Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Round 2, batch 1 is in! 7 eggs from the corner coop. If anyone in there lays today or maybe even early tomorrow, I'll go ahead and pop them in as well. I still think that only one hen is laying in that coop, and if I remember correctly it was Bella who I caught in the nests a few days ago. That means some of the eggs are older than a week, but still only 10 days old at the oldest, so hopefully they'll still develop well. Purely testing for fertility at this point, but I'm really hoping a pullet or two hatches that I can keep back for breeding--I could use some fresh layers in that group, apparently!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

And if anyone else is into data...

I'm pretty meticulous about recording data on random things, just because I find it fascinating. Hatching eggs in a higher volume than I previously ever have seemed like just the thing to keep data on. Since we're starting into round 2 on the eggs, here is the data on percentage of fertilized eggs and hatch rate for the six round 1 hatches.

Note that there is likely some skewing in batch 4 because I intentionally set all of Boba's eggs that week with just a couple from the other hens, and I already knew Boba's eggs were fertilized based on the previous batches. Batches 4 and 5 I was a bit less selective of eggs as I wanted a better picture of fertility in that group. Oh, and the hatch rate does not include clears as mentioned, but does include blood rings and early quitters. Anything that had not developed enough to cause a blood ring at minimum, I considered a clear. I had no late quitters in any of those batches; anything that made it to day ~10 made it all the way to hatch. Ideally I'll get that blue line up to 100% in round 2 and keep the orange line elevated as well, but I'll be pretty happy if I can just get the blue line to stay up at 87.5% (that's just one clear out of 8 eggs, the maximum I can fit in one of my three turner rails).

Editing, oh, I should also note that there was a cold snap between when I gathered eggs for batches 4 and 5, which I believe accounts for some of that loss of fertility as well.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

No 8th egg from the corner coop yet. If there's one by the end of the day, I'll consider setting it as well, but if not, I guess that batch of eggs will stay at 7 total.


While I was out there checking, though, Pete was dancing at my feet so I picked him up, and I couldn't help but notice this uneven coloring in his hackles... Certainly this can't be sun bleaching already, right? I don't remember how early he molted last year, but it just seems too soon for sun bleaching...

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Okay, okay, I did some searching on sun bleaching, especially with silkied feathering, and I looked at all of my boys, and I do think that's the lighting in combination with early sun bleaching on Pete. All of the boys that have had a lot of sun exposure have a bit of that going on. Definitely had a feeling of dread for a second there!


Something else interesting that I discovered while digging around their feathers to make the above assessment, though, is that my silkied Cochins seem to have one (or multiple?) of the genes that cause splitting of the uropygial gland. I've seen it claimed that the recessive gene, dpg, is most often found in Asian breeds, so I guess it makes sense if it's in my Cochins, I just never expected to see it in my Cochins! Most of my boys and several of the girls have completely doubled uropygial glands, while Juni has one that's sort of fused into a crooked Y shape. Interestingly enough, I searched all over the area on Levi and Washburne (I think? I looked at all three of those girls in pretty quick succession because they all were at my feet for attention) and couldn't find any semblance of the uropygial gland at all on them! Nothing I've ever read has mentioned a gene that causes a complete lack of the gland developing at all... I might have to ask about that on Nicalandia's thread and see if he's ever heard of that.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Okay, okay, I did some searching on sun bleaching, especially with silkied feathering, and I looked at all of my boys, and I do think that's the lighting in combination with early sun bleaching on Pete. All of the boys that have had a lot of sun exposure have a bit of that going on. Definitely had a feeling of dread for a second there!


Something else interesting that I discovered while digging around their feathers to make the above assessment, though, is that my silkied Cochins seem to have one (or multiple?) of the genes that cause splitting of the uropygial gland. I've seen it claimed that the recessive gene, dpg, is most often found in Asian breeds, so I guess it makes sense if it's in my Cochins, I just never expected to see it in my Cochins! Most of my boys and several of the girls have completely doubled uropygial glands, while Juni has one that's sort of fused into a crooked Y shape. Interestingly enough, I searched all over the area on Levi and Washburne (I think? I looked at all three of those girls in pretty quick succession because they all were at my feet for attention) and couldn't find any semblance of the uropygial gland at all on them! Nothing I've ever read has mentioned a gene that causes a complete lack of the gland developing at all... I might have to ask about that on Nicalandia's thread and see if he's ever heard of that.

They're stealing them off the birds missing one!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

So, after some reading, based on the expression (most having a double uropygial gland, while some having just one and some having none at all), it looks like my Cochins have the incompletely dominant uropygial gene, U, where one copy (U/u+) gives them the doubled gland and two copies (U/U) can look similar to the heterozygotes or can result in no uropygial gland at all. It does not visually seem to be impacting the feather quality of the two individuals lacking uropygial glands at all, I assume due to their feathering being silkied and thus any shredding or similar impacts of unkempt plumage is just not apparent. I'll have to keep an eye on that over the summer and see how wear and tear looks just before molt compared to the birds with functional glands. Levi, of course, has not yet had a full adult molt, but I don't remember Washburne (or was it Bella?) having any more ratty looking feathering than anyone else in that group last fall. Should there be an issue with that, I can always select away from the trait in the future now that I know it's there.

I'm not breeding the Reds anymore, but mine don't seem to have the gene, so it doesn't appear to be a trait common to all silkied Cochin lines.

Just one of those things, I guess! Chickens sure have a way of always keeping you on your toes!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I kicked the big kids to the curb, the 3, 4, and 5 week olds. Well, for during the day, anyway. I think it's a bit too chilly overnight for them to stay out there without a heat source here and I don't have a safe way of providing one. They adapted pretty well, though every now and then I hear them chirping noisily over the monitor. When I go out and check, they come flying over to the window and seem fine, so it's just all these new sights and sounds that has them worried, I guess.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Who says broody hen hatching is the stress-free route? I'm feeling way more stressed now than I have with the incubator eggs so far!!

Last year I left my broody be, she hatched her littles in a nest and I moved them to the in coop brooder for the day for everyone to dry and get their feet under them, and never messed with them again. This is my first year hatching with an incubator (I'm on my 3rd hatch) and it is wearing me out, lol. I think chicks are cute as can be, but lord they are needy and messy to boot

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Last year I left my broody be, she hatched her littles in a nest and I moved them to the in coop brooder for the day for everyone to dry and get their feet under them, and never messed with them again. This is my first year hatching with an incubator (I'm on my 3rd hatch) and it is wearing me out, lol. I think chicks are cute as can be, but lord they are needy and messy to boot

I can second that. I probably will have to brood this batch because of the Cornish, but I'm tempted to try and foster them onto a broody and just watch them.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Haha, I will admit, once they'd hatched and Athena finally figured out she was dealing with chicks, not eggs anymore, it has been pretty much no work or worry for me having her raise them. But those last few days before hatch, and for a few days afterward when she still just wanted to sit on eggs instead of taking care of her new babies, that was pure stress for me! Hopefully the next time will be less stressful now that I have this experience under my belt!


Honestly, though, I know they're a ton of work, but I just love having babies in the brooder and everything that comes with it. I don't think, unless I'm very busy with other things and just don't have the time to maintain a brooder, that I could ever go fully to broodies raising all of my chicks for me.