All fluff, the Cochin is a giant, round Chinese breed (originally the "Shanghai") that helped spark Western "hen fever" when it arrived in the 1840s. Soft feathering covers the whole body right down to the feet, and beneath it sits one of the calmest, friendliest temperaments in poultry — tolerant of any amount of handling, even by small children. Cochins are famously broody and make superb mothers, happily hatching other birds' eggs. Gentle, cold-hardy and beginner-proof, they're kept as much for companionship as for their brown eggs.
Beginner friendly
Quiet breed
Good with kids
Cold hardy
Broody
Egg colorBrown
Egg production150–200 / year
TemperamentDocile
BroodinessFrequent
ClimateCold hardy
PurposeEggs, Show
Weight
Large fowl (Standard size)
Hen8–9.5 lb
Rooster10–12 lb
Bantam (Miniature size)
Hen1.6 lb
Rooster1.9 lb
How to spot it
CombSingle
Single comb, small for the bird's size
Earlobes
Red
Legs & feet
Short yellow legs buried in heavy feathering that runs onto the outer toes
Look for
A round ball of fluff with no visible waist and a tail that barely rises above the back — far rounder and shorter-legged than a Brahma
Ancestry
How this breed was developed. Historical records, not crosses to make today.
Single
Buckeye
