Cochin Thread!!!

[lilcrow]

ditto............

Mandy (Cochin Coop) has unusually good boys with each other. Unless they've been raised together I would never try to put even two roos together when they are breeding age (and that's pretty young). I kept father and son together for a while and thought they were doing extremely well, but after the son got big enough, he start beating up on his dad. That ended immediately since his dad is my favorite bird of all my birds. It took everything I had in me not to kick his little feathered butt.

Desirai- I personally would not keep 5 cockerels in the same pen together no matter how many hens I had with them. My cochin boys are all super sweet with me but I have set up a zero tolerance policy for naughty behavior with me. If they peck me, try to flog me etc they get corporally cuddled and carried around in front of their women and that sets most of them straight. If they are really naughty I don't keep them around, they go in the butcher pen or get sold with the disclaimer that they are naughty. I don't care how nice a rooster is in type if he has a bad attitude I don't want that passing on to offspring.

I may keep 2 cockerels together in a pen of 6 or more hens but only if they are raised together and get along well. I find that if both boys are actively mating it is a lot for the hens to put up with so I have only done that when space was limited until I could get more fencing up to separate out boys I wasn't going to use for breeding at the moment but didn't want to get rid of. They seem to think they need to be the last one to hop off the hen so the poor hen gets mated 5 times before one boy finally gives up. It is not fun for anyone.

I know the boys are friendlier now and I have found that is the way they are when they are young. When the girls reach the age that they are laying they get much more social and if given attention will get just as friendly as your boys are now. I would decide if you have one or two favorite cockerels and keep only them or at least separate out your extra boys.

I have never had cochin cockerels injure each other until two months ago. I had bought a young black cockerel unseen and he had an attitude with the other boys. He would pick a fight and then when the other cockerel would back down he would keep chasing instead of claiming victory and backing off. He was promptly separated but one day managed to fly over 2 fences and get in with my splashes and by the time I found them he had almost killed my splash roo who was bloodied and exhausted. The black cockerel is in a grow out butcher pen now and he will be sent to freezer camp with the rest of the extra roos this summer. I have no tolerance for that behavior and it is awful to find a bird bruised and bloodied like that. They are sweet now but 5 boys is a lot in one pen.

Just my 2 cents and I know others have different experiences.

 

[NanaKat]

Need a little help confirming my LF Cochin cockerels. I'm hearing someone attempting to crow besides the d'Anvers roo in the pen. I think I have narrowed it down to two....the Blue on the left and the Splash on the right. These are birds hatched from eggs from JHeintz from Iowa. The Splash hatched Jan 27 and the rest hatched Feb 22.



These are the pullets:

 

[Tropical Chickies]

Don't mean to barge in, but I just bought a pair of bantam cochins. I know the boy is a black mottled, but the pullet I'm not certain what her color is. She is all white with a few dark feathers. Is she the product of the mottled gene, or a diluted splash?

 

[ki4got]

Need a little help confirming my LF Cochin cockerels. I'm hearing someone attempting to crow besides the d'Anvers roo in the pen. I think I have narrowed it down to two....the Blue on the left and the Splash on the right. These are birds hatched from eggs from JHeintz from Iowa. The Splash hatched Jan 27 and the rest hatched Feb 22.

honestly i don't see any that look like roos... at 3-4 months old, they should already have some serious comb/wattle development going on.

at least, everything i've ever had has...

 

[lilcrow]

honestly i don't see any that look like roos... at 3-4 months old, they should already have some serious comb/wattle development going on.

at least, everything i've ever had has...

I agree, however since they're LF I think that makes a difference, I think they mature VERY slowly. There is a LF Cochin thread on here and I would post on there. Cochinman is almost always on there and he has extremely nice LF. I'm sure he could tell plenty about them.

 

[lilcrow]

My guess is, it's a white Cochin. Some whites that aren't being bred for show could easily end up with a few stray feathers here and there.

Don't mean to barge in, but I just bought a pair of bantam cochins. I know the boy is a black mottled, but the pullet I'm not certain what her color is. She is all white with a few dark feathers. Is she the product of the mottled gene, or a diluted splash?

 

[MrsChickendad]

Howzabout a brown red frizzle??

 

[ki4got]

not big on frizzles but he's purty.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

He's cute, but he looks like he's missing a frizzle gene or two. All feathers should be curled toward the front.

Quote:

Howzabout a brown red frizzle??

 

[Nicole01]

He's cute, but he looks like he's missing a frizzle gene or two. All feathers should be curled toward the front. Quote: Originally Posted by MrsChickendad Howzabout a brown red frizzle??

Not true. He's a sure frizzle and carries the gene.

Frizzles frizzle out at different rates. Some are even smooth feather and carry the gene.

Here is mine. She will carry the gene and 30-40% of her hatch will be frizzled and all carry the gene.

I'm going to breed her with my light brahma if my LB is a boy.