Mille Cochin Info

[WestKnollAmy]

Oh, thank you. I wasn't sure if I was explaining that correctly or very well.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Reyvaughn please understand that I was NOT challenging YOU on this point.  I apologize for reading your post too quickly & assuming it was from Rodriguez.

LOL, no problem! That stiff feather issue is something I do not want to deal with. That's why I made sure to get the fluffiest English Orps I could for my chocolate Cochin project!

 

[Fancy Feathers]

Macho and Kipper, both July 3rd hatch, became parents tonight. Their first egg has hatched and there's a tiny, but so far fiesty and healthy, baby chick in the incubator. Believe it or not.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I have been working on this project for 5 years. I started with 2 Buff Columbians & a MFC roo from England (via Tennessee). I have a closed flock & have never introduced anyone MFC's into my stock. This year I will be adding the Mottled (to improve type & chevrons) from the eggs I hatched last Dec. from Amy. It may "seem" like MF D'uccle is the way to go but those of us that have worked steadly on this project for years know that once those stiff feathers are introduced, it takes decades to breed them out. As for the wing carriage, you will find many Cochins that have that problem. It is not indicative of using D'uccle. What breeders in particular are you concerned about?

I refuse to name names out of courtesy to other breeders. You can google the variety and breed and find several birds that have all of the problems associated with a D'Uccle x Cochin cross. With strict breeding you can probably make the cross work, at some point, very long down the road. The type would be very, VERY off but the color gene would be implemented very well. You may also be able to find a very un-typey D'Uccle. If you looked on Ebay at all this past year when this project really took off and everyone was drooling over the birds, you will have seen several birds that were for sale that were a few generations from the F1 cross. If such a bird could be found, the vulture hocks and stiff feathers would all but be gone. But, I'm not sure how anyone would find one of those. I have seen some D'Uccles lacking the vulture hocks but not many if any that lack the stiffer feathers.

That is why I am so excited about Nancy's birds. They have the beginning of the color and I'm excited to see how the females and the prospective males will pan out. Her birds are so far from the ones I saw on Ebay these past few years that I jumped at the chance to get them. Lord knows I had looked but I just couldn't "settle" for those lesser birds that someone just threw together and called Mille Fleur Cochins.

The wing carriage is one of the least of my worries on it. The primary tail feathers was my foremost concern. MANY birds on eBay and many on other websites that I searched through had very stiff tails. Some even had slight bearding. The wing carriage will come. Most of the issues I see are simply from a low and loose wing carriage. That is hard to retain in ANY Cochin breeding program, much less a fairly new variety.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Reyvaughn please understand that I was NOT challenging YOU on this point. I apologize for reading your post too quickly & assuming it was from Rodriguez.

Glad to see I've stirred the pot??

 

[Reyvaughn]

I jumped into the Cochin breed head first and with the MF project. My first birds were from Erin. I am by no means an expert, but I've been here for over a year - almost a year and a half - and I have learned a lot. I don't understand the genetic code of MF, but I know what we are after and I know what to look for in type at a younger age now. I can cull by 4-5 months off type. Some birds I will hold and hope they fill in like their parents - having them on hand is nice so I know what I should get. Some of the outside birds I've dealt with had white skin, big wattles, huge combs, loose wing carriage, pinched tails, no toe feathering.... I feel I am making some great strides in my own flock as far as type. I may not be getting far in the way of pattern, but I can pull at least 2 pullets and 2 cockerels that are quite exceptional from my grown out pen. Maybe a few more.

Understanding this is a project and that the prefect type isn't quite there yet makes me feel better. Makes me feel even better than my flock is getting there after only a short period of time working on it. Shame it isn't keeping my interests like I had hoped. Chocolates are taking over my life...

PS. Amy, next time I order eggs, if they are available, can you slip some peafowl eggs in? That'll be a shock for my husband!

 

[Fancy Feathers]

I've only been breeding for a very short time, but I've read through the beginning of this thread and the original thread. No serious Cochin breeder would use D'Uccle.
& my stock came from Amy, Twyla, Lynne and a hen from Roslyn.

 

[Chooklet]

PS. Amy, next time I order eggs, if they are available, can you slip some peafowl eggs in? That'll be a shock for my husband!

What's that? Amy is working on mille fleur peafowl? Cool! (OK, someone has to be able to do some photoshop magic here...)

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Hmmmmm, MF peafowl........I might have finally found a way to make some money back from all these hungry birds...... LOL

I am excited to get my peas into their prospective breeding pens and start collecting eggs. April can not come soon enough!

 

[County Boy]

I got my mottled roo and frizzle hen from Amy today! I named the Roscoe and Peppermint.