in the brooder, she is substantially behind in development. My others all had tail stubs in their 3-week pics. BooBoo has no tail stub at 4 weeks.

Do they just mature more slowly when raised with Momma hen out in the coop? Is this normal? Also, the early opinions were that BooBoo is female . . . is that still the prevailing thought?