Cochin chicken
Large feather-legged chicken bred chiefly for exhibition.
The Cochin is a large domestic chicken breed, developed from big feather-legged birds imported from China to Europe and North America during the 1840s and 1850s. Originally called "Shanghai" birds and later "Cochin-Chinas," it is now primarily kept for exhibition.
In history, the Cochin’s striking size and appearance helped spark a sudden surge in Western poultry breeding, sometimes called "hen fever." It appeared in the first Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry (1865) for Britain, with colors including buff, black, cinnamon, grouse, lemon, partridge, silver buff, silver cinnamon, and white; bantam Cochins were not listed then. Both full-sized and bantam Cochins were included in the American Poultry Association’s first Standard of Excellence in 1874, with original colors of white, partridge, buff, and black, and more added later.
The breed’s most distinctive feature is its heavy leg and foot feathering, with yellow skin underneath. In the UK, recognized large fowl colors are black, blue, buff, cuckoo, partridge, grouse, and white; Cochin bantams are not recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain, though the Entente Européenne treats the Pekin Bantam as equivalent to the bantam Cochin. The Entente Européenne lists nine colors for large fowl and twenty-four for bantams, any of which may be frizzled. The American Poultry Association recognizes nine colors for full-sized birds—barred, black, blue, brown, buff, golden-laced, partridge, silver-laced, and white—and the same for bantams, plus birchen, Columbian, mottled, and red.
Bred mainly for exhibition, the Cochin sacrifices productive traits. It lays well in winter, producing large tinted eggs, and hens are good sitters and mothers, useful for hatching turkey and duck eggs. The meat is coarse and very dark; capons slaughtered at 12–16 months yield a good large table bird, though caponizing is strongly discouraged in poultry circles.
- origin
- China
- introduced_to_west
- 1840s and 1850s
- primary_use
- Exhibition
- distinctive_feature
- Excessive plumage covering leg and foot
- skin_color
- Yellow
- egg_color
- Very large tinted eggs
Lore & Background
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, recognised colour varieties for large fowl only are black, blue, buff, cuckoo, partridge, grouse, and white; Cochin bantams are not recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. However, the Entente Européenne treats the Pekin Bantam as equivalent to the bantam Cochin and lists nine colours for large fowl and twenty-four for the bantam; any bantam variety may be frizzled. The American Poultry Association recognises nine colours for the full-sized bird and the same nine plus four more for the bantam.
Reader's Guide
The Cochin chicken holds significance primarily as an exhibition breed, having been bred for appearance at the expense of productive characteristics. Its introduction from China in the 1840s and 1850s sparked 'hen fever', a surge of interest in poultry breeding in Western countries. The breed's legacy is tied to early poultry standards: it was included in the first edition of the Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry in Great Britain in 1865 and in the first edition of the American Poultry Association's Standard of Excellence in 1874. Despite being a good layer of very large tinted eggs, especially in winter, and hens being good sitters and mothers, the meat tends to be coarse and excessively dark. Capons slaughtered at 12–16 months provide a good large table bird, though caponizing is highly frowned upon in the poultry rearing community. The breed's most distinctive feature—excessive plumage covering leg and foot—and its yellow skin remain defining characteristics. Colour varieties differ between the UK, the Entente Européenne, and the American Poultry Association, reflecting ongoing variation in breed standards.
Did You Know?
- The Cochin was formerly known as the Cochin-China and earlier as 'Shanghai' birds.
- The breed's introduction contributed to a sudden increase in poultry-breeding interest called 'hen fever'.
- The skin beneath the Cochin's feathers is yellow.
- Cochin hens are good sitters and may be used to hatch eggs of turkeys and ducks.
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