Talking Chicken and Champion Cochins with Craig Hansen

Join us on the Poultry Nerds Podcast as we sit down with Craig Hansen, one of the most respected names in the Cochin world. From his start in 4-H projects to breeding award-winning varieties like Silver Laced and Buff Columbians, Craig shares his journey, breeding strategies, and passion for preserving poultry genetics. We dive into show preparation, artificial insemination for fertility, predator challenges, and what it really takes to raise high-quality exhibition chickens.

Whether you’re a seasoned breeder or backyard poultry keeper, this episode is packed with insights on chicken breeding, poultry shows, and the dedication behind raising top-quality flocks.

Keywords: bantam Cochin chickens, poultry breeding, chicken shows, exhibition poultry, artificial insemination in chickens, poultry genetics, raising bantam chickens, Craig Hansen

Transcript

Jennifer: 0:23

welcome poultry nerds. We have a special guest for you guys today. If you don't already follow him, you'll want to after this, the infamous, the most popular Mr. Craig Hansen. I have been following you for years and you actually helped me get started with coachings. You probably don't remember, but you did.

Craig: 0:47

Wow.

Jennifer: 0:48

A long time ago. So how are you doing?

Craig: 0:54

I'm doing good. It's sunny and humid, so I'm staying inside. I cleaned all the waters today and birds are fine with fans running so.

Jennifer: 1:04

Yeah,

Craig: 1:04

I'm available for your whatever time you need.

Jennifer: 1:07

Alright, sounds good. Why don't you just tell everybody and just in case they don't know who you are, tell us a bit about yourself.

Craig: 1:16

Okay. My name's Craig Hansen. I have Banham Shins. I breed and exhibit them. And all of this started because they were my daughter's four H project. Her, I got three daughters and the oldest one showed cattle and hogs and the next one had hedgehogs and the last one had rabbits. And I had a pair of bras and it was time to decide what to show one year and. Can I show those at the fair? Yeah. And a stray dog came through and killed them. Next thing you know, we're at the state fair looking at Champion Row, and my daughter saw a black hin that was stunning. Later that year I bought two pairs of, black ions from Mark Peterson. That is almost every bird I've got out there in black still carries that bloodline. I've made out crosses, but it's it started there back about 2010. And every kid in four H, they age out. And when she was done with four H I decided that I was gonna keep the birds and they became my retirement project. I can thank my daughter and I can thank Mark Peterson getting me started. I've got. Ians in black. Colombian Buff Colombian, silver laced, gold laced, silver penciled and partridge. I got a couple blues, but they're going away. They mess up my genetics. It's just a, it's a hobby. The way I do it, it's a hobby. It can't be anything more. And every morning I wake up way before my wife, so I sit down and, write my thoughts on my coaching page called Craig's Chens, and it's just it's a hobby. It keeps me busy and met some of the nicest people in the world that through this as well. Couple of jerks, but most of them are pretty darn nice.

Jennifer: 3:31

I know that you go to several shows during the year, but you're willing to travel far to go to shows?

Craig: 3:38

Once a year I try to make an last year I went to the Kohan National out and, new York Jamie Matt's club show and it was a Kohan national. The farthest west I've traveled is Utah a couple times. First time during COVID, and the second time they were hosting a Kohan National out there. Yeah, I've put a few miles on and, probably a hundred thousand. Oh, yes. And I don't travel quite as far as I used to because my travel partner moved to Indiana. It's all by myself now, most of the time. This year, the farthest I've gone was Oklahoma City. I'm hoping to. Make red stick or Shawnee in December, but after, before that, the farthest one I probably will attend is Ohio National, which is 10 hour drive.

Jennifer: 4:33

You're in Iowa, right?

Craig: 4:34

Yes. Okay. I'm in Iowa.

Jennifer: 4:37

Of your varieties, which one is your favorite?

Craig: 4:41

Silver laced.

Jennifer: 4:44

Okay. Why?

Craig: 4:47

Partly the person that gave me my first one anime Carlson met me in 2011 at crossroads. She and John were there and, that fall, I wasn't a member of any club back then. Eastern Iowa Alt Tree Association had the Kohan National 25 miles from my house. I didn't. Wow. I had Colombians and I'd brought a Colombian to a black and it turned out to be. The best burin of the show and there were other exhibitors. Nana May had a pretty nice cock bird in the sail area that didn't sell. When the show was over, she gave me that burin mail, which I used for a while, and the next year she gave me a. A silver laced pull that kinda looked like a feather legged w.it was, it was beautiful. Ah I've got pictures of it someplace. And something about that bird. The contrast, black and white and great personality. I've been working with them since 2012 and they've gotten a little better. And I've, I, I keep learning a little something every year. I don't know.

Jennifer: 6:15

And then your, the ones that give you the most trouble are which variety?

Craig: 6:22

Define trouble because one of my favorite varieties is buff Colombian, but I've had fertility issues with those. The silver pencil laid two months later than everything else this year. It is hard to compare them with the other birds for type and other things as we're watching them grow. It's just I don't know. It, there's no real trouble'cause I don't keep the real trouble. At least not for long. There's always somebody looking for a good bird, even with a bad personality. And I try to describe all my birds as grandkids safe. Because I got a 4-year-old grandson that likes to go through the chicken house with me and yeah, just it's no fun bleeding just to walk through the chicken house. And that's, those birds don't stay.

Jennifer: 7:15

No. And there's no reason to keep a mean B bird? No. No. So one of the things that people probably ask you the most is U ai, all of your birds, right?

Craig: 7:29

Almost all of them. Yes.

Jennifer: 7:31

So can you explain to us why you chose to do that?

