The Beautiful Bantam Cochin!

[SwampPrincessChick]

This is Slate! He is my approximately eight-month-old Blue Cochin Bantam cockerel. I ordered twelve surprise bantam hatching eggs from Cackle Hatchery this spring and they took a while to ship here—way too long, thus only two chicks hatched: Slate and April, the latter being a Blue Easter Egger Bantam pullet. Slate was shrink-wrapped in his egg and needed help due to a leg deformity that he still has today. But don't let his deformity fool you, for that seemingly never stops his ability to constantly dance at his pullets, chase the pullets around the yard in a breeding attempt, and find random things to food-cluck at even though they aren't food (seriously, he has tried offering his pullets poop and a few drops of water.)

 

[kurby22]

We are at a poultry show and brought our mottled boy Tux…and my daughter wanted a picture of him next to the standard Cochin that’s just a massive boy He’s so round and thick! This is Tux’s first show and he’s dying to impress the mottled hen in the cage next door

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

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Sorry for the bad photo. I got a new buff Cochin bantam boy though! He is the cutest little cochin cockerel I have
His butt got plucked by his old roommates, so he’s in isolation to let it regrow(and for biosecurity).

He is standing up in this photo, he’s just so ridiculously fluffy. All of my reds have pretty poor type, and they’re the only Cochins I own aside from him, so I’m obsessed. Once his feathers regrow, I’m pairing him with my one smooth hen i have to try and improve the type on my reds. Below is one of my black tailed red cockerels, the difference is crazy.View attachment 3724666

He does look nice and round! I was told on my thread for my silkied Cochins that outcrossing to show-quality Cochins with good type would help with that in my birds. I imagine the same would go for yours as well! The difference is wild between hatchery and show quality Cochins--hatchery birds tend to be too chicken-shaped for proper Cochins

This is Slate! He is my approximately eight-month-old Blue Cochin Bantam cockerel. I ordered twelve surprise bantam hatching eggs from Cackle Hatchery this spring and they took a while to ship here—way too long, thus only two chicks hatched: Slate and April, the latter being a Blue Easter Egger Bantam pullet. Slate was shrink-wrapped in his egg and needed help due to a leg deformity that he still has today. But don't let his deformity fool you, for that seemingly never stops his ability to constantly dance at his pullets, chase the pullets around the yard in a breeding attempt, and find random things to food-cluck at even though they aren't food (seriously, he has tried offering his pullets poop and a few drops of water.)

View attachment 3724751

Handsome guy! He's also not too bad for type for a hatchery Cochin! Sounds like he's just as big of a flirt as my Cochin boys always are, too.

We are at a poultry show and brought our mottled boy Tux…and my daughter wanted a picture of him next to the standard Cochin that’s just a massive boy He’s so round and thick! This is Tux’s first show and he’s dying to impress the mottled hen in the cage next door

Oh my goodness, that huge Cochin boy posturing at him while Tux kind of looks on in horror Good luck in show! I've seen a lot of rare and interesting breeds in show, but the Cochins always end up being my favorite. Their big personalities always just shine through regardless of being in a strange place surrounded by unfamiliar birds.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Handsome guy! He's also not too bad for type for a hatchery Cochin! Sounds like he's just as big of a flirt as my Cochin boys always are, too.

He's not perfect in his appearance but he's fluffy and cute enough for me! The pullets have learned to ignore most of Slate's food-clucking unless they know he really has something.

 

[I Like Turkeys]

We are at a poultry show and brought our mottled boy Tux…and my daughter wanted a picture of him next to the standard Cochin that’s just a massive boy He’s so round and thick! This is Tux’s first show and he’s dying to impress the mottled hen in the cage next door

Standard Cochins are absolutely massive. You did a good job of encapsulating That size in the photo lol. Tux is a little teeny thing beside him.

 

[ShrekDawg]

We are at a poultry show and brought our mottled boy Tux…and my daughter wanted a picture of him next to the standard Cochin that’s just a massive boy He’s so round and thick! This is Tux’s first show and he’s dying to impress the mottled hen in the cage next door

Oh gosh the difference!

 

[kurby22]

He does look nice and round! I was told on my thread for my silkied Cochins that outcrossing to show-quality Cochins with good type would help with that in my birds. I imagine the same would go for yours as well! The difference is wild between hatchery and show quality Cochins--hatchery birds tend to be too chicken-shaped for proper Cochins




Handsome guy! He's also not too bad for type for a hatchery Cochin! Sounds like he's just as big of a flirt as my Cochin boys always are, too.




Oh my goodness, that huge Cochin boy posturing at him while Tux kind of looks on in horror Good luck in show! I've seen a lot of rare and interesting breeds in show, but the Cochins always end up being my favorite. Their big personalities always just shine through regardless of being in a strange place surrounded by unfamiliar birds.

I agree, Cochins have a really big and entertaining personality that’s hard to match! Tux was definitely overwhelmed by his large Cochin friend He got first in his category but lost out overall in variety to a really pretty mottled hen he’s still really young though, lots more filling in to do!

The owner of the mottled hen also has silkied Cochins. Almost bought one But I reallllly don’t need more chickens right now unless they will go towards goals in my breeding. So I stayed strong!

 

[kurby22]

Oh gosh the difference!

I know! His crow was so big and deep too!

 

[kurby22]

Standard Cochins are absolutely massive. You did a good job of encapsulating That size in the photo lol. Tux is a little teeny thing beside him.

I know, right? His owner just adored him too, I can’t imagine keeping that size Cochin and ALL those feathers clean and perfect! I think bantams take long enough

 

[ShrekDawg]

I know! His crow was so big and deep too!

Oh wow!