The Brahma and Cochin Club of Australia Inc
Cochin Standard of Perfection Australia
Note: The standards below are the 1st edition Australian Poultry Standards. It will be updated to the 2nd edition soon
Male Characteristics
• Carriage: Massive and deep. Carriage rather forward, high at stern and dignified.
Type:
• Body: Large and deep.
• Back: Broad and very short.
• Saddle: very broad and large with a gradual and decided rise towards the tail forming an harmonious line with it.
•Breast: Broad and full, as low down as possible.
• Wings: Small and closely clipped up, the flights being neatly and entirely tucked under the secondaries.
• Tail: Small, soft, with as little hard quill as possible and carried low or nearly flat
Head: Small.
• Beak: Rather short, curved and very stout at base.
• Eyes: Large and fairly prominent.
• Comb: Single, upright, small and perfectly straight, of fine texture, neatly arched and evenly serrated, free from excrescences.
• Face: Smooth, as free as possible from from feathers or hairs.
• Earlobes: Sufficiently developed to hang nearly or quite as low as wattles, which are long, thin and pendent.n entering your own content. You can change my font, size, line height, color and more by highlighting part of me and selecting the options from the toolbar.
Neck: Rather short, carried somewhat forward, handsomely curved, thickly furnished with hackle feathers which flow gracefully over the shoulders.
Legs and Feet:
• Thighs: Large and thickly covered with fluffy feathers standing out in globular form.
• Hocks: Entirely covered with soft curling feathers, but as free as possible from any stiff quills (vulture hocks).
• Shanks: Short, stout in bone, plumage long, beginning just below hocks and covering front and outer side of shanks, from which it should be outstanding, the upper part growing out from under the thigh plumage and continuing into foot feathering. There should be no marked break in the outlines between plumage of these sections.
• Toes: Four, well spread, straight, middle and outer toes heavily feathered to ends. Slight feathering of other toes is a good sign of breeding.
Female Characteristics
With certain exceptions the general characteristics are similar to those of the male, allowing for the natural sexual differences. Comb and wattles as small as possible. The body more square than the male’s and the shoulders more prominent. The back very flat wide and short, with the cushion exceedingly broad, full and convex, rising from as far forward as possible and almost burying the tail. Wings nearly buried in abundant body feathering and the tail very small. Breast full, as low as possible. General shape is “lumpy”, massive and square. Carriage is forward, high at cushion with a matronly appearance.
Scale of Points:
Feathering (cushion 8, fluff 7, tail 5, hackle 5, legs 10)...........35
Colour ...............................................................................20
Size ..................................................................................15
Head (head 10, ear-lobes 5) ...............................................15
Type .................................................................................10
Condition ...........................................................................5
TOTAL: ..............................................................................100
Weights:
Cock: ...............................................4.55 – 5.90 kg (10 – 13 lb)
Hen: ................................................4.10 – 5.00 kg (9 – 11 lb)
Cockerel: ..........................................3.60 – 5.00 kg (8 – 11 lb)
Pullet: ..............................................3.20 – 4.10 kg (7 – 9 lb)
*Serious Defects*
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Primary wing feathers twisted on their axes. Utter absence of leg feather. Badly twisted or falling comb. Legs other than yellow or dusky yellow except in Blacks and Blues. Black spots in Buffs. Conspicuous brown mottling in partridge males. Pale breasts destitute of penciling in partridge females. White or black feathers in Cuckoos. Crooked back, wry tail, or any other deformity.
General disqualifications and serious defects can be found below.
Cochin Colour Guide
In both sexes of all varieties: Comb, face, ear-lobes and wattles bright red.
Black
Male and Female: Rich black, well glossed, free from golden or reddish feathers. Beak: yellow, horn or black. Eyes: bright red, dark red, hazel or nearly black. Legs: dusky yellow.
Blue
Male and Female: Hackle, back, and tail of male (and hackle of female): one even shade of rich dark blue free from lacing, free from rust, sandiness or bronze. Remainder one even shade of blue free from lacing; pigeon blue preferred. Beak: yellow, horn or yellow slightly marked with horn. Eyes: dark.Legs and feet: blue with yellow tinge in pads.
Buff
Male and female Plumage: Surface throughout an even shade of rich golden buff. Male: head, neck, hackle, back, wing bows and saddle showing greater lustre. Female: hackle some lustre. Undercolour: matching surface as near as possible.
Cuckoo
Male and female: Plumage as for the Cuckoo Wyandotte. Beak: yellow or horn. Eyes: red. Legs: brilliant yellow.
Plumage Colour (as per Wyandotte colour definition)
Male and female Plumage: Slate, feathers in all sections crossed throughout their entire length by irregular light and dark bars that stop short of positive black and white; tip of each feather, dark; free from shafting, brownish tinge or metallic sheen. Excellence to be determined by distinct contrasts with an overall blending of all sections. The male may be one or two shades lighter that the female. Undercolour: in all sections slate.
