{{short description|Breed of chicken}} {{use dmy dates|date=August 2017}} {{Use British English|date=August 2017}} {{use list-defined references|date=July 2025}} {{redirects|Cochin Chinas|the historic region|Cochinchina}} {{infobox poultry breed | name = Cochin | image = Partridge Cochin cockerel (cropped).jpg | image_size = 300px | alt = | image_caption = Partridge cock | status = {{ubl|[[FAO]] (2007): not at risk{{r|barb|page=155}}|{{nobreak|[[Livestock Conservancy]] (2020): recovering{{r|tlc}}}}}} | altname = {{ubl|Shanghai|Cochin-China}} | country = China | distribution = | standard = | use = ornamental | nickname = | apa = Asiatic{{r|apa|page=12}} | aba = feather legged{{r|apa|page=8}} | ee = yes{{r|ee}} | pcgb = soft feather: heavy{{r|pcgb}} | maleweight = {{ubl|Standard: 3.6–5.9 kg{{r|roberts|page=92}}|Bantam: 900 g{{r|ekarius|page=115}}}} | femaleweight = {{ubl|Standard: 3.2–5.0 kg{{r|roberts|page=92}}|Bantam: 800 g{{r|ekarius|page=115}}}} | skincolour = | eggcolour = brown | comb = single | note = | type = [[Chicken]] | latin = Gallus gallus domesticus }}
The '''Cochin''' is a [[list of chicken breeds|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 [[poultry show|exhibition]]. It was formerly known as the '''Cochin-China'''.
== History ==
Like the [[Brahma (chicken)|Brahma]], the Cochin derives from very large feather-legged chickens brought from China to Europe and North America in the 1840s and 1850s. These were at first known as "Shanghai" birds, and later as "Cochin-Chinas".{{r|roberts|page=89}} The large size and striking appearance of these birds contributed to a sudden large increase of interest in [[poultry-breeding]] in Western countries, sometimes described as "hen fever".{{r|albc|smith}}
The Cochin was included in the first edition of the [[British Poultry Standard|''Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry'']], prepared by [[William Bernhardt Tegetmeier]] for the first [[Poultry Club of Great Britain]] in 1865. The colours described are buff, black, cinnamon, grouse, lemon, partridge, silver buff, silver cinnamon, and white.{{r|teget|page=5–12}} [[bantam (chicken)|Bantam]] Cochins were not listed.{{r|teget|page=4}}
The Cochin, both full-sized and bantam, was included in the first edition of the ''[[Standard of Perfection|Standard of Excellence]]'' of the [[American Poultry Association]] in 1874.{{r|albc|apa}} The original colours were white, partridge, buff and black; other colours were later added.{{r|apa}}
== Characteristics ==
The most distinctive feature of the Cochin is the excessive plumage that covers leg and foot. The skin beneath the feathers is yellow.{{cn|date=January 2025}}
In the United Kingdom the recognised [[list of chicken colours|colour varieties]], for large fowl only, are black, blue, buff, cuckoo, partridge and grouse, and white;{{r|roberts|page=90–93}} Cochin bantams are not recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain.{{r|roberts|page=89}} However, the [[Entente Européenne]] treats the [[Pekin Bantam]] as equivalent to the bantam Cochin. The [[Entente Européenne]] lists the same nine colours for large fowl, and twenty-four for the bantam; any of the bantam varieties may be [[Frizzle (chicken plumage)|frizzled]], with the feathers curling outwards.{{r|ee}} 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.{{r|apa}}
== Use ==
The Cochin has been bred principally for [[poultry show|exhibition]], at the expense of productive characteristics.{{r|roberts|page=89}} It is a good layer of very large tinted eggs, and lays well in winter.{{r|roberts|page=89|albc}} The hens are good [[broodiness|sitters]] and good mothers, and may be used to hatch the eggs of turkeys and ducks.{{r|albc}} The meat tends to be coarse in texture and excessively dark; [[capon]]s slaughtered at an age of 12–16 months provide a good large table bird.{{r|albc}}
== Gallery == <gallery mode=packed heights=160px style="text-align:left; font-size:94%"> File:Poule cochin blanche.jpg|White hen File:Blue Cochin hen.jpg|Blue hen File:Cochin NIK 3029 (cropped).JPG|Buff cock File:Henne charlottenburger ziegenhof berlin (cropped).png|Partridge bantam hen File:Poule Cochin noir (1).jpg|Black cock </gallery>
== References == {{commonscat}} {{reflist|45em|refs=
<ref name=albc>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161003121357/http://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/cochin Cochin Chicken] The Livestock Conservancy. Archived 3 October 2016.</ref>
<ref name=apa>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171104135004/http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/PDF%20Forms/APA%20Recognized%20Breeds%20and%20Varieties%20Sept2012.pdf APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012]. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.</ref>
<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>
<ref name=ee>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130616062803/http://www.entente-ee.com/deutsch/sparten/gefluegel/dateien/2013/Verzeichnis%20R%20F%2028042013.xls Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013)]. Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.</ref>
<ref name=ekarius>Carol Ekarius (2007). [https://archive.org/details/Storeys_Illustrated_Guide_to_Poultry_Breeds_Complete/mode/1up ''Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds'']. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. {{isbn|9781580176675}}.</ref>
<ref name=pcgb>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143235/http://www.poultryclub.org/img/Breed%20Classification.pdf Breed Classification]. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.</ref>
<ref name=roberts>Victoria Roberts (2008). [https://books.google.it/books?id=nAfyUHY42u0C&hl=en ''British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain'']. Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN|9781405156424}}.</ref>
<ref name=smith>{{cite book |title=The Chicken Book |last=Smith |first=Page |author2=Charles Daniels |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8203-2213-1 |publisher=University of Georgia Press }}</ref>
<ref name=teget>William Bernhard Tegetmeier (editor) (1865). [https://archive.org/stream/standardexcelle00tegegoog#page/n4/mode/2up ''The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry, authorized by the Poultry Club'']. London: Groombridge and Sons, for the Poultry Club.</ref>
<ref name=tlc>[https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/conservation-priority-list#Chickens Heritage Poultry Breeds: Chickens]. Pittsboro, North Carolina: The Livestock Conservancy. Accessed July 2020.</ref>
}}
{{bots|deny=Citation bot}} [[Category:Chicken breeds]] [[Category:Chicken breeds originating in China]] [[Category:Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist]]