Self Blue Banty Cochin-(New Pics, 8-16) It's Official, I think...

[Bawkadoodledoo]

I think i see a Duke in the bg on first pic?

 

[Godiva]

I have my third batch of cochin bantams that are 11 weeks old and I would have to say that SHadow is almost certainly a girl! My roos have a lot more comb and wattles than that as of the last few weeks, a few of them are crowing and one is jumping anything in pullet feathers all day long! I would be very surprised if she was a boy!

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks, Godiva. It's hard now to start saying "she" instead of "he". Guess I dont shift gears very well, huh? That certainly cemented her place here. She may lay small eggs and go broody at the drop of a hat, but at least she will lay eggs!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Yes, my cochin is 10 weeks old and he has a much bigger comb...although my hen has not as much. But I am still thinking female.

 

[Shaffer]

Speckledhen,
I believe you need to have another name on reserve. I raise semi solf feather birds and most of the pullets have a nice clean feather texture on their necks and the males have that rough look like yours. Your pictures are very difficult to tell for sure but with what I see I see a male. Could you put a picture of the rump feathers on that would be the key. HS

 

[speckledhen]

I will try to get those pics for you, Shaffer, and I would certainly appreciate any other opinions on Shadow. Let me see if I can get the right angle and I'll post them in a bit.

 

[speckledhen]

Hope these show what you need to see. If not, I'll try to get more. You can see why I thought Shadow was a cockerel-those saddles and hackles looked male to me, in spite of the fact that the comb is quite small and the wattles really aren't there. However, since I've never had a bantam nor a Cochin, I needed some expert opinions.

 

[Shaffer]

Speckledhen,
I do not profess to be an expert at anything. As far as your bird looks to me from the birds I am growing. I would say it is a male, but because it is a soft feather bird I may be wrong. The pullets I have have nice smooth neck feathers and the rump area look like female feathers by the age of your bird. Either way you are lucky. Sorry, it took so long for my reply I was not home this evening. Harry

 

[speckledhen]

No problem, Harry! I think that whatever Shadow is, he/she is staying. My hubby likes this baby alot. Since this one is about 11 weeks old now, can't be long before we know for sure. Thanks for your input on this one!

 

[speckledhen]

Shadow is now about 13 weeks old-I checked the calendar to be sure of that. Here she is today-seems to me that this is for sure a little lady; by this age, youd think there would be real wattles and a bigger comb. The last picture has my GLW pullet, Vada, that Shadow seems to think is her mommy and Zane's brother Dutch. Shadow gets upset if Vada and Panda leave her sight; stands there looking around, making these forlorn "meep, meep" sounds.