Cochin chicken

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

"Cochin Chinas" redirects here. For the historic region, see Cochinchina.
Cochin
Livestock Conservancy (2020): recovering[2]
Country of originChina
Useornamental
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    Standard: 3.6–5.9 kg[3]: 92 
    Bantam: 900 g[4]: 115 
  • Female:
    Standard: 3.2–5.0 kg[3]: 92 
    Bantam: 800 g[4]: 115 
Egg colourbrown
Comb typesingle
Classification
APAAsiatic[5]: 12 
ABAFeather legged[5]: 8 
EEyes[6]
PCGBSoft feather: heavy[7]
  • Gallus gallus domesticus
    • White Cochin hens at one year old, bred in England in 2020
    White Cochin hens at one year old, bred in England in 2020

    The Cochin is a breed of large domestic chicken. It derives from large feather-legged chickens brought from China to Europe and North America in the 1840s and 1850s. It is reared principally for exhibition. It was formerly known as Cochin-China.

    History

    Like the

    poultry-breeding in Western countries, sometimes described as "hen fever".[8][9]

    The Cochin was included in the first edition of the

    Bantam Cochins were not listed.[10]
    : 4 

    The Cochin, both full-sized and bantam, was included in the first edition of the

    Standard of Excellence of the American Poultry Association in 1874.[8][5] The original colours were white, partridge, buff and black; other colours were later added.[5]

    Characteristics

    The most distinctive feature of the Cochin is the excessive plumage that covers leg and foot. The skin beneath the feathers is yellow.

    In the United Kingdom the recognised

    Entente Européenne lists the same nine colours for full-sized Cochins, and twenty-four for the bantam; any of the bantam varieties may be frizzled, with the feathers curling outwards.[6] The American Poultry Association recognises nine colours for the full-sized bird – barred, black, blue, brown, buff, golden-laced, partridge, silver-laced, and white; the same colours are recognised for the bantam, with the addition of four more: birchen, Columbian, mottled, and red.[5]

    Use

    The Cochin has been bred principally for exhibition, at the expense of productive characteristics.[3]: 89  It is a good layer of very large tinted eggs, and lays well in winter.[3]: 89 [8] The hens are good sitters and good mothers, and may be used to hatch the eggs of turkeys and ducks.[8] The meat tends to be coarse in texture and excessively dark; capons slaughtered at an age of 12–16 months provide a good large table bird.[8]

    Gallery

    • Blue Cochin hen
      Blue Cochin hen
    • Cochin Bantam cock
      Cochin Bantam cock

    References

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cochin (chicken).
    1. ISBN 9789251057629
      . Accessed January 2017.
    2. ^ Heritage Poultry Breeds: Chickens. Pittsboro, North Carolina: The Livestock Conservancy. Accessed July 2020.
    3. ^
      ISBN 9781405156424
      .
    4. ^
      ISBN 9781580176675
      .
    5. ^ a b c d e APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
    6. ^ a b Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
    7. ^ Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
    8. ^ a b c d e Cochin Chicken The Livestock Conservancy. Archived 3 October 2016.
    9. ISBN 978-0-8203-2213-1
      .
    10. ^ a b William Bernhard Tegetmeier (editor) (1865). The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry, authorized by the Poultry Club. London: Groombridge and Sons, for the Poultry Club.
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