Judge my Cochin

[greenfamilyfarms]

Standard Black Cochin Cockerel ~ 6 months old, not crowing. How is his quality?

For size comparison - the Lab (Maggie) weighs about 60 pounds and is knee-high.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

anybody?

 

[chickenlady]

For 6 months old he doesnt look that bad, I hope your not looking to cull him. From what I can see in the pics, I dont like his comb, maybe it is just the angle of it. His neck looks alittle long,however, he is still very much a baby. He will look way different in a couple years. It looks as though he could use a little more leg feathering but it may also just be broken feathers due to freeranging, I cant tell. He's got a good start to his tail, that should feather in real nice as he gets older. He may be from a slow maturing bloodline. He looks to have yellowish feet, are the bottoms very yellow? Where did he come from?

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Thank you. His feet are yellow on the bottom. Is that ok? He came from a breeder near Winston-Salem, NC. He's a big gorgeous boy from my point of view. I cannot wait to see what he will finish out to look like.

 

[chickenlady]

Yes, you want to have yellow feet. The yellower the better. If not all over, must at least be yellow on the bottom. He does look like a big boy. I would love to see him a year from now. I think you will be pleased. Best of luck with him. Does he have any girls?

 

[moduckman]

Nice bird, especially for a cockerel. I like his face, believe it or not, that tells me he's going to be a nice size. Do you plan on showing? He should compete very well in the cockerel class.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Hoping this changes, but his feet feathering needs to be even greater. He needs to have his middle toes covered completely by feathers.

When looking at a Cochin, you should barely be able to see the separation of the legs underneath. The smaller the amount of "light" that leaks through the space, the better.

On this bird, you can clearly see the light coming through the legs. This is undesirable in exhibition Cochins.

This pullet has nice leg feathering. Notice how you can barely see any light coming through the feathers between her legs?

It may be that other birds are pecking at his feet. I like his body and his "cushion" and think he would do well in shows. I would definitely wait until his feathering comes in completely. He has a nice wide head and should have a nice brow line when finished growing and as he ages.

 

[thecochincoop]

Don't take this the wrong way but he could use more feet feathering and a little larger comb, but the comb could not be fully developed yet. He also seems a little tall and not puffed out to me, but that is just my opinion. He is still a beautiful bird.

 

[Matt A NC]

This is not an impartial opinion.

He is still very young. This line is EXTREMELY slow to mature. Letting him grow up freeranged didn't help those feet feathers one bit. His Dad didn't start filling out till he was almost a year old.

Here are his parents. Both are 100% starcochin lines.

Noel - Mom
Just won Best Asiatic - Oct 07. Also has a best Standard Oct 08, but there wasn't much competition.

Jerry - Dad
Had just turned a year old. He was in kind of rough shape. He was all trimmed up around the rear for breeding.

Matt

*Edited to fix pic link*

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Please don't think I'm posting him to criticize you! Your cochin is my first and want to see what I'm working with. I hope you understand. Maybe I can bring you your Blue boy in a few weeks to the Morganton show.