Do These Leg Feathers Mean Anything As Far As Gender Is Concerned?

[sylviethecochin]

Ah, I see.
Well, only one out of the 6 cochins I ordered has those feathers. Have you heard of others getting chicks like that from Ideal?
Does DQing mean disqualifying?
What hatcheries have "quality stock" in your opinion? I went with Ideal because they were the only one that had all the types of birds I wanted.

I have three (was five, but I culled the cockerels) silkies from there with single combs. They're larger than any silkies should be, and their fibromelanosis is not as strong as it should be. My father ordered Pekins from there, and those are some tiny Pekin ducks. The Leghorns my mother ordered are also a bit straggly. I've never inspected their cochin stock.

DQ does mean disqualify (or Dairy Queen. But context is everything and all that.)

Cackle is supposed to have nice stock, for a production hatchery. I'd probably recommend that one first, after seeing positive reviews for it on here. I've also read good things about My Pet Chicken. But more information is always welcome.

 

[AmyJane725]

I have three (was five, but I culled the cockerels) silkies from there with single combs. They're larger than any silkies should be, and their fibromelanosis is not as strong as it should be. My father ordered Pekins from there, and those are some tiny Pekin ducks. The Leghorns my mother ordered are also a bit straggly. I've never inspected their cochin stock.

DQ does mean disqualify (or Dairy Queen. But context is everything and all that.)

Cackle is supposed to have nice stock, for a production hatchery. I'd probably recommend that one first, after seeing positive reviews for it on here. I've also read good things about My Pet Chicken. But more information is always welcome.

Hm, ok. I guess they don't have the best birds. Sorry yours were "sub par". I'm pretty happy with mine, but I'm not trying to win any prizes either. I think the vulture hocked one is the cutest (it's the smallest of the three white cochins and all squatty. I've started calling it Munchkin (which is bad because the name is supposed to be Penelope . Pancake is also coming to mind. Crap.) Out of 16 chicks I've only lost one. That's pretty decent survival I think, so they have that going for them. And the customer service was really good as well. That doesn't help the quality of the stock, but it does say something about them as a company I think.

Lol, Dairy Queen. You're funny.

I was looking on My Pet Chicken first but they didn't have the cochin bantams I wanted.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Hm, ok. I guess they don't have the best birds. Sorry yours were "sub par". I'm pretty happy with mine, but I'm not trying to win any prizes either.

I don't show or care to do so, but if I'm ordering Pekin ducks to improve my meat stock (as Dad was doing), they should at least be larger than my medium size Swedish. I want the birds I order to at least resemble the breed they represent. He pawned them off on me (which is also how I got the silkies) and they're not even good egg-layers.

Vulture hocks probably wouldn't bother me either. They look kind of cool, and more importantly, they don't impede function.

 

[AmyJane725]

Yeah. A lot of it depends on what your purpose is for the birds. Mine are for pets, so the littler and cuter they are the better. I'd probably love your mom's little pekins if I was into ducks. But yeah, if you were wanting them for food I can see where little animals is less than ideal.

They do look kinda cool. I was surprised when I first noticed them and was like, "Wow, I got a special chick. Look at its neat little legs."