Cochin Thread!!!

[Coopa Cabana]

There aren't very many Cochin pics submitted yet for the 2012 BYC Calendar:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ictures-needed-for-the-byc-2013-calendar/0_20

So let's make sure at least one or two Cochins make the calendar! You can submit a max of 2 pics. And don't forget, once the submissions are closed, you will still have to vote!!

My bad! The link is correct - but it's the 2013 calendar!

 

[thecochincoop]

OK, a quick recap of my BLR (bantam) project:
1) My original GL cock and my original Splash hen:


2) All F1 birds were very dark blue - I retained the 3 best pullets:


3) The F1 dark blue pullets were bred back this year to the original GL sire, and these are the F2's (photos taken this morning). These all hatched the first couple of weeks in July, so are around 6 weeks old. These are pics of the 7 older ones that I have moved out of the brooder. It will give you a good idea of what I'm getting. As I said yesterday, 1/2 are solid, and 1/2 are laced. Of the laced, about 1/2 appear to be black laced, and 1/2 appear to be blue laced.

Green band - This little fella is probably my most promising at this point in time: Definitely black laced.



Lavender Band - I think this little pullet is black laced - compare the "shafting" on her wings to the lacing in the wings on the the cockerel above.



Pink Band - I think this pullet is Blue laced. Again, more shafting on the wings.



Yellow Band - this pullet also appears to be Blue laced - but very incomplete with her lacing genes:



Black Band - this cockerel I think is black laced, but again very incomplete. He also has willow legs. (All 4 of the above have yellow legs.)



One of the solids - note the black comb on this little pullet.




Another solid - this cockerel is showing a lot of white tipping.


Edited to Add a couple more pics. The below 2 are a couple of weeks younger than the above, and still in the brooder.

Blue Band: Cockerel; yellow legs; Black laced



White Band: Pullet; Yellow legs; Blue/Black??




Please feel free to comment and critique.

They look pretty good for F2's. The shafting on the one pullet is similar to one of my GLs and I think it is more of an over laced thing and if you bred that to an incomplete it would probably correct itself. Personally I would take your best patterned blue babies and cross back to GLs (BLR hen x GL male and BLR male x GL hen). Not sure what you already have in mind for next generation, just my two cents. My best pullet this year came from an incomplete laced splash BLR over GL. Still waiting to see how she matures but was complete laced earlier in the year. How are you planning on getting the red into them? Looks like your cockerels are also gold. The solids that you are getting from these I would immediately remove from the gene pool since you now have patterneds, especially that one with the black comb. I think that somehow that is related to the willow legs. I would see that crop up in my pq cochins years ago.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Thanx Mandy! I appreciate your comments! The solids will be going to the swaps over the next 2 months if I can't find home for them before then.

The best laced will be crossed back to my GL's (male and female). That way I can keep working on both GL and BLR. But GL will always be my primary focus. I really think adding in the Buff Columbian to my GLs next spring will help push the black farther out to the edges of the feathers, creating better lacing. My original GL sire Midas I believe has the Mahogany gene, so hopefully another cross back to him and I'll see more red in the BLR. If not, I may look to cross in a solid red next fall.

Jerry Foley has some good advice on his website about breeding for BLR. I also bought his e-book, which has even more advice than what is on his website. Just ignore the Wyandotte references, and focus on the feather, pattern and color advice - which applies to any color laced birds.

 

[thecochincoop]

Thanx Mandy! I appreciate your comments! The solids will be going to the swaps over the next 2 months if I can't find home for them before then.

The best laced will be crossed back to my GL's (male and female). That way I can keep working on both GL and BLR. But GL will always be my primary focus. I really think adding in the Buff Columbian to my GLs next spring will help push the black farther out to the edges of the feathers, creating better lacing. My original GL sire Midas I believe has the Mahogany gene, so hopefully another cross back to him and I'll see more red in the BLR. If not, I may look to cross in a solid red next fall.

Jerry Foley has some good advice on his website about breeding for BLR. I also bought his e-book, which has even more advice than what is on his website. Just ignore the Wyandotte references, and focus on the feather, pattern and color advice - which applies to any color laced birds.

do you have a link to his website?

