Show Quality - How good is he, really??

[adubsroit]

The following is out blue bantam cochin, male, Bitty Smalls (after the rapper Biggie Smalls). We realize his head is a little higher than what is called for, but other wise, conformationally, how show quality is the little guy??

We found some good looking pullets, going to trade for one, but we hope to try and start a good line with this guy - if he's worth it.

Sorta new to all this chicken stuff, but we've been told the little guy has a great features for the most part.

 

[muddyhorse]

how old is he ? he looks very young, it takes forever for them to fill out so you can get a good idea of quality. this is my white banty cochin roo. He is going to his first show in two weeks.

 

[cochin-dexter]

I have raised blue cochins before and he's pretty fadded, they should be darker. If you can, keep him out of light, it will help. His tail should be plump and rounded, if he's young it should be coming in. The first couple years of trying to get a good flock can be difficult but keep to it you have a good start.

 

[racuda]

He looks like a splash.

 

[NYREDS]

Can't tell much about his type as he's a bit young & isn't posed well. His colour is poor.

 

[adubsroit]

As of today, he is 7 weeks old and he is a great deal smaller than the other little guys we have. A friend of ours also bought a bunch of blue's the same time we did, and hers are all much smaller than the other banties. He is also our only cochin bantam that has full foot feathering, the rest have it sparse to none, and the hen looks to be missing her outer most toe - on both feet.

About what age should a rooster start really looking like a rooster? As to the comment of him looking like a splash, what does splash entail? His color is solid throughout, aside from a head which is darkening and some of the edges of his feathers that look darker. Any direction I can be pointed in to learn more about cochin bantams and show info?

Right now, we plan on trying our hand around local stock shows, seeing as how most people around here [Eastern Oregon] don't seem to big on poultry - it will be more for the experience of showing. I wish I had the pictures where he is posed much better. My boyfriend and I were outside trying to get him to sit still and every time a dog barked/wind blew/car passed he would sit right up.

 

[adubsroit]

I guess what I really want to know is, does he look like he is off to a good start?? He is only 7 weeks old, as of today.

 

[BCB]

Truthfully, he needs to be rounded out a bit more. He's a bit gangly. At that age, their leg feathers should be a bit thicker and longer. It may just be the way he is posed. He is also really light. Blue cochins should be considerably darker than that with a little bit of lacing on them. But Blues tend to molt darker in between their teenage feathers and adult feathers, so he might get a bit darker. I would lean more towards him being a splash since there isn't any lacing present. . Cochins really don't fill out until they are yearlings. Mine look awful until they are yearlings. I don't know how people manage to show cockerals and pullets xD

 

[cochinman2005]

While his color is quite light, he's definitely a Blue, and he is very even in color so far. I say so far because he still has a lot of growing and filling out to do. His conformation is about right for a Cochin his age. Typically the males don't fill out in the cushion initially so while he is standing too tall it's still too early to tell exactly how well he's balanced front to back. When he gets his tail (cushion) completely in, the height of the top of his tail should be in line with his eye. That is usually good rule of thumb to check balance on a Cochin. When they stand too tall in front it throws the balance completely off. Likewise if the forward tilt is too extreme the balance will be out of whack. I wouldn't give up on him, because if he winds up having consistent even color, albeit light, as an adult, and good type, you could match him up to a good female or two and produce decent offspring. I wouldn't go the extreme of mating him up to females that are too dark, because that will lead to different problems. It really is too soon to tell too much about him. So far, so good.