Hmm..Columbian Cochins or Mottles?

[cottagegarden]

My daughter is in this great poultry club where every year they get @ 100 chicks from a top breeder, grow them all out, pick a pair and show them. The kids learn so much along the way having so many to compare.
This years breed project is Bantam Cochins, her first pick was Mottles but she was told she could have Whites or Columbians. After a week most are feathering pretty dark...so there are either a few Mottles tossed in by accident or they are REALLY dark for Columbians. She wanted Mottles so bad she cried when she didnt get them, she wanted to breed a Mottled frizzle for her brother to show next year. The chicks seem grey, or dark blue. They are driving me crazy staring at them.
Nevermind the red feet, the folks separating them markered the different breeds diff colors.
Yeah, red.
These are Columbians

Here are two darker chicks with the Columbians

and the suspicious potential Mottles

 

[Crunchie]

The little mottled I just hatched (yes, one, poor thing...eggs had a rough trip

) has a lot more black than those guys. The only one that even comes close to what my little chick looks like is the one on the left hand side of the second pic.

I will try to post a pic for you...

OK, I take it back.

Mine doesn't have much more black than yours on the left in that picture. This little guy is 2 weeks old.

 

[cottagegarden]

Thanks Crunchie. That lil pullet chick in the picture is the darkest one, her foot feathering and higher on the leg is way black. So she may be an ooppss, which is good news. If
DD got a combo of blues, blacks, and Columbians she will be limited to picking for her show pair but probably will be a happy little girl. If they are dark Columbians she can breed for correct coloring down the road.
If I get down to MD I will just have to bring you more, more mottles more!! Besides, DD says her next focus breed is Polish(Iand I think you have pretty awesome ones) (o: But Im making them do Silkies and Cochins very well, first.

 

[Crunchie]

Well to me they are just all cute....

I've never had any Cochins before, so I'm completely new to the breed. I saw some pics of mottleds and decided I needed some, for now just for fun around the farm. They are too adorable, and I wouldn't mind more! And I could certainly send some Polish home with you.

What an awesome project for your kids!

So, how do you know that little chick is a pullet already??

 

[cottagegarden]

Yep, you need more they really are fantastic little guys. The chicks are all ages that we got, but at least for me, I find they comb up earlier than some other breeds. The dark chick in pic two has a bitty comb and is probably the same age as the one below her and is feathered out more..but that is way easier to compare when you have a group.
Yours has some mighty fine feet there!!
I have a trio of blue mottles, fertility hasnt been there, but nothin makes you think you will try AI
like gifting your friends!

 

[Krys109uk]

Chick in bottom left photo looks like possible restricted down of mottles chick. You will soon see as mottleds will feather out as in Crunchie's photo.

If your daughter is supposed to be picking out good columbian &/or whites wouldn't it be irrelevant what colour the other chicks might happen to be?

 

[Msbear]

Hey cottage garden. They are all columbians. The darker ones will tend to have flecking in their backs which is not desired. I would pick the lighter ones.

The darker ones sometimes seem to have better primary feathering.. so, if you are planning on getting a few, get two light ones and a darker one to breed with. If you are just looking for a bird to raise and show... grab a light one

eta: the one chick on the bottom pic with its head turned... it has black on its neck and lots of black in the foot feathering. I've never had a columbian chick like that... It doesn't look like a mottled either ...but I couldn't say. If I had to guess, I would say columbian. I can make out some barring on its wings. A mottled chick will be large patches of color while the columbians will start to have the barring look.

Good Luck! Just close your eyes and grab one!!

 

[cottagegarden]

Thanks Msbear, I figured you were one of the few who had seen the two Varieties side by side.
It totally looks like a Mottled got in the Columbian hen house, but these are from the top and I doubt that is a possibliity. Even the over pigmented Columbians are pretty, in a speckley way.
She gets to keep these 9(usually they get 10) and show the best pair out of the group.
I'll update when they feather out a bit more-I figure at the very least she will learn alot along the way!!