Day 30

Today is the 30th day since Violet was bred. She's for sure pregnant, I could finally feel the baby move today. I think she is intentionally waiting as long as she possibly can before she pops. Just look at her taunt me....

I've given her hay for nesting material. Yesterday she was carrying around a mouthful of it so I thought, maybe I'll come out in the morning to babies. Nope. She ate all the hay. I gave her more today and she didn't even pretend to nest, she started eating it again. The baby has moved since yesterday so surely she will pop tomorrow. 

chick colors

The chicks are 6 days old today and all are doing very well. I have been looking at Cochin colors more to try and confirm what I've got and what I might like to keep out of them. These are representatives of all the colors in the brooder.

I thought this chick might be blue at first, it's a bit lighter than
my for sure black chicks but after comparing it to pictures online I
think it's probably a mottled.

Fairly certain these chicks are mottled as they have black and white
feathers coming in. Based on some pictures, they may also be black.

The two in this color are either black or birchen. If I have a blue
or a splash chick then I hope they're black otherwise I hope for
birchen.

Two silver penciled. A friend suggested gold laced and they are very
similar but I checked the feathers and they're silvery now. Yay - I prefer silver
penciled over gold.

I've thought and hoped this one was splash especially
since it appears to be a pullet, although it could be white.
Apparently some white chicks can have shades of gray that
disappear with age.

Pretty sure the four that look like this are partridge (and female).

Buff. I've got about 11 of these which is unfortunate. I like the
color on the hens but the roosters aren't usually as attractive.
Many of these will probably be sold later. Also thought some might be
 red as there are 2-3 different shades of this color and feather color differs some.

Finally white. I've got about 5 of these, no mistaking them.

During my search for what these chicks are, I came across a color I LOVE. The color is called buff mottled (click the link, she is the 9th picture once you get past all the info). I've never seen it before and it isn't recognized so I imagine it's probably someone's "project" color. I think I could potentially create that variety and I may well try it.

I have been playing with a genetics calculator to see what colors I might get through crosses. It's fun and helping me choose which colors will give me the offspring I'd want. In most color crosses, black is the most common result. Black is pretty, but I don't want a whole flock of them. I love the Cochin breed, I'd just like a variety of color.


At most I'm going to keep 2 roosters. Two factors will go into selecting the roosters, first and more importantly is temperament. I will not tolerate an aggressive rooster. Second and on a somewhat less important scale is color, the rooster needs to produce attractive colored offspring with as many of the hens I keep as possible.

impatiently waiting

I am impatiently waiting for Violet to give birth. Tomorrow is just day 28 so she could take a few more days. The suspense is killer though.

chick photos

Note: lots of pictures in this post.

Chick 1
Possible colors: red, buff

Chick 2
Possible Colors: buff

Chick 3
Possible Colors: red, buff

Chick 4
Possible colors: buff, red

Chick 5
Possibly red or buff

Chick 6
red or buff

Chick 7
buff or red

Chick 8
red or buff

Chick 9
buff

Chick 10
last red or buff, I promise

Chick 11
white

Chick 12
white

Chick 13
white

Chick 14
white

Chick 15
white

Chick 16
could be splash, self blue, or possibly even white

Chick 17
silver penciled

Chick 18
silver penciled

Chick 19
partridge

Chick 20
partridge, red, or maybe gold laced?

Chick 20 again

Chick 21
partridge, red, gold laced?

Chick 22
partridge, red, gold laced?

Chick 23
black, barred (no head spot), or more likely birchen

Chick 24
black, barred, or birchen

Chick 25
(lighter in color than above)
blue?, black, barred, birchen?

Chick 26
mottled

Chick 27
mottled

Chick 28
blue? mottled? self blue?
definitely a lighter color just not sure what

Chick 28 again

blue?

So those are my chicks! Based purely on feather development so far I believe that I have 14 cockerels and 15 pullets. Those numbers could change (and likely will), but it will be interesting to see approximately how accurate I can get.

they're here!

I got the call at 6:40 to pick up my chicks!

Part of the group in their shipping box

In the brooder.

I ordered 25 chicks and got 29-30 (I didn't count as I put them away). Only one was deceased in the box, but having received several more chicks than I ordered I can't really complain. Did I ever say the breed I purchased? If not, they are bantam Cochins. Immediately I can tell there are white, buff, what could be red or partridge, black, at least one "splash" (a variation of blue), and some I'm not sure about. I'll get individual pictures later to try and ID the colors. I don't think there are any barred or blue Cochins in the mix and those are two colors I was hoping for.

breeding pens

I designed these coops as breeding pens for bantam chickens. Ideally when I have my own place I could build something like this. Most of the time the birds would free range and be cooped in one place during the night and to lay eggs for eating. When I want to hatch eggs from certain birds, they would be moved into special breeding pens like these. This ensures that the eggs from specific hens are fertilized by a selected rooster. I could put the coop itself on wheels so that it's mobile and have the wire runs detachable for ease of movement.

For my present set up though I'll probably move pairs or trios of birds into a large rabbit hutch.

a few pictures

Geoffrey & Socrates during their free-range time.

Chicks from a few days ago, enjoying a warm afternoon.

Found this cat several months ago and just had to bring her home.
Isn't she beautiful?

Honey outside with the chicks.