Cochin Thread!!!

[3LilBirds]

Can any of u help me with my cochins color? Mothers buff. Father is white. I have another one that hatched and its differnt than this one. Will post pics of it when dry. I psted in this section but no one told me what color it could be. What do u cochin experts think.

Aaaaw my Cinnamon looked like this when she was a chick. She is my absolute favorite too. Such a sweet bird!

 

[ki4got]

Quote:

ok, got hackles now what is shafting? I tried to google it but no dice.

shafting is when a feather has a different color shaft than the vane (body) of the feather.

here's a good pic of a bird with obvious shafting in the breast and wing areas, to give you an idea. sorry, not a cochin. but dorkings are supposed to have shafting, so it's easy to show.
her hackle feathers are not shafted, but laced.

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

hackles-is that the legs? and what is "shafting"? thanks for the input, I will post again. I have seen lots of "these birds are ideal" photo illustrations, but it helps to also hear the opposite-i am one of those that learns from what not to do, not just what to do.

Should he be rounded already at this age? Or does it take a little longer for that happen, like closer to 9 months?

The dorking picture in previous post shows shafting and her explanation is correct. On your bird in the breast area there are at least 6 feathers that are black with proper border lacing that have white shafts. That is what shafting is on your bird. As far as filling out or rounded as you called it some varieties mature slower than others. That is why i suggested pictures again in 6 weeks.

 

[ki4got]

Ok, I broke down and typed out an article explaining a lot of "What Is ____". I've answered a lot of people privately, some publicly. but now I can just paste a link.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/my-feather-anatomy-guide

hope it's helpful.

and regarding the birchen, I have a lovely little birchen pullet for sale, if anyone's interested. She's about 8 weeks old now. I have no idea of her background other than she came from a bin of cochin chicks at a rabbit show in Greensboro NC back in March. If anyone's interested I'll try to get pics of her tomorrow. she's got beautiful lacing around her neck. it reminds me of a Dahlia flower pattern.

then again, if i can't find a home for her, maybe i'll try my hand at birchen cochins.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

This is one of the absolute best threads on BYC - there is something on here for everyone:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...rts-and-lots-of-reading-updated-nov-13th/0_20

 

[Lovesdisney]

My poor cochins have foot feathers that are a MESS. I talked to 3 breeders at the show today ALL of which told me perfectly opposite information. One said PINE SHAVINGS ONLY.... one said "on wire all the time, never down on the ground". The 3rd said "SAND ONLY".... yeah.

Mine are on wire, but I have them in a grass run most all day. My only birds I don't really freerange so that they aren't bothered by my LF birds. Even if I left their area open, they prefer to be off to themselves. SOOOOO.... help! Please and thank you

 

[chicknadventure]

I have sen the term shafting many times so now I know! And that was a very helpful diagram too. I will give him 6 weeks and post some new pics with more angles. I know he isn't perfect but w en hearing the wrong as well as the right is really helpful to me so thank you all for your time.

 

[thecochincoop]

My poor cochins have foot feathers that are a MESS. I talked to 3 breeders at the show today ALL of which told me perfectly opposite information. One said PINE SHAVINGS ONLY.... one said "on wire all the time, never down on the ground". The 3rd said "SAND ONLY".... yeah.

Mine are on wire, but I have them in a grass run most all day. My only birds I don't really freerange so that they aren't bothered by my LF birds. Even if I left their area open, they prefer to be off to themselves. SOOOOO.... help! Please and thank you

the only way i've found to keep my birds feet nice is to constantly watch and make sure they have lots of clean dry shavings. if they get the slightest bit damp they start to get poop balls on their feathers. it's almost a full time job just to keep them clean. i tried wire and it didn't work as good as the shavings but I think it needs to be 1" squares instead of 1/2"

 

[NanaKat]

Ok, I broke down and typed out an article explaining a lot of "What Is ____". I've answered a lot of people privately, some publicly. but now I can just paste a link.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/my-feather-anatomy-guide

hope it's helpful.

and regarding the birchen, I have a lovely little birchen pullet for sale, if anyone's interested. She's about 8 weeks old now. I have no idea of her background other than she came from a bin of cochin chicks at a rabbit show in Greensboro NC back in March. If anyone's interested I'll try to get pics of her tomorrow. she's got beautiful lacing around her neck. it reminds me of a Dahlia flower pattern.

then again, if i can't find a home for her, maybe i'll try my hand at birchen cochins.

This is one of the absolute best threads on BYC - there is something on here for everyone:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...rts-and-lots-of-reading-updated-nov-13th/0_20

Thank you for both information links...very helpful!

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

the only way i've found to keep my birds feet nice is to constantly watch and make sure they have lots of clean dry shavings. if they get the slightest bit damp they start to get poop balls on their feathers. it's almost a full time job just to keep them clean. i tried wire and it didn't work as good as the shavings but I think it needs to be 1" squares instead of 1/2"

Tom uses 1" square x 2' ft wide vinyl or PVC coated wire for all his male birds if I remember correctly . We all know the quality of Cochins he raises. It is not inexpensive but does not have any sharp area to catch feathers. I saw it at his place several years ago. I have never used it so I have no personal experience with it but it seemed to be perfect for his setup.

I use pine shavings. I have used the larger course chips that sort of expand when removed from the packaging and the smaller finer chips. Both have an advantage over the other type. The course ones fill more space but do not absorb as well. The feet stay a little cleaner on the finer chips and there are fewer carts of bedding/manure to the compost pile with the smaller sized wood bedding. The course stuff is large livestock bedding. Living in Iowa more large animal type is kept in stock by our local elevator.
Craig