Mille Cochin Info

[wwmicasa1]

Quote:
OMG what a sweet pic~!

Are you still hatching or is the hatch over??? Let me know how you did.

Lynne, this one was the first, just hatched this afternoon. I had 7 develop and 2 quit partway through

so I am down to 5 under the broodies. There is one that is questionable, but I should be expecting at least 3 more to join this little cutie

One has pipped already and I would expect the other 2 can't be far behind.
I guess the trip to CT from CA was rough on them, but honestly I don't know what I would have done with 18 babies anyway! As long as I get one boy to go with my Mille/Mottled girl from Nadine and one girl to go with her MF brother, I'll be happy!
I'll post an update as soon as they all hatch.
Oh, and one other funny thing... all 4 definites are marked Dom, and the one ? is Raf. Oddly, the same thing happened w/my Nadine eggs, both babies had the same daddy! Weird!

Thanks so much!!!
~Terry

Oddly, all 4 hens that Domingo is with are daughters or granddaughters of my original girl, Bridget.

Bridget

Cloud-granddaughter

 

[tallyho]

Here are the girls (from Lynne) I'm thinking of keeping...

(16 weeks old)

remember I hatched out 9 girls and 3 boys!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Okay, help me out here as I have had a brain fart.
I noticed in my 3 month old pen last night that 2 of my very red, mostly red boys have the Mille Fleur pattern coming out on their chest. Is this something we are looking for in males? I have a few with all three colors on the chest but not the pattern.

Please forgive me as I have only had girls so far that have it on their chest and with the boys I thought it would be forever before I saw it. Granted they are young and I know they will change some but one has nice type and I am so hoping this is a roo I may want for breeding. I read that boys will often have a pattern that is not as good as the girls. Since I have not gotten this far before I wasn't sure if I was to be excited by this or not.
Their saddle feathers and hackles are still very red, though I imagine I am seeing some white tips.

One has more black in his tail than the other.

I am thinking I should keep both and see just what they grow up like?
In roos, are we trying to get the hackles, saddles and tails full of the pattern, too? And is this where our better pullets are bred from with patterns?

I know we have discussed it but finding it in this long thread would take me a while.

 

[wwmicasa1]

Quote:
Nadine,

All I can tell you is what "I" am working on....

Here is a pic of Rojo. IMO this is the color & pattern I am striving for. Now I just need some help with type.

These pics were taken about 4 months ago & now his pattern is more crisp on his breast & his type is filling out.

Here is a pic of one of my D'Uccle roos.

See how his hackle & saddle feathers are the solid orange/red? You really can't see his tail feathers from this pose but he just has the white tips on the ends of his tail like Rojo has on his tail.

Here is another pic of one of my D'Uccle roos.

Again showing the nice crisp pattern on the chest with the solid orange/red hackle & saddle.

 

[wwmicasa1]

Quote:
Robin,

I LOVE

your # 3 girl

 

[tallyho]

Ok, the rest of the girls...

Only 2 are more solid in color but one of those has such a nice cochin type!

I like her shape...do you think she might be a good one to keep?

Lynne if you would like better pics of some, let me know. My assistant was letting them escape last night and we had a hard time getting good shots!

 

[Msbear]

Hey Nadine, Im finding the opposite to be true with the birds I've been working with. Im having a much easier time getting a nice pattern on the boys than the girls.

Here's a pair from Lynne where you can see what Im talking about. The females may have nice speckling on her back but, no where near as nice of markings as the male on the breast and underside. Lynne has made improvements with that and has some nicer girls and I believe much of that is due to the overall pattern in Bridgette.

This one is just an example. BUT, the male has an absolutely wonderful chest pattern and is, what I would think, pretty darned close to MF

Here you can see his chest up close

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Ok, cool! So I am getting closer!
So the MF pattern will be on the chest but not likely on the saddle, tail or hackles? But white tipping is good?
I know these boys have a ways to grow but compared to other boys I have with a lot of white or all 3 colors even, I just wasn't sure which pen to put them in. Definite keepers or maybes or absolutely not! LOL With so many running around I am trying to decide what is even goes in the maybe pen.

The up close chest photo is great! That is what I thought I was working towards but it has been a while since I saw it and never on any of mine....until now! Yes!

Thank you all for showing me again. I have so many that are not correct patterned I was getting confused.

On a better note I have some MF d'Uccles hatching out and will be able to use them for reference if they are correct. I think Lynne has the right of it using photos from them, too.
Thanx you guys!

 

[wwmicasa1]

Quote:
Erin,

Your pair are awesome~!

Your boy is to die for~!

Nadine,

I took some updated pics this morning of two of my breeding roos & my girl who has the best breast pattern.

Rojo

Rafael

Sapphire-not a great pic but at least you can see the pattern on her breast.

Robin,
Grab pullet # 3. She is a Bridget Great Granddaughter & will give you beautiful babies~!

I'd wait to see what #1 does as she matures. She may surprise you. #2 has a blurred pattern so you might re-home her. Just my opinion

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Oh my! Everyone's patterns are looking so nice!

Okay, so the saddles and tails I won't be as concerned about now but the chest patterns will hopefully get as good as what you all are showing me.
They are just so young I don't know what to expect but I would think if I am seeing some correct feathers showing up they are worth watching closely.
Now if that type will just be there. I would hate to sell off good looking boys simply because they have no type. Geez, it would be my luck, too!

My DH is such a stickler for type and no matter what they look like he gets mad if I keep any without the type they need. I should not complain. He is keeping me grounded in some ways. But I get so starry eyed when I see those beautiful colors and patterns.