Mille Cochin Info

[Cadeau]

thanks. i may not reply to all the well-wishers out there, but i do appreciate the sympathy.

and i agree, every now and then one comes along and you're hooked again.

no idea why, but i've got a few that were doing fine inside, went out to the baby pen, and all of a sudden, they're NOT doing good...

had a little girl last weekend, nicknamed "weeble". she couldn't stand up straight, kept flopping to the side, but wouldn't give up trying (don't know if it was related to the raccoon attack, since i found her that morning). so weeble went back into the brooder with 'spin cycle' my special needs coturnix quail (now an ONLY quail unless some eggs i set prove fertile) and the 2 guineas, who were being harrassed by the other chicks. well, the 2 guineas snuggled to either side of weeble, kept her propped up (next to the feeder) and she ate... and ate... and ate... i swear her crop was bigger than the rest of her. LOL several days later she's back to normal (but still acting starved). so now she gets to 'momma' 2 red dorking chicks who were also doing quite well until i noticed today they were just crying and crying... so they're back inside now too. and eating like they haven't had food in a month... makes me wonder who the bully in the baby pen is. possibly the 4 EE's but they're going home today. so then my cochins can have peace again. 8) and the guineas are back outside now and seem to be holding their own.

then there's the 'drowning victims' LOL 2 mille/calico cochin pullets who seem to be incapable of drinking from the pond without falling in at least once every 2 days... and instead of walking out, they stand on the ramp, still in the water, and just cry. LOUDLY! yeah it gets my attention, then they get a nice hot bath to warm back up, and blowdried and put back in the brooder for a few hours to make sure they're ok... i think they do it on purpose.

and my 'supermomma' black broody cochin is outside now, with her 5. my older self blue that she adopted after the raccoon incident didn't make it. after checking him over thoroughly, i did find a couple small puncture wounds on his wing, so I'm guessing the stress/damage was too much for him.

Great stories!

 

[Blarneyeggs]

X's 2. And I love the names!

 

[Reyvaughn]

Erin, Dr. Byron E. Vil (My cat's name is Eve Ill, ironically) is throwing color with Bridgette. I was actually wondering if you knew more about her breeding. She has no black hackle and no black on her foot feathering. She's really more of a black tailed buff. I have two of their daughters growing out. The oldest has sporadic tips and chevrons. The youngest pullet was showing white tips early on. I posted their pics a few pages back. I have another I hatched out 2wks ago and it has the same down coloring as the last 2 girls, but different from the first chick I got from them (who was a cockerel).

Milroy, the dark cockerel I got from you last year Erin, is on my chopping block. I am getting nothing but dark chicks from him and the 2 calico girls I got from you. I sure wish I had kept Milton now. I am very surprised he filled out like he did right before the swap. Oh well, hind sight is 20/20. Let that be a lesson to all - some roos take longer than others to show their true type. Milton was nearly 1.5yrs old before his cushion totally filled in and was wider than his chest!

I decided to get some more eggs off Amy, look for a typey roo and then I am closing my flock. I was going to sell Byron or send him to freezer camp since he's so darn nasty, but I am wondering what he'd give me with Millie and Mildred (the calicos I bought from you, Erin). So, I think I may experiment and find out once Millie hatches her eggs (I set eggs from Millie, Mildred and Milroy's pen and the pen that Katelyn's birds are in - yes, I am attempting to hatch pullet eggs).

Blarney, 3 months ago I had nearly 200 birds. I won't stay at 50-ish birds. I still need to get the FBCMs for my laying flock.
My husbands kindness can be bought with birds he likes (ducks and now FBCMs). I think the Ameraucanas, MFCs and chocolate bantam Cochin projects will be more than enough for me to deal with. Plus, over half will be bantams. I can have 2x as many! Oh, I love chicken math.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

So here are my 2 little guys, an update on color. Looks like they're losing the white??! and I needed that. Also a pic of Dad so you can see why they're so darned dark:

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Too cute!
And you just never know what they can look like as they mature with those genes arranged all over the place. But you are right, probably dark birds.
Dad is very handsome!

 

[Fancy Feathers]

I'm a little behind on this thread, but wanted to throw my 2 cents in here.
Mottled to MF, the first gen will be mottled with leakage. That F1 bred to a MF, though, will give you mostly MF (or at least Calico) with some mottled with leakage chicks; as evidenced by my own birds. My F1 bred to MF gave me 11 chicks, 9 were hatched yellow or chipmunk, and are feathering out in various degrees of mille fleur, some look pretty close. 2 chicks were hatched out black, the female will stay mottled with leakage, the male is getting more & more color to him, with chevrons/breast flowers.
Now, an F1 bred to an F1? I don't know what the outcome would be, mine are too young yet.

If you have the desire and the room, try it! Let us know!

Violet was very pretty.

 

[tiki244]

So here are my 2 little guys, an update on color. Looks like they're losing the white??! and I needed that. Also a pic of Dad so you can see why they're so darned dark:

The dad is very pretty and so are the chicks. Your pictures are so clear!!!!!! You take really nice pictures.

 

[Msbear]

I'm a little behind on this thread, but wanted to throw my 2 cents in here.
Mottled to MF, the first gen will be mottled with leakage. That F1 bred to a MF, though, will give you mostly MF (or at least Calico) with some mottled with leakage chicks; as evidenced by my own birds. My F1 bred to MF gave me 11 chicks, 9 were hatched yellow or chipmunk, and are feathering out in various degrees of mille fleur, some look pretty close. 2 chicks were hatched out black, the female will stay mottled with leakage, the male is getting more & more color to him, with chevrons/breast flowers.
Now, an F1 bred to an F1? I don't know what the outcome would be, mine are too young yet.

If you have the desire and the room, try it! Let us know!

Violet was very pretty.

I am out crossing (for the second time) with mottled. My F1's again have very little leakage (if any at all) and I suspect next year they will throw (again) mottled birds with a tad more leakage when crossed to MF and then the next year be dark again with very few MF. Maybe your birds have some sort of magic gene in them or maybe mine are missing something LOL but, I would love to hear from others who were able to get MF two generations away from straight black mottled.

Tiki, keep us posted on those little guys. The second one back looks like it will feather in black but, the one in front looks good.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I like adding in the Mottled. I do it as I see someone needs more type but has good pattern. I lose pattern but keep some nice genes and attach some type for a better breeding project.

One of the new girls I am hatching from now crossed with my most handsome Xavier.



This is why I like to add them. It helps get those white tips in there and those chevrons with some good black color but also the wide birds with great feathering.




She has been giving me yellow chicks crossed with Xavier. Now to see what the kids grow up like.

 

[bantyman]

Quote: Hey Erin

Good to hear you are back Was wondering if you had given up I had the same problem you do On my F2 they were still mottled even when crossed back with the MFC for 2 generations Maybe there is a magic gene

Mike