Large Fowl Cochin Thread

[farmerChef]

I too was noticing the cochin thread is mostly bantam.
Here's my month old "giant" cochins pullets from Welp Hatchery. Looks like I have 3 or 4 roos.

Looks like I'll be contacting them and letting them know, I also have 1/9 ancona roo/pullets (one died 1st night). What do you think?

The only one I think is a pullet

 

[Bo Garrett]

As far as I know there are no lethal alleles associated with the Andalusian Blue dilution factor. If you want more blues and splashes then you will want to breed accordingly. black X blue will yield about 75% blacks and 25%blues; blue x blue will yield about 25%black/50%blue and 25%splash; blue x splash will yield about 75%splash/25%blue and splash x splash will breed true 100% splash. These percentages are approximates, I have been breeding blues for 10 years and have over the years bred down to one blue hen which tells you that the percentages do not work out perfectly. Some birds are more prolific at passing the dilution factor to their offspring than others, when you find a bird that passes the blue dilution factor very well it is best to raise as many chicks from that bird as possible. The best color of blue comes from the black X blue cross but the other crosses will work for getting color but they will continue to dilute over the generations so black will need to be bred back into the line occasionally to keep the best color and lacing.
These percentages also came from the top of my head as I didn't do the calculations to ensure their accuracy but I believe they are right.
I have my last pair of blues mated together, knowing my luck all the chicks will be black

There has been some talk of large gold laced and silver laced and who has the best birds, I know there are several people from the east to the west coasts working on them but the base breeding stock out there is fairly small compared to the standard and the type is in need of work as well. I have see the rare picture of a nice fluffy female with good size but the lacing would be lacking and the color too light. I believe the silver laced could be improved by crossing with the silver laced wyandotte. There are very nicely laced strains of wyandottes out there to improve the cochin lacing and if you look there are strains that have more fluff and cushion than is prescribed in the standard for wyandottes. You will loose some of the feathering in the shanks and toes but this can be easily put back in a couple of generations and the combs will take a couple of generations as well. Back in the days when wyandottes were being made cochins contributed to their genetics and maybe it is time they give back to the cochin to help the gold and silver laced.
Blacks, Buffs, Blues and Whites currrently have the best type as in most instances the solid colored birds do. Partridge would be next with some pretty good birds on the east coast and in the upper mid-west. Reds are very rare with only a couple of breeders that I know of working on them. Brown Reds exist in very small numbers as well, while they are fairly common in bantams. Browns no longer exist that I am aware, however I am working to correct that. Mottleds are not yet recognized by the APA in large fowl but there are several of us working towards that end so maybe in a few years they will be.
In short the rarer varieties need more people working on them, it is not a matter of whether you can win a show with them, if you breed them to the standard and achieve that level of perfection and save the breed you have won and so has the breed/variety. Thanks for the nice birds Rudy, it was a pleasure meeting you at Shawnee.

Blessings to you all,

Bo

 

[mjgigax]

Very glad to see this thread. I have bantam cochins and am getting ready to get a pair of LF. Can hardly wait actually! I sure do like splash and blues or buffs. I don't plan to breed my LFs, just to have a pair to contrast with my small birds.
I sure hope you LF owners post lots of pictures. I learn alot by reading AND seeing pics. Already I can tell that they ARE quite a bit different than bantams. Could they be housed with bantams? I suppose it all depends on the temperments of individual birds.

 

[txhomegrown]

I bought 3 LF Cochins this past January and I really like them a lot. They are the most laid back birds I have ever been around. And they are beautiful as well. My 2 pullets have just started laying and the roo started crowing the other day. I don't think they are going to be the best layers, but I plan to get more just because I like them so much. I love the way the blacks look in the sunlight, but I will most likely be getting some other colors when I get the chance. My camera quit on me, so I can't post pics right now.

 

[bburn]

Well....right here is where I want to be! LF Cochins.

I just hatched six out of my Barred Roo and my Black Hens. I was so tickled they hatched......I have no idea of what I will get when they feather out...Barred or Black or some variation.

But here is one of the babies!!

And the proud parents....Sweet Harry and Big Momma (RIP) and Lil' Momma

 

[charmedbychickens]

Love, love, love LF cochins. I hatched out two blue last year. Looked to be a pair until the cat attacked the one.

So next I've hatched out 3 buffs. I have no idea what quality they are but I'm so pleased with my big blue roo that I cant wait to see these grow. If these don't turn out to be anything I like, anybody know where I can get some buffs or barred?

 

[tandersphoenix]

I am happy to see the large fowl thread. I like the bantams but currently do not have any. I am mainly focused on the large buffs. Here are a couple of mine.

 

[Bec]

I, too, am so happy to see a LF thread!

I recently got some SQ/BQ partridge Cochins! I am so excited! They are about 2 week old right now and of course I am starting to make my guesses. There is 1 that is definitely a boy but the other 5 are iffy! I will get some pictures later and post them here!!!

 

[rtroxel]

Quote:
Bo, It was a pleasure to meet you as well. And I'm very glad to hear that the birds have at least laid well for you

I'm just getting some nice fertile eggs from mine and I'm might have to start trimming some vents, it looks like

Gotta love these big birds!

As to your percentages, I believe a Black/Blue cross would/should yield 50% black and 50% blue and a Blue/Splash about 50% Blue and 50% Splash. The only way to get 100% blue is Black on Splash.

Thanks for your good work on the rare varieties!

 

[rtroxel]

Quote:
Well, don't give up hope. I notice that my partridge females feather more rapidly than my males and those pics look like some intermediate to what I see in mine. Basically, until they get a little more red around the wattles, you can keep hoping. That looks a little like female feathering on my line...Give them a couple more days

I will admit that they do look like males, at least on the heads