Cochins: The Round, Fluffy Chickens

Cochin Traits

Cochin Sizes
Cochins come in two different sizes, standard and bantam. Standard Cochins are fairly large, they stand about knee high and are so fluffy that they look even bigger than they are. They're definitely a giant chicken breed. Bantam-or miniature Cochins are about the size of a basketball. In fact, with that shape, they do look rather like basketballs.

Cochin Shapes
Cochins have very roundish, ball-like bodies. Bantams' legs aren't very long, and so they especially look as though they're balls with feet.

Cochin Fluffy Butts
Cochins have big, fluffy behinds filled with soft feathers. They're sort of like little blobs on the back of the chicken or the bustles women used to wear on their dresses.

They're one of the cutest aspects of the breed, but it can make it a bit difficult for the Cochins to breed. All those fluffy feathers make it difficult for anything to meet. That's why most Cochin breeders either remove some of the feathers from that area or simply do artificial insemination. Picture via Creative Commons from dangoat

Cochins' Feathered Feet
Cochins, like a few other breeds of chickens, have feathers growing down their legs and covering their feet. This adds to their overall fluffy appearance and makes it almost look like they don't have legs at all.

Cochin Colors
Cochins come in an incredible number of colors and patterns. Some of the more common ones are listed below. Cochins are often used to add more color to other chicken breeds.

Cochin Colors
Black
White
Buff
Blue
Red
Gray

Feather Patterns
Splash
Columbian
Partridge
Mottled
Gold-Laced
Silver-Laced
Birchen
Barred
Cuckoo

Frizzled Cochins
A popular off-breed of Cochins are Frizzles. Though there can be Frizzles made of any breed, the most common Frizzle variety is made from the Bantam Cochin. Frizzles are unique with a fun look, since their feathers curl up and outwards instead of in and smooth like normal chicken feathers. To get a Frizzle, the breeder needs to breed a Frizzle with a smooth-feathered chicken, this leads about half the babies having Frizzled feathers and about half with smooth, but prevents the problems that arise from breeding a Frizzle to a Frizzle.

Caring for Cochins

Housing Cochins
Cochins do just fine in the coop with the rest of the flock in the chicken coop. Since their personalities aren't too passive, nor too aggressive, they usually fit right in without any fighting.

Cochins also make excellent house pets, the banties especially. For more information on keeping chickens as house pets, check out Chickens In The House

No matter where they live, standard Cochins need perches that are lower to the ground than normal perches. Since they are so heavy, Cochins can do damage to their feet jumping up and down otherwise. Padding the area with wood shavings or other bedding where they will be jumping is also a good idea, to sort of soften the blow when they land.

Feeding Cochins
Except for show chickens, Cochins can be fed the same feed you give the rest of your flock.

Show birds should get a show bird feed that will boost their feather colors and keep them in condition. As with most birds, white Cochins shouldn't be fed a lot of corn or marigold petals in their feed, as this will cause yellowing of the feathers.

Getting Cochins

Cochins, while not a common breed, are easy to get from numerous places. Most of the major hatcheries sell bantam and standard versions, Cochins are a familiar sight at chicken shows, and there are numerous breeders. Or you can contact your local feed store and find out when and if they are going to get a supply of Cochin chicks in the store. Most feed stores will have them in at least once per season and may be willing to order them special for you if you prepay for them.

Hatcheries
One of the most common ways to get chickens is to order them through a hatchery. Hatcheries are businesses set up solely to hatch chicks and sell them to individuals, almost always through the mail. They can safely do this because baby chicks spend about three days absorbing the nutrition from their egg yolks and so don't need to eat. This means the hatcheries have to sell newborn chicks, and to keep them warm enough in their travel, they have to sell the chicks in groups of 25 or more. So if the weather isn't too hot or to cold and you want 25 baby chicks or know some people who will go in on a chick order with you, you might want to consider getting your new Cochins from a hatchery.

Ideal Hatchery
www.ideal-poultry.com/

Murray McMurray Hatchery
www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/

Cackle Hatchery
www.cacklehatchery.com/

Welp Hatchery
www.welphatchery.com/

Belt Hatchery
www.belthatchery.com/

Mt. Healthy Hacheries
www.mthealthy.com/

My Pet Chicken
This is one of the few hatcheries that sell chicks in smaller amounts, they charge a lot more for them, but you can order as few as 3 chicks to be mailed to you since they have heat packets included to help keep them warm.
www.mypetchicken.com/

Cochin Breeders
Cochins are a popular chicken breed, so of course there are many breeders that raise Cochins for themselves and other people. Here are just a few, though you should first check on your local Craigslist or at your local feed store to see if there is anybody nearby raising Cochins so you don't have to worry about shipping eggs, chicks, or adult birds. Also, it's nice to have the same type of birds as someone nearby so you can share information and get a new friend.

Jamie's Cochin Collection
A New York Cochin breeder

Bishop's Buff Cochins
South Carolina Cochin breeders

Golden Feather Farm
Virginia Cochin breeder

Ardjan's Cochins
German Cochin breeder

Sanford Cochins
Florida standard-sized Cochin breeders

Star Cochins
Georgia Standard-sized Cochin breeders

Cochins and Brahmas
Swedish Cochin breeder

Ray's Cochins
South Carolina Bantam Cochin breeder

Garrison's Poultry
South Carolina Cochin breeder

Fortune's Fancy Feathers
Indiana Cochin breeder

Brahma and Cochin Chickens
Romania Cochin breeder

Other Sources for Cochin Chickens
These aren't anywhere near the limits of where you can get Cochins. There are numerous other breeders I didn't list, you may have a livestock auction near you, or you might be able to pick some up off of Eggbid, an Internet site designed for the auctioning off of chickens, chicks, and eggs.

More Information About Cochins
Want to know more about Cochins? Check out a few of these sites:

Cochins International

Cochins Rule

Feathersite Cochin Images

The Cochin Forum

Pekin Bantams

Backyard Chickens Cochin Page

Backyard Chickens Site