New to breeding Cochins......Have trio question.....

[LittleRedCoopLady]

Hello All
I am new to chicken breeding. This is my first time breeding LF Cochins. I've just bought a trio and I have a question. My blue rooster seems to be favoring one hen and leaving the other one out in the cold, literally! The rooster and black hen stay in the coop and the blue hen is in the run. This is happening quite often and I'm wondering if this is normal? The blue hen doesn't seem to be fitting in with them, she's like the odd hen out. Thanks so much for any advise you can give!

 

[ColtHandorf]

Roosters often will have a favorite hen they will breed. So you'll want to keep an eye on her to be sure he isn't overbreeding her. They make some pretty cute saddles if he is. Are you witnessing any bullying at all? A couple more pullets or hens might help there be more of a flock versus one pair and an outsider.

I know all mine used to get along...

 

[LittleRedCoopLady]

Thank you so much for your response! Those are beautiful pictures! I have not seen any bullying thus far. Other than witnessing a lot of breeding, are there signs of overbreeding to watch out for? I'm guessing missing feathers and or injury? They are very skittish so I'm working on getting them tamed down. We've only had them for three days. We bought them from a Cochin breeder.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Overbred girls tend to be very thinly feathered on their backs, sometimes to the point of being bare completely. Without their feathers to protect them a rooster's toe nails (or spurs occasionally) can cause some pretty severe damage.

They look lovely in your avatar. I wouldn't mind having Cochins again, if only to be cute, go broody, and hatch out babies for me.

 

[Henry&Friends]

Thank you so much for your response! Those are beautiful pictures! I have not seen any bullying thus far. Other than witnessing a lot of breeding, are there signs of overbreeding to watch out for? I'm guessing missing feathers and or injury? They are very skittish so I'm working on getting them tamed down. We've only had them for three days. We bought them from a Cochin breeder.

Yes, keep an eye out for bare or bloodied backs, shoulders, and necks because that’s where the roosters grab and mount the hens. If he’s hurting them, you can trim his nails and spurs to dull them down, give the hens an apron, separate them for a while or get more hens to divert the roosters attention. He will still probably have a favorite hen, but he’ll have other hens to tend to instead of constantly courting the one hen.

 

[LittleRedCoopLady]

Thank you! My son is hoping to show them at our 4-H fair this summer, however we will need to tame them down and get them used to being handled. We also would love to start breeding them and get some chicks

 

[LittleRedCoopLady]

Yes, keep an eye out for bare or bloodied backs, shoulders, and necks because that’s where the roosters grab and mount the hens. If he’s hurting them, you can trim his nails and spurs to dull them down, give the hens an apron, separate them for a while or get more hens to divert the roosters attention. He will still probably have a favorite hen, but he’ll have other hens to tend to instead of constantly courting the one hen.

Thank you! I have another question which is probably ridiculous, but how often should my rooster be breeding? How much would be too often (overbreeding)?
Thanks!