Buff Cochin Bantams numbered among the spoils of the British during the ransacking of the Chinese summer palace in Peking in the year 1860. These were prized very highly by a ‘British fancier’ who was serving his country in China. This officer sent them home to a friend, who bred a few and later loaned them to a Mr. Kerrick.

These were inbred for nearly twenty years. Consequently their stamina gradually weakened, and sterility resulted.

During the year of 1884 some bantams were bred from the standard or large Cochin.

Cochin Bantams are the most practical and useful of all the varieties of bantams. They have a very good constitution, thrive well in any climate, are capital layers, very docile, and stand confinement very well. Their only draw-back being their foot feathering. This can be remedied, however, by supplying them with fine sand or gravel. This will protect their foot feathers and prevent them from being broken and soiled as the case often is.

Cochin Bantams do not obtain their full form under sixteen to twenty months of age. Many of the narrowest cockerels develop into the finest cocks. The same being the case with the females. Many of the most inferior pullets develop into the broadest back and finest cushioned hens. It is, therefore, well to retain the finest colored specimens. It must be definitely understood that not all the Cochin Bantams develop into better cocks and hens than when they were cockerels and pullets.

I shall now describe the different sections :

Comb, face, ear lobes and wattles : bright red
Eyes : bay color
Beak : rich yellow
Head and neck hackle : rich golden buff
Back, wing bow and saddle : rich golden buff
Tail : rich golden buff (free from white or black)
Remainder of plumage : rich golden buff. A point to be obtained is to have one even color from head to tail, although the difficult point to achieve is the breast color.
Legs and feet : rich yellow.

The female should conform to the above standard of color as the male. With the exception that the females are a little bit lighter.

When mating the birds it is best to use a male a trifle darker than the females. Some breeders have produced such a pale lemon color in the buffs that many of the breeders are continually mating their lightest birds together with the expectation that the progeny will be those beautiful birds so much admired by all. From such a mating the progeny usually produce a good per cent of birds with white in flights and taile coverts.

The best method of mating is to select a cock of an even shade that is a trifle darker than the hens. From such a mating a good per cent of the good birds can be bred with less culls.

Chickens do make wonderful pets and can provide so much more than eggs for your family and friends, but if the possibility of paying out for feed month after month and not receiving anything back in return would put too much of a strain on your finances you may need to think of your raising chickens in more business like terms when choosing the breeds for your flock.

Keeping chickens as pets if you have no financial need for them to ‘pay their way’ is a totally different experience to raising chickens for their eggs or as a business.

It can be uncomfortable to think of your girls (and boys) in this kind of non-emotional way but for some the shine of their backyard chicken flock will dull over time and the cost in chores and the physical costs of feed etc. will outweigh the returns being made.

It is not appealing to think of pets in these terms, but it is even less appealing to be forced to give them up.

With any breed, the number of eggs produced will be less as they get older and for many, eggs will be few and far between by four years old. They are most consistently produced in a hens first year of laying.

In selecting any breed of chickens there are three very important questions which everyone intending to embark into the ‘business’ should ask him or herself in regard to the breed they intend upon purchasing.

• Are they good winter layers?
• Do they mature quickly and make a good market fowl?
• Does their color and other points make them attractive as an exhibition bird?

Some select a breed for their egg production, others for market purposes, and a great many for beauty, but the wise poultrykeeper is the one who, after careful study and experiments, selects, as near as possible, the breed that will make the best general purpose fowl, one that is popular and always in demand. The farmer does not raise weeds, sunflowers or thistles expecting to find a market for them, and the same may be applied to the chicken business. You should select a breed that has proven beyond a doubt that they are splendid egg producers, mature quickly and make a good market fowl, and are unsurpassed as an exhibition bird.

From a business stand point :

• A fowl that is not a good egg producer is worthless at any price.
• A fowl that will not mature quickly for market purposes, or begin laying early, is losing you money every day.
• One that does not make a handsome appearance in the show room will never be popular as an exhibition fowl nor command the best prices.