Mille Cochin Info

[Msbear]

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That IS the truth. I've spoken about that with a few folks and no one has a clear explanation but, if you cross a typey bird to a bird with poor type, you will get birds with so so type and those birds will be middle of the road as far as sharing both color markings from the parents. THEN, you will get a few poorly typed birds that resemble the poorly typed parent bird colorwise. THEN, you will get a few nicely typed birds that look similar to the nicely typed parent birds but will have made very little, if ANY, improvement on color/pattern. So! when breeding for type, you have to breed LOTS and rethink the idea of culling everything that isn't what you want colorwise.. because, if you select for color, you're right back in the same boat.

eta: Oh, and Patty.. please don't think Im poo pooing the mottled way to go... I would be super happy if I got the results you did. That just didn't happen with mine. I also only had one roo to go by which isn't enough of a variable to truely test it.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

That is why I kept just about everything I bred with my Mottleds. They may have most of the Mottled coloring but the type is there so I just keep crossing back to my best typed patterned girls with those roos. I even have some totally black hens from my Mottled/MF crosses but when I cross them with patterned MF roos with too much red I get much better chicks. I am still watching them grow and will eventually get around to taking more photos of them but that is a lot of chicks to try to snap photos of!

And yes, you do have to breed and keep a lot of birds. I have 6 breeding pens right now and more than a 100 chicks. And that is just the chicks from the summer breedings.

 

[onthespot]

nadine, I have the black you are needing, even too much of it. If you want to try a cockerel, let me know. I have three youngsters. I will go try to take a pic of them to show you what I mean. I need more red hackles in my roos!

Here is one I may let live long enough to see if he can help me. I have a few hens I can try him on this spring, with no extra black in their hackles. I like that he doesn't show a bunch of mahogany on his back, his spots are okay, and i like the color of red he is showing under all that black on his neck.

And here's a roo I don't need, too much black for me, but fairly good markings on his breast.

And here is a roo that no one needs, LOL he is smallish, (startled in this pic, but it shows his breast really well) and way too much black on his neck, but almost none on his breast. I assume he will make a nice pot of soup some cold windy day soon. Yesterday coulda been his day but I was too busy, LOL

And here's a pullet I'm keeping, just because of her full cushion. I don't care for her color. She is also startled in this pic, but look how full her cushion is even when she is startled, LOL

 

[Coopa Cabana]

I read an old article a month or so back - the breeder's recommendation was that, rather than Breed to the Standard, you should Cull to the Standard.
I thought this twist was a very interesting approach.

 

[onthespot]

Yeah baby! Cull cull cull... It took me about a year and a half to get over myself and eat my roos. Before that I grew them all out and gave them to low income families, who were very thankful for them, but I have learned the secret of having fresh food "on the hoof" in my back yard and I hardly give away any cull roos now. The hens, I sell those, because there is a market for pet hens and layers, no need to be off with their heads, but the roos, adios amigos. I try to keep as few of the best as I can in every pen. Some pens are pretty sparse, LOL. It is hard to get good enough birds.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Yeah, I have that article but haven't had a chance to read it yet. Since I breed so many I keep culling out what I don't think is typy enough and do not worry with pattern so much now. I also need to work on wings. They just drop them too much. Mine need better carriage.

Pretty color on some of those, Patti.
I am sure I will have more black on these next chicks as I have bred my Mottled/MF girls with my roos that haven't any, it seems. Most of my roos have way too much red.

This is Xavier. Less than a year old in this photo but throwing nice chicks.

To compensate for his lack of black chevrons I hope to get some chicks from Xavier from hens crossed out of these two below. I bred this handsome roo of Danny's to my Mottled hen........

I got some girls like this 3 mth old pullet..........

We'll just have to see what babies I get from them. That should add black and if I get calicos then I will be happy, too.

 

[onthespot]

I think you are going to run into trouble introducing columbian into your flock, but if you like the extra white, hey...

I produced my first excess whites this year, just a few. Here's the one with the most. She has a lot of black markings on her too, which is why she is still here, but it is very poorly defined and diffuse. Not wild about it, but willing to see how she produces. Xavier, Good lookin ROO!!! I'd use him quite a bit on my hens... Woot!!!

 

[wwmicasa1]

Quote:
OMG~!!!! Xavier has it "goin' on~!!!!

 

[Msbear]

They are definitely showing Co. But, I bet they are buff columbian crossed with mottled. I got that cross last Fall and was a bit shocked at the coloring... was expecting some buff. His offspring were 50/50 gold and silver. I culled out the silvers and have some decent hens I plan to use in the Spring... we'll see!

eta: I guess I shouldn't say "gold" and "silver" as I am not totally sure that was the case. I hatched every color of the rainbow but, mostly black mottled with brassy hackles. I also hatched quite a few silvery looking ones that grew out like papa and several different buffs with various levels of shading that mostly grew out to be high white. I did hatch two buff columbian looking cockerels with PERFECTLY distinct chevrons coming on the saddle and hackle.. They were so vibrantly colored and I was just tickled... OF COURSE that is when I experienced my first cocci epidemic... OF COURSE

Here's the roo

lemme dig up some of his offspring...

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Thank you, Lynne!
I almost didn't keep him but my DH said he was too typy to let go and Nellabean said the same thing so I kept him. He produces good pattern but we still have a ways to go. We'll get that black in there soon but I won't sacrifice type to do it. Colors and patterns can come later as long as I can keep type and improve on that.

Patti,
all my MF Cochins have Columbian in them. Mostly buff Columbians but Wizard is more white than most. His brother, Dan the Man, is actually very black without much in other colors. Crossed with my very buff girls from the MF/buff Columbian cross I am getting this......

Not a great photo as the sun was dappling him and the grass is tall but he is the oldest so far out of that cross. I can't wait for the sisters to grow up.

Here is another photo of an Xavier baby. Ten weeks old......

I doubt more black will show up as she matures but there is a little there. That is why I have crossed Xavier back to hens like this......

Maybe I will get somewhere with chicks from them. We shall see. I have hatched them out and they are a few weeks old now.