Calling all Cochin Bantam (Pekin) owners!

[thecatumbrella]

I'm back after a year hiatus from chickens. We decided to go with cochin bantams (and a couple of d'uccles) as we're unable to free range. Our last group of hens were re-homed after turning on each other (see post here, if interested), so fingers crossed that the bantams are more successful with some changes and upgrades to their enclosure.

Questions! I understand it's important to keep their feather feet dry, but how dry are we talking? Bone dry? We have a mulch/woodchip in the covered run that prevents flooding, but it can hold a bit of moisture if the weather's been wet. Should I try and switch to sand? Is this more of a winter problem? I have several perches in the run and a bone-dry sand box, but I want to make sure I'm not going to cause them problems with my ignorance.

Second concern is broodiness. No one's hatching any eggs here, so I'm trying to plan for how much space I should commit to broody breaking. Can it be as simple as separating them from the nest box for a few days? Or do I need to plan a full suite of dog crates to get them isolated and cooled off?

Any other advice or thoughts on these breeds is more than welcome. It's good to be back BYC!

 

[LaceyJune]

Hello thecatumbrella!
I actually have a blue bantam cochin, miss Pipin. I'm pretty new to this breed, but she was very on top of taking care after her feathered feet, but we can't all assume the same characteristic for all. I did originally have sand in my backyard, but put down wire and weed block to add dry dirt filling my entire run space. Although, I'm not familiar with wood chips, I do live with dyed wood chips in my front yard (not where my chickens are located near) and they don't seem to carry moisture to anything or anyone who might walk across or live in for one of your chickens. So, I think wood chips are perfectly fine, but Ide probably wait to see if anyone has more exsperience. Do you have areas with dirt already for your chickens to scratch or dust bathe? I never had a landscape of wood chips, so I'm curiouse if you have already used woodchips with your previous flock(s). All in all, bone dry isn't necessary for feathered feet birds because the moisture in their landscape is needed, so they can also be able to cool themselves when dust bathing on a warm/hot day.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Do you have areas with dirt already for your chickens to scratch or dust bathe? I never had a landscape of wood chips, so I'm curiouse if you have already used woodchips with your previous flock(s).

Hi LaceyJune! Thanks for weighing in . I do have a 3'x3' central dust bath with construction sand and peat moss that stays 100% dry, and we often add a secondary container of pure sand to give them options. We used untreated/undyed pine mulch (it's triple shredded, so not quite a wood chip) for our previous flock and it worked really well until the ground froze. I've seen several people in the UK using legitimate wood chips, but I can't seem to source them where I am. The previous flock also had clean legs, so moisture was less of an issue.