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Quote:
http://www.foleyswaterfowl.com/blrwyandotte.htm

 

[chickee]

This is really interesting about your BLR Cochin project, and your birds are so pretty it makes me want to experiment with creating different colored laced Cochins. I raise BLRWs in LF and bantam. I recently (14 wks ago) hatched my first bantam Cochins and just love them! I am toying with the idea of trying to come up with a blue laced silver Cochin. When I had blue and silver laced Wyandottes I bred my blue rooster to a silver laced hen and got a blue laced gold pullet and a blue laced silver rooster. How that happened I have no idea because the chicken color calculator says that combo would give me solid black and blue chicks! Who knows what was lurking in the genes of those hatchery Wyandottes!

 

[thecochincoop]

This is really interesting about your BLR Cochin project, and your birds are so pretty it makes me want to experiment with creating different colored laced Cochins. I raise BLRWs in LF and bantam. I recently (14 wks ago) hatched my first bantam Cochins and just love them! I am toying with the idea of trying to come up with a blue laced silver Cochin. When I had blue and silver laced Wyandottes I bred my blue rooster to a silver laced hen and got a blue laced gold pullet and a blue laced silver rooster. How that happened I have no idea because the chicken color calculator says that combo would give me solid black and blue chicks! Who knows what was lurking in the genes of those hatchery Wyandottes!

craig knows about the silver laced genetics, but there is somehow that the silver and gold become sex linked with lacing and patterns

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

craig knows about the silver laced genetics, but there is somehow that the silver and gold become sex linked with lacing and patterns

Actually I feel there are others that understand genetics much better than I. The books are a great place to start but as most of us know a Black bird is so much more than a Black gene. Experimental breeding 18 months ago. I bred a Black pullet to a Columbian cock to try to get a silver based line to bring shorter wings and Black Cochin type to Columbians. I got 30% silver based birds that look like Birchens with incomplete lacing and the rest were Brown Red with incomplete lacing. I culled all except 1 Birchen looking pullet. When Tom did a Silver Laced Cochin project he bred a SL cock to a Columbian hen. In 2 generations he had birds with some lacing and greatly improved type. Matt has done a similar project using a very typey Mottled male on a Partridge female. In 2 generations he had much improved type on Partridge with lacing reappearing. He did get some Silver penciled out of this project that he did not keep since the goal was to improve Partridge. I am currently considering doing that to Silver Penciled to improve type on mine.

Mandy is correct about sex linked birds. Tom and Matt made Buff Columbian hens by using a Buff male on a Columbian hen. All male chicks are not used further because they are a brassy color that has no use in BC or Columbian. The females will all be Buff Columbian. A Columbian cock on a BC hen will yeild useless males and Columbian pullets. Hoping this makes sense. If not please ask.

Craig

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

I realized today that I had just hatched an equal number of chicks to the number of birds lost to raccoons in August. Setting Black eggs for 2 more weeks then I am DONE for the year! Started the incubator in March and it will be the 2nd weekend in Sept when I quit setting eggs. Unplug it about October 1.

1st picture is of last weeks and this weeks hatch focusing on the few Blacks I have.
2nd picture is of 3 to 5 week old chicks with several Blacks, Silver Penciled, and Columbians in there.

 

[Shyla-C]

Actually I feel there are others that understand genetics much better than I. The books are a great place to start but as most of us know a Black bird is so much more than a Black gene. Experimental breeding 18 months ago. I bred a Black pullet to a Columbian cock to try to get a silver based line to bring shorter wings and Black Cochin type to Columbians. I got 30% silver based birds that look like Birchens with incomplete lacing and the rest were Brown Red with incomplete lacing. I culled all except 1 Birchen looking pullet. When Tom did a Silver Laced Cochin project he bred a SL cock to a Columbian hen. In 2 generations he had birds with some lacing and greatly improved type. Matt has done a similar project using a very typey Mottled male on a Partridge female. In 2 generations he had much improved type on Partridge with lacing reappearing. He did get some Silver penciled out of this project that he did not keep since the goal was to improve Partridge. I am currently considering doing that to Silver Penciled to improve type on mine.

Mandy is correct about sex linked birds. Tom and Matt made Buff Columbian hens by using a Buff male on a Columbian hen. All male chicks are not used further because they are a brassy color that has no use in BC or Columbian. The females will all be Buff Columbian. A Columbian cock on a BC hen will yeild useless males and Columbian pullets. Hoping this makes sense. If not please ask.

Craig

What books would you recommend for a beginner breeder of LF Cochins?

Thank you,
Shyla.