- Apr 11, 2009
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WHY ARE MY FRIZZLES BECOMING BALD?
Glenda L Heywood
I had a email about this subject:
Hi. I have some bantams and I was wondering why my red frizzle cochins are becoming bald! Their heads and necks are completely bald and their body feathers are very thin. I compared them to some pictures of frizzles the web and my frizzles feathers are very narrow (they arent thick and fanned out). Why are they like this?
I heard that it might be because they are "over bred".I dont get why because i got them from a well known hatchery. Help me!!
ANSWER
They are not good frizzles but extreme frizzles too many years of breeding frizzle to frizzle there is no hope for them being normal. A lot of hatcheries do breed frizzle to frizzle as they don't want the buyers to get smooths. Smooths are birds that have regular lay of feathers but have the frizzle genetics. These should be bred to the frizzle bird and then there would be 1/2 frizzle and 1/2 smooths for the next years breeding stock.
You need to buy a red Cochin male(regular feather) to put on the female Cochin frizzle and using several red Cochin females (regular feather) as this makes the 1/2 genes regular feather and lets the feathers be wider. The regular feathered cochins do not hae the frizzle gene.
NOW WITH THAT SAID THEY ARE PROBABLY COCHIN FRIZZLES AND THEY ARE THE ONES THAT ARE GENERALLY HATCHERY STOCK
and as the hatcheries don't want smooths (frizzle genes but regular looking feathers with a frizzle gene
also) coming out as the people buying the chicks would not think they were even frizzle related.
Thus you have a lack of feather folicle holes for feathers to even grow into the birds skin. Do not
despair as it can easily in a couple of years be erradicated. The extreme frizzle if bred to regular feathered birds(smooths from frizzle breeding) in a couple years will have a good amount of frizzle wide fethers and look respectable.
I would breed my frizzle females to a good cochin male regular feathered and the frizzle male to some regular feathered cochin females. Do this FOR THE FIRST YR. Then in the f-2 generation DO NOT breed the regular
birds back in.
Take then and use the smooths out of the breeding ( these have the gene for frizzling but do not have frizzled feathers.) Breed the smooths to frizzles each year and this will make good frizzles for you.
SMOOTHS = THE BIRDS BRED FROM FRIZZLE TO REGULAR LAY OF FEATHERS OF HENS
Always keep the smooths as well as the frizzles to bred them back to the frizzle
A NOTE HERE
always use the hens as different lines of birds
the males of are bred to females of a different line. each female is a line
line #1 females are bred to line #2 males
Line #2 females are bred to line #3 maes
etc. keep tract of each line in record keeping and toe punch newly hatched chicks
Glenda L Heywood
I had a email about this subject:
Hi. I have some bantams and I was wondering why my red frizzle cochins are becoming bald! Their heads and necks are completely bald and their body feathers are very thin. I compared them to some pictures of frizzles the web and my frizzles feathers are very narrow (they arent thick and fanned out). Why are they like this?
I heard that it might be because they are "over bred".I dont get why because i got them from a well known hatchery. Help me!!
ANSWER
They are not good frizzles but extreme frizzles too many years of breeding frizzle to frizzle there is no hope for them being normal. A lot of hatcheries do breed frizzle to frizzle as they don't want the buyers to get smooths. Smooths are birds that have regular lay of feathers but have the frizzle genetics. These should be bred to the frizzle bird and then there would be 1/2 frizzle and 1/2 smooths for the next years breeding stock.
You need to buy a red Cochin male(regular feather) to put on the female Cochin frizzle and using several red Cochin females (regular feather) as this makes the 1/2 genes regular feather and lets the feathers be wider. The regular feathered cochins do not hae the frizzle gene.
NOW WITH THAT SAID THEY ARE PROBABLY COCHIN FRIZZLES AND THEY ARE THE ONES THAT ARE GENERALLY HATCHERY STOCK
and as the hatcheries don't want smooths (frizzle genes but regular looking feathers with a frizzle gene
also) coming out as the people buying the chicks would not think they were even frizzle related.
Thus you have a lack of feather folicle holes for feathers to even grow into the birds skin. Do not
despair as it can easily in a couple of years be erradicated. The extreme frizzle if bred to regular feathered birds(smooths from frizzle breeding) in a couple years will have a good amount of frizzle wide fethers and look respectable.
I would breed my frizzle females to a good cochin male regular feathered and the frizzle male to some regular feathered cochin females. Do this FOR THE FIRST YR. Then in the f-2 generation DO NOT breed the regular
birds back in.
Take then and use the smooths out of the breeding ( these have the gene for frizzling but do not have frizzled feathers.) Breed the smooths to frizzles each year and this will make good frizzles for you.
SMOOTHS = THE BIRDS BRED FROM FRIZZLE TO REGULAR LAY OF FEATHERS OF HENS
Always keep the smooths as well as the frizzles to bred them back to the frizzle
A NOTE HERE
always use the hens as different lines of birds
the males of are bred to females of a different line. each female is a line
line #1 females are bred to line #2 males
Line #2 females are bred to line #3 maes
etc. keep tract of each line in record keeping and toe punch newly hatched chicks
