Orps vs Cochins

[SunAngel]

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

magikchick he is beautiful, I love the feathers down his legs!

I don't know if I could get rid of my Cochins. When I asked the kids, if I could only keep just 1 of my chickens which one should I keep, all 3 said Penny....my Buff Cochin. I have 2 juvie Cochins growing up and 8 more on order. I honestly hadn't even thought to check out their egg laying ability and broodiness...stupid me. Guess I might just have to add onto the coop or build another one and invest in some Sex Links or other good layers.

 

[Sissy]

I love my featherd leg cochins here it is January
and 8*...... in the coop its about 20 with the heat light
and i still have my ladies giving me eggs. my Cochins are sweet
and run and wait in line for their treats.
but I too will be getting some BO but bantys.Like their coloring.
and they have same if not simalar personalitys as the cochins.

 

[silkieluver_07]

Quote:
Deb, I ordered 10 sexlink chicks and probably dont need them all.... we could do a trade or something or add onto the order if its not too late.

 

[SunAngel]

If you decide you dont want/need one or two of the Sex Links, we can definitely trade. Thanks!

I got 2 of each breed I ordered, so I will have extras of those if there is any you might want. I will just have to make sure that all they send are females first, so neither of us end up with roos we don't want. You didn't see me type this, but part of me is secretly hoping Ideal sneaks a Cochin roo into my order....ack what am I thinking

Plus I will hopefully have BO and JWG pullets too

 

[silkieluver_07]

Quote:

You know you want a seperate breeding pen for cochins.... mom wants one of the welsummer pullets to be a roo.... yay! more pens!

 

[SunAngel]

I have been tossing around the idea of separating my Cochins. I would have to build another coop though. I think hubby will smack me if I suggest it lol

 

[silkieluver_07]

Quote:
We have 5 coops now and hopefully adding a pen for my lav. "miniature silkie" project, welsummer pen, and probably two more pens for different breeds or projects. Mom and I were throwing the idea of a shed with electricity so I can have a brooder out there instead of the house!

You know you NEED more pens....

 

[SunAngel]

Lol I definitely do! Although, I could merge the bantams in with my standards permanently and use the current bantam coop and run for my Cochins.

Your breeding pens don't have electricity to them do they? How did your chickens do in this cold the last couple days? I moved all my bantams into the big coop with the standards cause I was afraid they would freeze.

 

[silkieluver_07]

Nope, none of our coops have electricity. The white coop with the EE's, mixes, and single comb silkies are allowed to freerange during the day. They go in the coop if it is too cold. The buff orps, white jerseys, silkies, and rosecombs seem to do fine. The two problems I have though are horrible frostbite on all my roo's combs and their water freezes very quickly.

 

[SunAngel]

Awww. Hopefully if it warms up soon, they won't lose too much of their combs, if any.

I have a space heater in my big coop and two heat lamps. One in the juvies section and I took the door off the brooder area and gave all the Silkies the middle section of the coop, so they can stay warm under the heat lamp inside the brooder. The rest of the bantams merged in with the big girls. Yesterday morning there was a bit of chasing and some minor scuffles, but they seem ok today. I will probably move them back to their own coop tomorrow. Even with the two heat lamps and the space heater, it still only got up to 32 degrees. The bantam coop only has a heat lamp and I was afraid that wasn't enough warmth. I guess if yours do ok, mine should be fine too.

My bantam cochin is molting hard though and is very scraggly, I am afraid she will get chilled and die. She is over 2 yrs old now.

The last 2 days I have had to go out every couple hours and give the ducks fresh water and break the layer of ice off the chickens waterers inside their coops.