Mille Cochin Info

[pinetown]

,

Thanks Crazy Chicken Lady,

I'm getting ready to separate my chickens and just keep the ones together that are most likely to give me Calico or Mille. I think that the barred is a rooster, since he has more white that my barred hen and that has been reliable for me in the past. He also has a bigger comb than any of the others that were hatched at the some time, but it sounds like he's definately out. It sounds like the best thing would be to find a Mille rooster and just to put him with the two Calico hens. Not to use any of the buff Columbians, unless they are my last resort . Does anyone know of a good rooster that would like to come live in the Sierra? I can pick him up in either the Reno or Sacramento areas? I'm also thinking of buying a dozen Mille eggs when my hens get broody.

Janice

 

[Chooklet]

Hmmm - I wouldn't mind putting a barred roo with my partridge girl and working on crele. I have a millie/calico project roo that I would consider trading - great form, color is very similar to to "Fred" - one of WestKnollAmy's foundation roos - hatched from eggs from Nancy Krohn in late 2010. He can be a bit cranky though, so if you have young kids I would not recommend him to you unless the kids don't go in with the cochins.

I am down in the SF Bay Area, between Oakland and Walnut Creek - let me know if this sounds interesting to you and we can chat.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Interesting to hear the cranky comment as I have a young roo from the same person and he is cranky, too. I won't use him in my program because of this. All mine have been excellent temperament birds and I don't want to add any displeasure to their personalities. I also hesitate to sell him because of this and may just wind up putting him in the freezer. He isn't mean, just not nice. I hatched and raised him just like all my others but he does not have what I want in my Cochins for handling. He is a lovely bird and I think would add to beauty and I am hanging onto him hoping he will grow out of it as I do handle him every day but so far he still runs from me when I try to scoop him up and pecks at my hands when I do reach for him. I do not breed this into my birds and do not like to sell it either.
Interesting that you should mention it. Thank you.

 

[Chooklet]

Interesting to hear the cranky comment as I have a young roo from the same person and he is cranky, too. I won't use him in my program because of this. All mine have been excellent temperament birds and I don't want to add any displeasure to their personalities. I also hesitate to sell him because of this and may just wind up putting him in the freezer. He isn't mean, just not nice. I hatched and raised him just like all my others but he does not have what I want in my Cochins for handling. He is a lovely bird and I think would add to beauty and I am hanging onto him hoping he will grow out of it as I do handle him every day but so far he still runs from me when I try to scoop him up and pecks at my hands when I do reach for him. I do not breed this into my birds and do not like to sell it either.
Interesting that you should mention it. Thank you.

How is your Mr. Cranky Pants with the girls? Mine is wonderful with the girls, and usually OK with me, just doesn't tolerate strangers. I hadn't thought about whether he would pass on that personality trait to his offspring, but that is certainly something to think about, particularly since our cranky boys seem to be from the same source. I have two other roos from the same batch of eggs that this boy came from and they are just wonderful, but I know that the eggs came from a variety of birds in the breeding flock, so no way of knowing if there was a common sire in the ancestry.

Janice, maybe waiting a bit for this spring's batch of boys to hatch would be safer. I am setting up my breeding pens this weekend, and once the girls are "cleansed" I will start setting eggs around the end of February. If last year is any indication I will have lots of little boys available this summer!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

The roo seems to be okay with the girls he is in with but they are all growing up. He is not good with me at all. He attacks my hand every time I start to scoop him up. I take them in and out of the wire bottom brooder and day play cages twice a day and have always handled them so when he started doing this I tagged him. All the other brothers were nice but he has never been good. He is pretty but in my breeding program pretty is as pretty does and I won't breed a nasty behavior. My hand feeds him so he should be nice to it. I will continue to watch him to see if he will be acceptable to sell or if I will just put him in the freezer. Roos are a dime a dz so even if his color and pattern are good I still have about 18 others that are just as nice.
Speaking of which...I started pulling out youngsters from my brooder yesterday to take photos and realized I have tons of these beautiful babies. Most of them are from Xavier and Schmoozle and I got excited at seeing them all. When I clean brooders every day I seldom look at the chicks except for problems. I really like to let mine grow a good bit before I start pinning any hopes on them.
Once I get the photos cropped down I will post some here.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Okay, as usual, I am a horrible photographer but here are a few that I grabbed up out of the pen for some shots. Yes, they are dirty. I let mine grow up in dirt and grass and they get to play like real chickens. I hate them being dirty but they are happy. Well, not about getting photos taken as you can tell.





I get a lot of chicks that look like this but when they mature they have lost most of the white. Since I am still working on everything I expect to get all colors of chicks until I get the birds I want with patterns that are acceptable.







I have a lot more chicks in all ages growing up but these are just a few that were decent enough to show. Most photos were of eyes or tops of heads or something! LOL

 

[chikalady]

I am having problems with hatching my cochin eggs. I have been hatching out my cochin chicks with no problem. In the last month I have not been able to get any to lockdown. They all die within the first 2 weeks of being in the incubator. I hatch alot of other chicks with no problem. These are the only ones that are not making it to lockdown. Does anyone have any ideas why?

 

[ki4got]

I am having problems with hatching my cochin eggs. I have been hatching out my cochin chicks with no problem. In the last month I have not been able to get any to lockdown. They all die within the first 2 weeks of being in the incubator. I hatch alot of other chicks with no problem. These are the only ones that are not making it to lockdown. Does anyone have any ideas why?

I had some shipped eggs that failed to hatch. 6 of 27 made it to lockdown, 1 pipped but none hatched at all. opened them up, couldn't see anything wrong at all. but my own local eggs are hatching just fine. i just attributed it to shipping damage.

 

[mjgigax]

Okay, as usual, I am a horrible photographer but here are a few that I grabbed up out of the pen for some shots. Yes, they are dirty. I let mine grow up in dirt and grass and they get to play like real chickens. I hate them being dirty but they are happy. Well, not about getting photos taken as you can tell.





I get a lot of chicks that look like this but when they mature they have lost most of the white. Since I am still working on everything I expect to get all colors of chicks until I get the birds I want with patterns that are acceptable.







I have a lot more chicks in all ages growing up but these are just a few that were decent enough to show. Most photos were of eyes or tops of heads or something! LOL

Adorable!
I can't wait till March!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I hatch all year around. I get great hatches but I also allow for the different temps and humidity in the house. I have my bator and hatcher in the central part of my home where we walk past it constantly, still air is not a friend to an incubator on the outside of it. Lower humidity inside the bator during the summer, higher in the winter for my personal hatching.
That being said, I have forgotten to water my bator for a few days and open it to find it at 23% humidity. Ugh. But noting it on the sheet where I did that beside the trays of eggs that are in the bator at that time, I still have gotten great hatches. I keep fairly good records, there are papers taped all over the walls around my bator and hatcher as well as stacks on my table beside them. I record a lot of data so I can improve in areas where I fail.

Shipped eggs are always iffy. Sometimes I get 100% hatch and sometimes 0 but mostly a good 70%.

Also, try adding Niacin and Vitamins A-D-E to their drinking water. That alone will boost your rate of hatch. Most commercial foods lack the vitamins birds need for good production. Foods will add protein, fiber and some minerals but I prefer to mix my own and add what my birds actually need for my area. I have seen an increased rate of hatchability in my own eggs in the last few years as I have added vitamins and minerals and playing around with dosages.