Partridge
Colour and markings of male and female as for the Partridge Wyandotte. Leg and foot feathering of male black. Leg and foot feathering of female marked and coloured as for the body. Beak: yellow or horn. Eyes: bright red. Legs: yellow but may be of a dusky shade.
Plumage Colour (as per Wyandotte colour definition)
Male Plumage: Head: dark orange. Hackle: bright orange-yellow shading to a bright lemon-yellow, free from washiness, each feather having a clearly defined, lustrous, greenish-black stripe down the centre, not running out at the tip, and free from light shaft. Back: bright red of a scarlet shade, free from maroon or purple shade. Saddle hackle: to match the neck hackle. Main tail, coverts, main and lesser sickles: lustrous greenish-black. Tail free of white at the roots. Wings: fronts black. Bow: bright red of scarlet shade, free from maroon or purple tinge. Coverts: lustrous, greenish black, forming a distinct wing bar of this colour across wing when wing is folded. Primaries: black. Secondaries: inner web and end of feather, black, outer web, rich bay, the rich bay alone showing when the wing is folded. Breast and front of neck: lustrous greenish black, free from red or grey ticking. Body and fluff: black. Undercolour: black or dark grey.
Female Plumage: Head: rich golden yellow. Hackle: rich golden yellow, the larger feathers finely and clearly pencilled with black. Front of neck, breast, back, wing bow, wing bar, wing and tail coverts, thighs, body fluff: soft light partridge brown, quite even and free from red or yellow tinge, each feather plentifully and distinctly pencilled with black, the pencilling to follow the form of the feather, and to be even and uniform throughout. Pencilling to be fine, sharply defined and with three or more distinct lines of black. Main tail: black, with or without brown markings. Primaries: black. Secondaries: inner web black, outer web same colour as body, showing pencilling when wing is folded. Undercolour: slate.
Colour Chart of Ideal Partridge and Silver Pencilled Cochin Male
Colour Chart of Ideal Partridge and Silver Pencilled Cochin Female
Note: Pencilling in the Partridge and Silver Pencilled varieties should be distinct and in sharp contrast to the ground colour, regular in shape, uniform in width and conform to the contour of the feather. Each feather on the back, breast, body, wing bows and thighs should have three or more pencillings. Pencilling which runs into peppery markings and uneven, broken or barred pencilling constitute defects, as does light shaftiness on feathers of the breast and front of neck. Ground colour to be even throughout.
White
Male and Female: Plumage pure white, free from any straw or red shade. Beak:rich bright yellow. Eyes: pearl or red. Legs: brilliant yellow.
Sketch Showing Basic Features of Male and Female Cochin
Defects & Disqualifications
Defects:
1. Any bird that is excessively over or under weight for its age and sex.
2. Odd eye colour.
3. Single comb which is lopped below the horizontal plane of the skull or inverted at the rear.
4. Presence of positive enamel white in the face, earlobes or wattles.
5. Slipped or drooping wing.
6. Split tail.
7. Badly twisted hackle or wing feather.
8. Lack of spurs on adult males.
9. Lack of feathers on middle toes.
10. Missing toenails.
11. Lack of dewlap.
12. Lack of prominent eyebrows.
13. Absence of indentation at back of head.
14. Stiff quilled hock feathers. ie: vulture hocks.
15. Hair on face.
Disqualifications:
1. Specimen, seriously lacking in breed characteristics.
2. Definite indications of contagious disease, indications of infestation of lice, mites or scaly leg mites.
3. Clear evidence of faking, ie, the self evident attempt to remove or conceal a disqualification or or defect, thus creating merit which does not naturally exist.
4. Any malformation or deformity of the beak.
5. Blindness, defective eyesight or defective pupils.
6. Comb, other than a Single comb
7. Presence of crest or beard and muffs.
8. Wry neck, wry tail or squirrel tail.
9. Crooked, roached or deformed in skeletal structure.
10. Abnormal protrusion of breastbone. Breastbone curved down behind leading or drooping abdomen.
11. Split wing.
12. Badly twisted or curled primary or secondary feathers.
13. Bow legged or knock kneed or obviously in or out at hocks.
14. Deformed or twisted feet. Badly splayed feet. webbed feet.
15. Badly crooked or turned toes. Duck toed.
16. Twisted or warped shanks.
17. Coarse, malformed or unnaturally enlarged bone in shanks, feet or toes.
18. Other than four toes.
19. Shanks and outer toes, No feathers down outer sides.
20. Other than yellow or orange-yellow legs or feet.
21. Spurs on outside of leg.
22. Great want of condition.