Large Fowl Cochin Thread

[artsyrobin]

Quote: She is so pretty! I wonder what color she is officially??

 

[BGMatt]

Does anybody know where I could get hatching eggs? The color isn't important. I'm in Alabama. All I can find around be is bantam.

Bob Anderson with Blue Hour Poultry (find them on Facebook) has some stellar Cochins. Another good source is Bo Garrett on these very forums. Cochins International should have a breeder directory too.

 

[Trooper Man]

Wow I did not know hawks can kill/carry lf chickens. I have seen them take little stuff

 

[Beekissed]

A Great Horned Owl carried off a Barred Rock of mine once..found her in the next field with her head missing. That's the only chicken I've lost to aerial predation in the last 10-15 yrs or so. None to hawks or eagles thus far, due to my good dog and good roosters with wily, fast hens. These hens have already taught this young Cochin to go across the wide spaces at a run at certain times of day...he's learning.

 

[Nambroth]

So that's where that high steppin' stride comes from...I thought it was kind of pretty, like a horse doing dressage...he even arches his neck like a horse. I might trim his feathers a little come spring so he can get his run on. I didn't know how far one could trim them without causing bleeding.

I don't want to mislead you... they will still have that high-step to them, but sometimes if their hock feathers are longer (more like vulture hocks) it can impede their walking/running.
They are just a big, heavy breed with heavy foot and leg feathering, so even at their fastest they aren't going to be as spritely as a bit clean-legged bird.
For whatever reason, predators sometimes seem to target white and light colored birds first. I don't know if they are easier to see or what.

If you do clip feathers, all you need to do is remember two things:
1. Don't cut blood feathers/pin feathers, as they can bleed quite badly.
2. Stay clear of the foot itself, which has more skin than a clean-footed bird.

Cochins tend to have a patagium on their feet-- this is a fancy way of saying they have extra skin to hold those huge feather follicles.
Here's a photo of my roo's feet when he was a chick. Notice the extra flap of skin. Don't cut too close to this.


You may find your rooster breaks the feathers off naturally as he forages and you don't need to clip at all. My one rooster just has very, very long foot feathering so I trimmed just a bit off the edges to help him not trip over his own feet so much. What happened a lot is another bird would stand near him, step on his feathers, and trip him.

Here are more photos if anyone wants them. Again these are a chick's feet, and the feathers on this bird got much longer as he grew. http://featherdust.critter.net/cochinfeet/

 

[Beekissed]

Wow! Thanks! I'll turn him over when I work on him to make sure I don't nick anything important.

I've had large white birds in all my flocks and I've never had one snatched by a predator in the past 37 yrs or so, so I'm not sure about that whole white or light colored thing. I had 54 meat chicks, CX, last spring all over 3 acres~from 2 wks of age on up~ and no one got carried away, so maybe the hawks in different areas of the world are more prone to going for unnatural colored prey than others. The only bird I ever had that got taken by a predator was that one Barred Rock and that was at night.

 

[Nambroth]

Wow! Thanks! I'll turn him over when I work on him to make sure I don't nick anything important.

I've had large white birds in all my flocks and I've never had one snatched by a predator in the past 37 yrs or so, so I'm not sure about that whole white or light colored thing. I had 54 meat chicks, CX, last spring all over 3 acres~from 2 wks of age on up~ and no one got carried away, so maybe the hawks in different areas of the world are more prone to going for unnatural colored prey than others. The only bird I ever had that got taken by a predator was that one Barred Rock and that was at night.

That's good to hear!

 

[GlennT]

Well, there are many big shows around but I would recommend subscribing to the Poultry Press, a monthly newspaper, which lists shows around the country.   The American Poultry Association semi-annual meet is in Hutchinson, KS in April and will be a well run show with lots of birds.  The Ohio National is annually in November and the Oklahoma Poultry Federation show is the second weekend in December annually.  The Ohio National will hold the qualifying meet for the Large Mottled Cochin this year.

I will definitely try to make the ohio national, I want to see these mottled cochins in person. Ohio is not terribly far from me. Thanks for letting me know, and I have subscribed to poultry press now also.

 

[DeannaA]

Bob Anderson with Blue Hour Poultry (find them on Facebook) has some stellar Cochins. Another good source is Bo Garrett on these very forums. Cochins International should have a breeder directory too.

I contacted Blue Hour. Way out of my price range. I'm just looking for pet quality. I am not breeding, just like them and want them for pets and cute incubators.

 

[CibolaChooks]

I heard something down by my pens once. I heard a 2nd noise so i stood up and started to walk towards my pens. A barred cochin rooster i had living with the goats was sprinting up my dirt road towards the goat house. He had a prairie falcon flying about 6ft off the ground hot on his trail. I lost a big black hen to the prairie falcon and several others of diffrent breeds. He would have caught up to him if i wasnt there but that big cochin ran pretty darn fast.