AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hello I am very new to the whole poultry world and I noticed on goggle there is pekin bantams and cochins bantams and they both look the same can anyone please explain the difference. any guidance is much appreciated.

Hi Manuff,
It is a difficult question if you are as you say new and/or inexperienced.
The differences are subtle and your confusion is very understandable.
Many have the same dilemma, it is not unique to you.
The Pekin is a separate breed and one that is classified as a true bantam ie one with no standard counterpart, like Belgium, Rosecomb and Japanese bantams.
The cochin is a bantamised breed of the Cochin standard breed.
The pekin is a little looser and more profuse in feathering and it's stance is slightly different being lower in front and showing very little or no daylight underneath, it stands with it's head slightly lower than the tail.
The Cochin as a breed is heavily feathered but not as loose, a little tighter and close to the body, it's stance is a little more upright with the head carried level with or above the level of the tail.It's stance allows some daylight underneath, it does not stand quite as low to the ground.
They share many similar characteristics and at first glance you could well be forgiven for assuming they were 2 different sized versions of the same breed.
I guess the best parallel would be Rosecomb bantams and and Hamburg standard fowls.To new breeders it would be normal to assume that black Rosecombs and black hamburgs were also the 2 sizes of the same breed.
Generally/traditionally Cochins come in a selection of colours that are not common in Pekins ie the laced silver and golds and some other colours.Like wise Hamburgs come in some colours that are not seen in Rosecombs ie the pencilled and spangled varieties in silver and gold.There are also Hamburg bantams that are in these colours and are a seperate breed to Rosecomb bantams.
I hope I have been able to make it a little clearer, you can be forgiven for your confusion, it is a common mistake until you get deeper into the subject and learn the subtle differences between breeds and varieties.
Here endeth your first lesson in poultry, you have googled them now study pictures of each breed and see for yourself the slightly different feathering and stance, that will be the best teacher and once you recognise these differences for yourself you will not make the mistake in future.
Good luck.

That has made it a lot clearer I really appreciate the effort you took to explain it thank you

That is really good info Oaklands



LooLoo

Cochins are quite a bit bigger than pekins aren't they?

Verity,
Without the standard weights before me to make a comparison I can only assume you would be correct.
The Standard Cochin is a very big fowl and think that the rule of thumb for bantams being 1/5th the size of the standard breed would make the cochin bantam bigger than a normally accepted Pekin.
Because of the stance and carriage they certainly would appear bigger, without putting them on a scale to find out.

I have found it hard to work out which is which so I just assumed they were pekins here and cochins overseas

Once you have cochins you will be able to tell the difference especially in size and stance

i likes the pekins but my favrite is silky but i like to have my pekins and i can get some cochrins some times

Cichins are bigger and heavier than pekins and the best way is to see them together I will try to put some pictures to show you