When to cull bantam cochins

[georgialee]

Can someone tell me what I should be culling my chicks for? I have some with extra toes, some missing toenails, some with no/little feathering on the middle toe and some that looke pretty darn good, lol. I just need to know what I should sell/give away now instead of continuing to spend money on feed. Thanks!

 

[hcammack]

Quote:
I would sell and give away the ones with extra toes and foot problems they won't be show or breeder birds.

 

[georgialee]

The one with the extra toe I definitely will. Are lack of toenails genetic or just an anomaly that won't be passed on?

Also, for feathers on the feet should they come almost all the way to the end of the middle toe? How 'bout for LF cochins?

Thanks!

 

[Goose and Fig]

You cull for "vulture hocks" in cochins too. As for the LF- there are a few colors out there (partridge for example) that still have IMO poor leg feathering. I have a silver laced that could almost pass for a brahma

The banties should have the proper cushion, and be nice & round (so they don't look like beardless d'uccles)

 

[Jenski]

I guess culling depends on what your intentions are for the birds. If you are a hobbyist who just loves seeing the adorable little buggers in the backyard, then funny toes don't matter.

Now if you're thinking of showing or of selling hatching eggs/chicks, you might take a look at the bantam cochin standard of perfection - -


http://cochinsinternational.cochinsrule.com/btmmale.html


(MALE) LEGS AND TOES:
Legs - short, but not so short as to permit breast feathers to touch the ground where there should be an inch of clearance, stout, parallel to each other without bowing or knock knees, hidden by plentiful fluff, standing out in globular form.
Lower Thighs - moderate length, stout at top and tapering to hocks; plumage, long, soft, outstanding, extending well down the shanks, and covering knee or hock joints.
Hocks - covered with soft flexible feathers, curving inward about the hocks, free from vulture-like feathering.
Shanks - short, stout in bone, nicely scaled; plumage, long beginning just below the hocks and covering front and outsides of shanks, from which it should be outstanding, the underpart growing out from under thigh plumage and continuing into foot feathering. There should be no marked break in the outlines between the plumage of these section; they should merge naturally into each other and blend together.
Spurs - small short, set high.
Toes - four, straight, well and evenly spread, middle and outer toes completely feathered to ends. . . . etc. . . .


http://cochinsinternational.cochinsrule.com/btmfemale.html

(FEMALE) LEGS AND TOES:
Legs - short, but not so short as to permit breast feathers to touch the ground where there should be an inch of clearance, stout, parallel to each other without bowing or knock knees, hidden by plentiful fluff, standing out in globular form.
Lower Thighs - moderate length, with abundance of long. soft, outstanding fluff plumage, extending well down the shanks and covering knee or hock joints.
Hocks - covered with soft flexible feathers, curving inward about the hocks, free from vulture-like feathering.
Shanks - short, stout in bone, nicely scaled; plumage long, beginning just below the hocks and covering front and outsides of shanks, from which it should be outstanding, the under part growing out from under thigh plumage and continuing into foot feathering. There should be no marked break in the outlines between the plumage of these section; they should merge naturally into each other and blend together.
Toes - four, straight, well and evenly spread, middle and outer toes completely feathered to ends.

DISQUALIFICATIONS:
Vulture Hocks - Bare middle and/or outer toe - Bottoms of feet showing complete absence of yellow in all varieties - Shanks and toes of a color other than hereinafter described under the particular variety.

DEFECTS:
Comb that is oversized, twisted or lopped - High carriage of head - Breast so low that feathers touch the ground - Low wing carriage - Stiffness in tail feathers - High carriage of keel - Crooked breast or keel bone - Overall appearance of being a creeper - Concave surfaces in any section - Lack of down fiber in underfluff - Any semblance of stiltiness.

There is a lot more info on the club pages. Hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[georgialee]

Thanks for the info!

I guess what I'm getting at (in a very roundabout way) can some of those traits be bred out or is it better just to cull?

For example, if I have a a hen that has sparse middle toe feathering (but is otherwise well feathered), can I breed it to a roo than has very good feathering and get good chicks out of the breeding?

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Quote:
Yes. Sometimes you get lucky. You can't get a perfect bird, so breeding the best of what you have (overall body comes first for me) and trying to offset poorer areas is something I'm ok with doing. You gotta work with what you have and if you have a good bird with a great body, with not so awesome middle toe feathering, I'd use her with a male that shows heavy middle toe feathering.

 

[georgialee]

Exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks!