Mille Cochin Info

[wwmicasa1]

Quote:
Hey, we can be Mille Fleur cochin hatching buddies. LOL Mine are due around the 28th! I am so excited...

Hey you guys!

I am so happy to have such good news from both of you. Especially since the ones I sent to Kinder I didn't hold much hope for! Ha!

Sorry to be so late in catching this thread. We have had a fire in our area & haven't had phone service (I'm on dial-up) for 3 days. I never realized how tied I was to this darn computer.

On a MFC note.....All the started birds I have from a cross using my F2 girls & my roo Hillary (don't laugh). Five of the best F2 girls have been broody for a month. I decided to take them & put them with my other roo, Casanova. They are now laying & I will set eggs on Wed. I am eager to see the chicks from this cross. They are Casanova's granddaughters so we will see if these expected chicks get all the good stuff he has to offer. I'll keep you updated.

 

[fasbendera]

Who can laugh at Hillary when my roosters were named Martha & Princess. Hillary is a male name in Europe at least.

 

[BluffCountryShepherdess]

Lynne, when you say you will "set" eggs, does this mean you will take them from the hen and start incubating them? My black cochin hen now has three eggs in her nest box and I'm hoping that she'll go broody soon. I'm assuming she'll lay a few more before deciding to sit on them. How long can I wait before the first eggs won't be any good?

Are eggs laid this time of year likely to be fertil? I have definitely seen Shine, my black roo, mating with Satin (the black hen) on numerous occasions, so am hoping for chicks. But, I'd just as soon let the hen raise them as have to mess with an incubator/brooder at this point in time. Now when my Mille Fleur Cochins start laying eggs, that will be a whole 'nother story! ;-)

Anxiously waiting for three more mille fleur cochins to arrive this week!

 

[Msbear]

Quote:
I don't know why someone would say that eggs this time of year wouldn't be fertile

I've never had a problem.

"setting" eggs means tossing them in the bator. Cochins typically will lay anywhere from 20-40 or more eggs then go broody. I had one columbian hen that would lay around 8

Eggs are viable for 2 wks then hatchability begins to decrease, but they can still hatch 30 days or more after being laid. If I want a hen to brood, I will collect eggs for a while then let the eggs begin to build up in the nest. This isn't always a sure bet but it seems to work for me.

 

[Krys109uk]

Eggs are viable for 2 wks then hatchability begins to decrease, but they can still hatch 30 days or more after being laid.

Research has shown that hatchbility starts to deteriorate, slightly, after 4 days from laying, are usually fine for a week. Will have reduced significantly by two weeks & very few indeed, if any, will hatch if set 30 days after laying.


Fertility tends to drop off as daylight hours reduce but they'd still be fertile at this time of year. There is less interest on the part of the male in the dead of winter but I expect some eggs might be fertile even when the daylight hours are at their shortest. Possibly the effect would be less further south. In the tropics where there is little variation in the number of daylight hours throughout the year chickens lay & hatch throughout the year.​

 

[WiseChicks]

BluffCountryShepherdess -

Hi neighbor!

I have a small MFC flock in Beldenville, WI (near Ellsworth, east of Red Wing)

All of my birds are from Lynne's lines, acquired from a few folks. The hen on page 12 is GORGEOUS!!!! I plan to be a breeding fool all winter with the MFC's. I am setting up the garage to fool them into forgetting about winter and not laying.... Huge garage sale this coming weekend to make room....

Katie

 

[BluffCountryShepherdess]

How WONDERFUL!! A NEAR-BY MFC breeder!! Katie, we must get together! Redwing is only 2 hours from me...

I can't wait to see pictures of your birds! Shall we go 'off-list'?

 

[WiseChicks]

My personal email is [email protected]

I would love to share pics of birds, I have 3 pairs of young F-2s that I have recently acquired. I am working with Lynne right now to get another young pullet who is to-die-for. I have some beautiful black mottleds, too. I have a bunch of MFC eggs arriving this week to pop ni the bator.

My son is into the d'Uccles and is worknig with both the MF color and the Black mottleds. We are getting him a black mottled cockeral from Lynne next month, and I am still looking for a MF roo for him. He has 3 sweet hens to breed. He also wants to try a d'Uccle x Silkie cross this winter.

Katie

 

[fasbendera]

Quote:
When you are ready to sell chicks let me know. I live in Hastings and I would love a pair. I am new to the Mille Cochin and at this point have no plans on being a breeder but I want at least two probably more like 4 hens. Not sure what sex my three chicks I hatched (under bantam (no incubator yet)) from My Pet Chickens are going to be yet.

for at least one hen.

 

[KinderKorner]

I know Lynne. I didn't really expect to get any MFC. But the 9 that were fertile are all chugging along great. I've been candeling them tons, and talking to my little babies.

I think 1 Lemon Blue egg is clear but I'm not certain so I've left it in. The others are all doing great. I expect lots of babies from my first hatch in my new Brinsea. I tell you that was money well spent buying this bator.

On a side note the MFC eggs are extrememly easy to Candel. Most of my eggs are dark and hard to be sure. But your eggs I can see bouncing babies swimming around. It's great.

Can't wait. Only 11 more days.

I didn't plan on breeding MFC I was going to use them in another project. But due to all the others excitment and lovely pictures, it looks like I will be building another breeding pen.... After I get the other 4 I'm working on done.

My pink silkie coop is going pretty good. It's rained the last few days so work got halted, but I should get to continue later this afternoon.