Mille Cochin Info

[County Boy]

Well, Lynne posted a mahogany a page back and wanted to know if he was to as she said he is dark mahogany.

 

[Reyvaughn]

I for got this one...
This is my daughter, Makenzie and her frizzle MF, Miley.


Here's my breeding trio.

Milroy, Millie and Milred.


Millie, Milroy and Mildred.
See? No breast flowers. Milroy was supposed to fix that.

The rooster I got from Cadeau is mahogany, but not that cockerel.

I have a few pics for the Cochin contest.

 

[Fancy Feathers]

Very sweet!
And pretty birds, too

I for got this one...
This is my daughter, Makenzie and her frizzle MF, Miley.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Talking about dark roos, as I catch up on reading here, I have a few boys and girls that hatched out this nice dark red or mahogany color. I am putting my girls in my Frizzle pen but I am selling the roos except for possibly one that has a lot of white on him.
Here is one of the dark roos. He is about 3 1/2 months old but I caught him in in the grow up coop and got to snap a photo of him.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Awww! Makenzie sure looks happy with her Frizzle. They are excellent pets! I know she loves petting her. Mine are so very soft.

 

[Fancy Feathers]

I like his color! Very striking.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

They do have beautiful color but nothing I should be using in my breeding program for MFC. I know it will add to some of my other programs though so I am keeping all the girls and that one fella that has a lot more white and some of this nice deep red. Nice type on them but not overly wonderful. Still and all, something I can work with.

 

[Mrshollywood]

Is there a website or can someone explain to me what to look for in picking which chicks to keep. Is there sure signs that you have seen in the past that makes you veer away from certain Chicks/coloring etc...
I understand that the coloring changes over time, but I'm still working on the conformation. I have about 12 chicks to choose from, I promised a friend he could have the ones I don't want. Of course I have more roos than pullers, some are black/white mottled split to Mille and the rest are Mille. Two of them came out blueish/light tan Mille???

 

[Fancy Feathers]

We're probably going to have to see pictures, Mrs Hollywood!

(I'm not just saying that because I love your pictures)

I've found, to define correct "mille fleur" color, I spend a lot of time looking at other breeds that have this color. d'Uccles & Booted Bantams (I have a British book that has drop dead gorgeous pictures..) are the most common.
But I think in young chicks (how young are yours?) it might be hard to tell anyway.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I look for many things when studying my chicks to know what to keep and what to let go and what to remove from any breeding program. Study the SOP for bantam Cochins and work from that.
I like to look from above and see how wide they are, even from an early age. That isn't too difficult because that is the view I see most when cleaning the brooders every day.
I want to see a fairly square chick but that may not help you understand what I am seeing.
If you already know what is boys and what is girls then yours are certainly at an age where you can pick the better birds.
My roos need a short back with a good wide chest. Their combs should not have a lot of extra points on them and should not be too big for their head. The eye needs to be bold and large on the head. I want to see the wings held well up against the body but most of the time that is a challenge in my breeding program. The legs should be short and well formed, not turning in or out because then you could have pelvis issues and that is a problem in the entire bantam Cochin breed.
Your pullets can have a slightly longer back but not so long as to have them look like you could roll a skateboard from the top of their head down the back and up the tail on the other side while looking at them in profile. Or you can call it a ski slope look. However, you get too short of a back and you won't get many eggs to breed on that beauty and the roo has a harder time staying on her while breeding. Major down fall in breeding bantam Cochins. So many folks have to AI and blame it on the fluff. Just breed a better bird, imo. Fluff has not bothered mine too much.

When you look at yours in profile try to picture them as the shape of a basket ball. So many can look like a heart shape and that can be worked with. It is better than some alternatives I have seen.

Not sure this helps much. If you are like me, you are more visual. All I can say is look through this thread and the Cochin thread and see all the different things people breed. We all have a different way of looking at the SOP and interpreting what it says. That is the reason a different bird wins under different judges even on the same day at the same show.