Size

[Noah Way Farm]

Just curious, with standard breeds, in particular cochins and brahmas, if all other things are equal, is the larger bird preferred? Is there a point where they can be too big?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Just curious, with standard breeds, in particular cochins and brahmas, if all other things are equal, is the larger bird preferred? Is there a point where they can be too big?

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

You better believe it... fat hens crush eggs and have a harder time laying. Fat roosters and hens have a harder time mating naturally. If they get to big... it just increases your feed bill and does not increase your egg count. They might have a harder time getting up to roost or injure themselves getting off.

Do you mean Brahma preferred over Cochin?? Just that the Brahma happens to be larger?

Or I guess a better question would be what is your goal? Neither of those breeds are in my favorites list. But between the two I would likely choose Cochin myself.

 

[nicalandia]

Just curious, with standard breeds, in particular cochins and brahmas, if all other things are equal, is the larger bird preferred? Is there a point where they can be too big?

No such a thing as too big Brahmas, in Europe they are a meter tall and in China even bigger, no kidding, they are fit and not fat.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

No such a thing as too big Brahmas, in Europe they are a meter tall and in China even bigger, no kidding, they are fit and not fat.

I knew fat wasn't a completely accurate description for this discussion.

For me the larger the bird the larger the feed bill. But then again, that's one reason why I didn't choose Brahma in addition the slow maturity I experienced.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Both breeds have a standard of perfection which should include what they should weigh.
If they get bigger then what the standard states then you can look at that as being to big.
If you don't care about their breed standard then I guess it doesn't matter much unless you get them so big it causes health or mobility issues.
Some people will always want to push limits so they'll want a chicken that is bigger to be as big as possible.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Both breeds have a standard of perfection which should include what they should weigh.
If they get bigger then what the standard states then you can look at that as being to big.
If you don't care about their breed standard then I guess it doesn't matter much unless you get them so big it causes health or mobility issues.
Some people will always want to push limits so they'll want a chicken that is bigger to be as big as possible.

X2
Kind of like the standard for dogs.....and the bastardization of breeds bred to be 2x the size they are meant to be because "bigger is better" .

 

[Noah Way Farm]

X2
Kind of like the standard for dogs.....and the bastardization of breeds bred to be 2x the size they are meant to be because "bigger is better" .

Right. I come from the world of purebred show dogs, and generally there is an upper size limit in the breed standard. I am new to chickens, and while I found weights listed, there seemed to be no penalty for being over sized or under sized. I imagine a 24 inch tall chicken could weigh the same as the 18 inch chicken, making weight somewhat meaningless, as substance should probably be proportionate to height. Do they actually weigh/measure them in a show?
I have a mind to try my hand at showing chickens. I just wondered what a judge would be looking for.

 

[gjensen]

20% over or under should be a disqualification, per the Standard.

However, there does tend to be a preference for larger birds in the larger breeds. The opposite is true with bantams.

Because size is heritable, and the genetic tendency is to drift towards the size of the pheasant Jungle Fowl, it would be advisable to consider this in both bantam and large fowl. In other words, it is better to have them a little oversized than undersized in large fowl. The "current moving the other way", it is easy to lose size, and difficult to regain it once lost. In bantams, it is more difficult to lose the size that is gained.

Birds that are radically oversized do become something different than what was intended.

 

[Mosey2003]

As far as I've read, they do not weigh them at shows.

What I've also read is the most common thing to lose when you start breeding as a newbie is size.

I think it's a balancing act. Myself, I'd rather have them just a titch over than under. I need to weigh my breeders and see where I'm at, now that they're all fully mature.