Orps vs Cochins

[sandypaws]

i love my ST.blue cochins... HUGE, fluffy, fun, sweet, beautiful, personable, CALM..
and my bantie cochins are super super broody and cute.. i had a bantie cochin a few months back INSIST on try to hatch a bright pink (orgreen??) plastic easter egg..it was almost goose size, but she wanted to hatch it..

but if you want egg production,, they are not the breed for you..
i have only owned a few BO they did not impress me to much.. to each his own.. you will find your own "favorite" breed.. might have to own several different breeds before you decide...

 

[SunAngel]

Well I guess I will have my 10+ Cochins for fun, eye candy and huggability...but will have to rely on my other 20 or so for being egg layers. They are a very varied group, so hopefully they can handle the egg production.

Would still like to get a few Orps, to see why everyone seems to love them so much.

 

[animal nut]

I have a Cochin and she lays almost everyday, but the egg is small to medium size. As far as personallity she is the best girl in my flock. I choose her for the color and feathers on her feet, not how she would lay.

 

[silkieluver_07]

I candled the three buff orp eggs last night and it looks like two are fertile and one isn't. I also candled the three WJG eggs and I see babies!!!!!

 

[SunAngel]

Yay, babies!! I hope they make it to hatch day!

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

I have both and love them both for different reasons.

The Orpingtons are a generally good chicken to have around. They lay well, the will occasionally go broody... but not enough to notice a significant reduction in eggs you will get. They are gentle and the buffs are a terrific color. Most people's reaction is, "Ooo... they are so pretty! They look like gold."

I like the Cochins because:
1. The way that look. They are just awesome-ly huge!
2. The are good mothers. They go broody quicker and more often than the orps. They are not as dependable layers.

When people see the Cochins they are surprised by their size (although most of it is feathers). Plus, I get more money out of them than the Orps because of that. The Cochins are also gentle.

So, there are benefits to both. It's just a difference of egg laying ability. Hope this helps!

 

[Godiva]

We have both BO and full size cochins. I think the BO are better layers but personality is much the same and they are both gorgeous. The cochins seemed to be slower to mature but not by much. I don't have show stock however so that would make a difference I know. Both of these breeds will keep you on your toes keeping them either on eggs or in broody jail - once they decide to brood it is a bit of a mission changing their minds!

I am going to try and get a few more non broody types so that my egg production doesn't suffer so much

 

[moduckman]

As I say at the bottom of this "Beauty is altogether in the eye of the beholder"

All have positives and all have negatives. I learned a long time ago with a lot of chickens, less maintenance is better. That's why we are limited to one feather legged breed, the Black Langshan, which does not have a tremendous amount of foot feathers.

 

[magikchick]

I love my cochins. Mine have proved to be pretty good layers. I have only have one go broody and mine are 1-2 years old. I have standard and bantam


What can be more awsome then this walking across your yard!

.

 

[jab91864]

Last fall I made the choice to remove my std cochins from the flock. I loved, loved, loved to look at them. Huge and gorgeous fluffy, but there egg production was low in comparison to the rest of the gals and they spent the entire summer being broody...all four gals. I also had a giant Cochin roo.

When I first started with my flock Orps, Cochins, and Brahmas were my mainstay. The Orps are still here and so are the Brahmas. I miss the huge fluffy butts , but in todays economy you have to earn your keep in a large flock that has to be fed especially in the lean months of winter when there is no free ranging at all to supplement.

All summer broody + taking off time to molt + laying less in winter = not enough production in my neck of the woods to justify keeping them.

So far I haven't cut the banty cochins from the flock.

Julie

edited to correct spelling