Hypothetical Cochin Breeding Questions

[black_cat]

So....I think that sometime in the future I would like to breed cochins to the SOP. This would happen in a setting where roosters are legal, and I have enough space/funds to set up a breeding setup. I think that the easiest would be blue, black, and splash, because when bred together, no matter the color of the hen or the roo, you'll always get some combination of blue, black, or splash chicks. The problem with this is that splash is not a recognized color for cochins. Would I just want to focus on one color, instead of the three? Would I want to pick colors that breed true, and just keep them seperate? How many different sources do you have to use for birds to prevent over inbreeding? How many eggs do you usually hatch at once? How many do you cull down to? For cochins, who are a broody breed, would you let the birds hatch their own eggs, or no?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Unless you have the patience and concentration, I would do one color at a time. You can always do blacks and blues and just sell the resulting splashes as pets.

I hatch as many at a time as I have room to. If you can get them to brood, why not, but know they don't lay eggs while broody or for a few months afterwards

 

[black_cat]

@OneHappyRooster I see you in my notifications Though I love our cochin orp debate, this isn't the place to tell me that orps are better.

 

[HappyClucker7]

Ookee. I had heard about broody raised chicks being less tame than brooder babies, so that was where the question came from.

I'm not going to be any help with the cochin breeding (though I think it's a great idea since cochins are the best) but I just wanted to say something about the broody hen raising the chicks.
I have a BA that raised 4 chicks. My BA is quite friendly, she trusts me, but isn't the kind of chicken that will cuddle. Of the 4 chicks, 2 are absolute lap chickens (they both happen to be cochins ) and they are a lot more cuddly than their mom. My third chick will cuddle, but it's not his favorite thing to do. He prefers to be pet. The 4th one hates people and will scream if you try to touch her, which isn't like her mom at all. So, in my experience, the way the mom acts will not always determine how the babies will act. Of course, I'm sure it does in sometimes, but not all the time.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

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Most people do not vent-sex their chicks. It's apparently quite fiddly to do, and takes a lot of skill to be accurate while also not hurting the chick.

If you aren't dealing with sexlinks, or with autosexing breeds, then you can sell eggs, sell straight-run chicks, sell started chicks that are old enough to sex by sight, or sell mature birds.



If you set up black/blue and black/black breeding pens, there would never be any splashes.

Or you can deliberately use splashes in breeding, because splash x black = blue. Even if the splash isn't showable, its chicks are. (And whether splash is a showable color may change, too.)



Probably pick them up and handle them regularly, put them in a show-sized cage so they get used to it, bring the chicken & cage into the house so they get used to weird things moving around and making noise, invite your friends over for a party while the chicken cage is inside so they get used to crowds of people... Just think of what is likely to happen at the show, and find a way for the chicken to get used to those things.

I Did not know those crosses wouldn't make splashes. Cool

 

[Amer]

Do you ever sell unwanted cockerels and pullets as 'show quality xyz', or do you cull all of them?
I usually am not bold enough to call them that. As they are culls, they aren’t show quality. I simply call them “xyz cockerels” or “xyz pullets,” and if their merits sell them, good for them. I usually cull all the cockerels and then sell the pullets as layers. My buyers don’t come to swaps for show quality birds, they come for pet layers or meat birds. So it’s a good market. Sometimes I will sell cockerels for very cheap and people will buy them for meat. It doesn’t pay for their feed, but it does at least save me butchering time, and it’s much better than wasting good meat by throwing them out. If my culls are especially good, I’ll sell them in pairs or trios.
Do you vent sex your chicks or sell straight run? I don’t really sell chicks because that’s just less chicks to select from, but if I do, I just sell straight run. It doesn’t pay to know what they are, it just leaves behind a bunch of cockerels you don’t know what to do with.
How do you get your birds to the point where they're calm enough to show? Put them in cages and give them treats. I’d tell you to teach them how to display, but Cochins don’t need to. Cochins are docile and easy to show, but they’re very difficult to condition.
Are there some traits that are easier to breed out than others? (e.g. if a bird is great everywhere else but has poorly feathered feet, is it easier to fix the feathered feet, than, say, wrong eye color?) Yes. Unfortunately, I don’t know them in Cochins. The feathered feet is much easier than a recessive trait like vulture hocks. It’s easy to breed a poorly feathered bird to a good feathered one. While it takes effort to combine good traits in a bird, it’s much easier to fix type than any recessive trait. One thing you have to look out for is poorly feathered wings or split wings.

 

[black_cat]

Also questions on selling chicks, eggs, and birds:
Do you ever sell unwanted cockerels and pullets as 'show quality xyz', or do you cull all of them?
Do you vent sex your chicks or sell straight run?
How do you get your birds to the point where they're calm enough to show?
Are there some traits that are easier to breed out than others? (e.g. if a bird is great everywhere else but has poorly feathered feet, is it easier to fix the feathered feet, than, say, wrong eye color?)

 

[black_cat]

I don't sell birds for shows because I don't have shows in my state.

Do you mean calm enough for APA shows or 4H shows?

Uh......shows where you show....birds??????? I think APA? I mean calm enough to be put in one of those little show cages and brought to a show with a bunch of other birds, and you're like 'this is my chicken' and the judge is like 'ok cool lemme judge her' and then handles the chicken n stuff, then you find out which chicken wins (I know that this isn't the most accurate description of what goes on at shows and yes I understand how they actually work)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

And broody raised chicks act like their mom. If the mom is skittish, they are too

 

[NatJ]

Do you vent sex your chicks or sell straight run?

Most people do not vent-sex their chicks. It's apparently quite fiddly to do, and takes a lot of skill to be accurate while also not hurting the chick.

If you aren't dealing with sexlinks, or with autosexing breeds, then you can sell eggs, sell straight-run chicks, sell started chicks that are old enough to sex by sight, or sell mature birds.

You can always do blacks and blues and just sell the resulting splashes as pets.

If you set up black/blue and black/black breeding pens, there would never be any splashes.

Or you can deliberately use splashes in breeding, because splash x black = blue. Even if the splash isn't showable, its chicks are. (And whether splash is a showable color may change, too.)

How do you get your birds to the point where they're calm enough to show?

Probably pick them up and handle them regularly, put them in a show-sized cage so they get used to it, bring the chicken & cage into the house so they get used to weird things moving around and making noise, invite your friends over for a party while the chicken cage is inside so they get used to crowds of people... Just think of what is likely to happen at the show, and find a way for the chicken to get used to those things.