Large Fowl Cochin Thread

[AprilsFrizzles]

X 2 ~!

X 3 That is the cutest picture!!

 

[warmheart]

This color is lemon blue? Or just the more dilute colored rooster? Both are gorgeous boys, CountryBoy. The darker roo has phenomenal deep gold coloration to his hackles. Wow! Very handsome fellow.

 

[County Boy]

This color is lemon blue? Or just the more dilute colored rooster? Both are gorgeous boys, CountryBoy. The darker roo has phenomenal deep gold coloration to his hackles. Wow! Very handsome fellow.

This guy is my Brown Red (project) rooster. He is used in my Lemon Blue breeding.

 

[mibirder]

Korina -

As you never know what's behind the black rooster (unless you bred him), I think I would put the black with the lighter hen and the blue with a darker hen. Keep in mind that generally black x blue should give you some blacks and some blues. The blue rooster with a blue hen should give you black, blue, and splashes. The genetic ratios for blue breeding have been posted many times and you should be able to easily find them on BYC.

Also, most believe that splash x splash produces much lighter offspring. Interesting, a judge recently comment on the lack of good blue color in splashes so if you're interested in showing the Splashes (while not a recognized color) don't try to get too light.

Also, the lacing in blues does tend toward the thin side - almost more like edging rather that thick. Look into photos of Blue Andulusians for examples, as these are the same gene set for blue. I don't think you'll see many with lacing as thick as Wyandottes or even Gold/Silver laced in Blues.

Dave

 

[roostersandhens]

have 1 Cochin Barred Rock rooster and 5 Cochin Barred Rock Black Australorp mixed chicks. I am very new to Cochins and I hear there are different colors with different names. What are the gray ones called?

 

[roostersandhens]

This is my sweet little Cochin Barred Rock mix Rooster!

 

[roostersandhens]

Such lovely birds in this thread. And such amazing colors!

I do have a question regarding color that I hope someone here can answer for me. I have black and blue large fowl cochins. I have two exceedingly nice black birds - a hen and roo - that I got from Monica Harmon, but my other birds are from a local person who bought what she was told was a flock of show birds, but she herself does not show, so the birds are not as nice as they should be. That said, I wanted blues, and she had a few really nice blue roos that she was using so I bought chicks from her. Now to the color issue...the really nice birds are from a black only flock that occasionally leaks a little white mottling, but does not contain any other colors and hasn't for years. This breeder only does black and is working to do the nicest blacks possible. I used my lovely black roo with the nicest of the two blue hens from the other flock and hatched out a blue roo with promising confirmation. Although he has a bit of lacing, he does not have a nice dark "andalusian" blue with heavy lacing. He is more of a light blue with a few splashes. In his darker areas around his hackles and saddle, there is a distinct muddy brown color in the center of the feather. It doesn't really show well on the photo, but here he is from the front. (BTW - he is not quite 1 year old yet and his foot feathers are not very nice as he has free access to the yard and it has been rainy and muddy.)



This light brown color on him is very similar to the khaki polish I have had in the past. Is it possible that he carries both the blue gene and the dun gene?

My main goal in breeding large fowl is for medium blue birds with dark lacing and no splashes, as well as a nice flock of very light blue birds with good dark splashes. So my question is, what would be my best use of this roo? Should I mate him with blacks to try to create better blue birds with nicer lacing and a darker ground color or should I mate him with my best blue hens, in order to begin getting some splash birds? It was my intention to put him with my two best blacks and pair my stellar black roo with my two best blues to aim for a high percentage of blues, but I am concerned about getting more muddle colored blues. But as his conformation is much nicer than any of the other roos I have hatched so far, I really want to use him in my breeding program.

It is my hope to buy some very nice blue birds (or splashes) to add in to my lines in the future, but I have had poor success with shipped eggs (though almost 100% hatch rates when I set my own eggs) and shipping some nice birds just isn't in the budget at the moment. I want to breed as few birds as possible to get my desired results, so would really appreciate any helpful advice on how to proceed.

Thanks so much!
Korina

I think he is really a pretty boy!

 

[tdhenson86]

Does anyone know where I can get some really good quality large fowl white cochins?

 

[John farmer]

Ask Bo Garrett he raises some that will blow you away.

 

[k0r1nag]

Korina -

As you never know what's behind the black rooster (unless you bred him), I think I would put the black with the lighter hen and the blue with a darker hen. Keep in mind that generally black x blue should give you some blacks and some blues. The blue rooster with a blue hen should give you black, blue, and splashes. The genetic ratios for blue breeding have been posted many times and you should be able to easily find them on BYC.

Also, most believe that splash x splash produces much lighter offspring. Interesting, a judge recently comment on the lack of good blue color in splashes so if you're interested in showing the Splashes (while not a recognized color) don't try to get too light.

Also, the lacing in blues does tend toward the thin side - almost more like edging rather that thick. Look into photos of Blue Andulusians for examples, as these are the same gene set for blue. I don't think you'll see many with lacing as thick as Wyandottes or even Gold/Silver laced in Blues.

Dave

Dave, thanks for the advice. That is what I thought I should do with my breeding pens.

And thank you for the info on the splashes. To clarify, you are talking about the base body color of the bird needing to be recognizably blue, correct? It was my understanding that a splash should have nice, dark splashes in contrast to the pale base body color of the bird. I was told that the reason not to breed splash to splash is that it can dilute the deep color of the splashes, but I could be totally off base.

As for lacing, I guess I wonder how wide is wide enough. When I look at the gold laced birds, the very heavy black border is unattractive to me and one reason why I did not choose that color and pattern for my flock. Too thin is obviously not appropriate, but without the ability to see enough of the light color in the center, they look like a bird that was drawn with a black crayon (sorry - I work in graphic design and that is the only way I can think of to describe them). Can you suggest a person or site with photos of nicely laced cochins? I have looked at Andalusians and have some stellar blue polish that I bought from Cynthia Smith that seem to have the right ratios of lacing to base color, but I'd really like to see great lacing on feathers the shape and softness of the cochin feathers.

And one final question, to anyone who can help me. If it looks like there is some "dun" in my flock, would it then be possible to breed some chocolates? My lighter blue boys (I have a few, but only posted about the nicest one), all have the same muddy brown quality as the one in the photo. Obviously I want to breed that out of the blue line, but could I use these birds in a separate pen to begin working on chocolates and khakis? And who would I breed them to? My blacks of unknown genetic heritage as they seem to be the source of this brown?

Thanks as usual for all the fabulous help everyone!
Korina