Purebred Cochins?

[Miriah132]

That’s what I thought too! Thank y’all so much for confirming this.

 

[Miriah132]

No. Cochins are never bearded.

There are bearded Silkies.

These are mixed Silkie birds.

LofMc

Thank you.
Would you say the bird in that picture is bearded?

 

[Redhead Rae]

Thank you.
Would you say the bird in that picture is bearded?

Yes.

Cochins should look like my avatar.

 

[drumstick diva]

That seller should be a shamed of herself. Sounds like she just makes up explanations as she goes along.

 

[Miriah132]

Thank you all for the info. I sent a reply to the seller informing them of why I know they’re birds are mixed and they apologized for misleading me. I can only hope that they will be truthful to other potential buyers.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

To be as kind as possible...and I've seen it happen...It is possible the seller is just very misinformed. Some people buy birds from other people without understanding anything about breeds, and misinformation multiplies.

It is possible this was from parent stock that originally were Silkie-Cochin mixes for somebody's "sizzle" project, which is a "frizzled" Cochin (curly-q feathered) bred to a Silkie, to get Silkie style feathers that are curly-q. (They've actually refined the terms frizzle, sizzle, and what not, but I've forgotten what they have defined as what.)

If a breeder project culled her Sizzles that weren't sizzled, but mixed feathered, or simply sold Cochin-Silkie mixes, the owner could have heard bred from pure-bred "Cochin" and thought they had pure bred Cochins rather than Silkie-Cochin hybrids. She may be astonished she doesn't have true Cochins. (A quick google search would have rectified that).

But it is no excuse for selling misinformation. If you sell birds, you need to know what it is you've got. When a seller is clueless, misspells the breed, has non-standard features as "standard," you know you are dealing with a backyard breeder who is not paying attention.

When I sell mixed breed birds or hatching eggs (my olive eggers), I let people know that this isn't a breed but a hybrid that will NOT breed true. I show photos of my parent stock and photos of my egg colors.

I like my barnyard mixes as I breed for egg color. I've got some lovely ranges now. But I am very, very careful to not pass along misinformation. That is what a responsible breeder does.

Thankfully you have helped to educate and check this breeder so that they know others know they are passing along misinformation.

Look for a breeder who is proud of their parent stock, shows photos of the parent stock, and breeds to standard.

Educate your eye first by looking at good quality examples of the breed. Feathersite is a good place to research as well as Cackle Hatchery or Meyer Hatchery. Google the Standard of Perfection as well for your bird type.

Good luck finding some nice Cochins. Thankfully you caught this BEFORE the sale.

LofMc

 

[Miriah132]

That’s what I’m hoping happened here and why I nicely explained what was going on. It’s hard to know if someone is sincere over messages lol but I do hope she was. I have some hatching eggs coming from a very reputable breeder of exhibition quality Cochins and am super excited about them! But I saw this local ad and hoped I got lucky. But unfortunately not thank you so much for confirming my suspicions!

 

[Seaecho]

Wow, do you live in California? Because I bought two frizzles that the woman said were "purebred cochins." I went ahead and bought them because they're super cute, but I KNEW they weren't purebred cochins because they had crests! Mine are also obviously silkie/cochin crosses. Mine have much more in the way of crests though. Very full, almost like a Polish. I did post about them here.

 

[Miriah132]

Wow, do you live in California? Because I bought two frizzles that the woman said were "purebred cochins." I went ahead and bought them because they're super cute, but I KNEW they weren't purebred cochins because they had crests! Mine are also obviously silkie/cochin crosses. Mine have much more in the way of crests though. Very full, almost like a Polish. I did post about them here.

I’m in Texas.

 

[Seaecho]

Miriah, I guess you and I learned the hard way that there are less than honest "breeders" everywhere. Just like with anything, we need to research before we buy. I thought I had, but apparently not enough. There's so much to learn! It's true that a lot of people might have no idea what they are selling because they might not know the ancestry of their chickens further back than the parents. And then again, when they bought their breeders, they might have been told something, and then just passed it along to us, not knowing any better. I guess it's "buyer beware." I'm assuming you are keeping your birds. I'm keeping mine too. I have no plans to breed, so I'm not concerned about that part of it. I just wanted cute pets, but I would have appreciated it if the seller could have told me she wasn't 100% sure of the breed, or whatever. At least we are happy with the chickens we have, and next time we'll be more careful!