Frizzle Cochin Bantams

[farmgirl200]

I am thinking on adding to my flock Frizzles Cochin Bantams! I saw someone say that they could be rude to silkies, but it was a rooster, and some roosters tend to be that way, in my opinion. So what would you describe these chicks as, and please do not respond if you do not have or had any, I would like to see the opinions on experienced owners. And is there anyway that I could get white frizzle cochin bantams and be able to tell them apart, or are they all pretty much just plain white? And what do they look like as chicks? I hope this is okay to put this here. Thanks to anyone who replies!

 

[Bunnylady]

Howdy, farmgirl200! Welcome to BYC!

I have had a few Frizzled Bantam Cochins, but most of my Bantam Cochins have been of the smooth feathered type, I can't say that the personality is all that different between smooth and frizzled; I think bloodline may have more to do with it that feather texture. Most of my Cochins have been docile,well-behaved birds, though I have had a few that were right stinkers!

Frizzled Cochin chicks look just like the smooth ones. I don't seem to have any pics of my Cochins, but here is one of some white Bantam Cochin chicks that I borrowed from Feathersite:


The gene that causes the frizzled feathers makes the shaft in the middle of the feather bend the wrong way. This makes the feather a bit brittle. On a bird that only has one copy of the frizzled gene, it's not a major issue. The problem happens when a bird has two copies of the gene - one inherited from the mother and one from the father. Birds with two copies have very brittle feathers; they tend to break off easily, leaving a bird with a lot of broken feathers and bare patches. Some people call a bird like that a "frazzle," and it's something that no good breeder will produce. So, most people who breed Frizzled birds only breed smooth to frizzled (a frizzled roo to smooth hens, or the other way around), and as a result, you get both frizzled and smooth chicks from the breeding. Unless you are buying from someone using a frazzle as one parent, some of the chicks will be smooth, and some frizzled. As newly hatched chicks, you can't tell the difference between the two. As the wing and tail feathers grow in, those on the smooth chicks will be pretty much straight, and those on the frizzles will curl upward.

 

[farmgirl200]

Okay thanks!