Craig: 7:35

Because I can. I can make individual matings and still have a pen of six hens together instead of single caged or flock mating and it also keeps the feathers in good condition. I can breed and show the birds at the same time. Where with koshin being a soft feather, bird and fertility's awful. If you don't on, on a. High quality show bird. If you don't either pluck or trim your fertility can be as low as zero. I remember the first year we hatched 30 some birds and we thought we knew how to breed well. Little did I realize one was going into malt and one was coming outta malt, and we got. Lots of chicks. The next year I was probably 50 50 eggs in with non fertile, and it opened my eyes to either you want fertility and it is, it's the only way I can do raise quality birds and show the same birds at the same time.

Jennifer: 9:14

And you're pretty open on how to do the ai, so if somebody is interested in that, they can just search your name and the AI on your page and find videos. Sure. You've done it several times. I know.

Craig: 9:28

I've done it at shows. People ask me and it's sure. And I just go over and grab one of my boys and they can't believe it's 15, 20 seconds. And. It's done.

Jennifer: 9:43

So you keep all of your girls in pens. Do you keep your boys like up in cages? Is that how you separate

Craig: 9:50

often? Yes. Okay. But I don't do anything all the time. Flexible and I'm reading the current conditions and adjusting seasonally because I only had 49 breeders. That's all I needed and all those varieties'cause two males, three, four females, and I'm, I'm in pretty good shape.

Jennifer: 10:19

And it's a hobby.

Craig: 10:20

You're enjoying it. Absolutely. But I still buy 1200 pounds of feed at a time. Because while I only had 49 breeders, I probably had 300 chicks. And I donated four dozen eggs to Polk County, four H and all those were hashed in science classrooms and school system. And then they went to the county four H. And I donated over four dozen chicks this year to four H kids in the area. Actually some came up from Missouri, but four H is how I got started, even though I wasn't in four H.

Jennifer: 10:59

Yeah. And

Craig: 11:01

our Eastern Iowa Poultry Association. Puts on a a seminar each year just trying to teach the parents and the kids the same stuff. About breeding, about how to wash a bird. We've modified it a little and we do it every year.

Jennifer: 11:22

Hi Carrie.

Craig: 11:25

Good afternoon. How are y'all?

Jennifer: 11:27

We're good. We're talking about the birds. Have background noise.

Carey: 11:34

Couldn't imagine.

Jennifer: 11:35

Yeah. All right. We'll have to mute it till you're ready to say something. All right. So Mr. Hanson, tell us when you're picking out a bird, like what are you looking at as far as type is concerned?

Craig: 11:52

First thing I do is I'm looking for disqualifications before I even. Get how do I say this? I'm picky, but with some of these varieties, they're project varieties. I might keep some for type and some for pattern though I'm getting closer on pattern on some, but, because Fox pretty much wiped me out and Colombians a few years back. Mike Sayer, Brian Hel gave me some birds and Deb, Don down in Georgia sent me some eggs and I've been trying to rebuild my Colombians back to where they used to be. They were pretty nice once upon a time. So with those, I'm keeping the iest females and I kept an over marked male because he had the best type and I got a few females, but all of them were over marked. And I'm gonna keep a few of'em anyway'cause it's easier to have too little pattern than too much on those, I really don't know how to answer that. I look at type black's taught me type because you can look at a burden, it's got a shape. It's and heads are the first thing I look at, but they're possibly much less important than making sure they've got a good keel or. Foot color or short, strong wings instead of a C. That makes it almost look like a split wing, even though it's not.

Jennifer: 13:24

So maybe it's a better question to ask. What won't you tolerate in your flock? What's the first things to go o

Craig: 13:31

side? Sprigs.

Jennifer: 13:34

Okay.

Craig: 13:35

And of course they don't show up till you've fed'em for five or six months. That's about the time the comb starts turning red is when, and they're really developing. We found a couple of them not too long ago in my golden laced Frizzles. Not proud of that, but. It's something breeding away from, and I am looking at the females anymore because we're not breeding males with side sprigs. It makes me think that it, we're passing it on with the females and I'm looking at the back end of the comb. Ands. I'm trying to eliminate the birds with the fat, back end of the comb where, and it's not a side sprig, but it's not, it flares out a little. And it's, we're talking minimal, but it's when I've got enough to go through, I I set those aside and. I've had'em win, but I don't like'em.

Jennifer: 14:37

Okay. I can see that. So we've got bad attitudes on the list and side spray. So those are dqs anyway do you have any trouble with skin color?

Craig: 14:48

With what?

Jennifer: 14:49

Skin color? Foot color.

Craig: 14:52

I really. No, because they probably on hens because once they start laying foot, color goes away. The males, if they got cracked corn, they'll either have yellow feet or they're genetically wrong. And, it's not what you have, it's what you keep. That's, I don't know how sometimes you

Carey: 15:15

keep too many,

Jennifer: 15:17

keep too many.

Carey: 15:19

Sometimes,

Jennifer: 15:20

so it, that was interesting. I didn't know that the hens could lose their color when they start to lay.

Craig: 15:26

Yes, absolutely. Is it from like a plate

Jennifer: 15:29

color? That's

Craig: 15:31

it. Like the yoke color. The more they lay the it can go from a bright yellow down to, you might just see a little on the shanks or something. They're not. And. Too much lime on the ground doesn't help either.

Jennifer: 15:50

Does it change during the molt? Does it come I honestly

Craig: 15:54

don't know because during mold I leave'em alone. That's, I. I get, I've got enough of'em. I just, when they're in malt, they just get to be natural. And I don't know what, I don't have an answer.

Jennifer: 16:14

So during the malt, you leave your birds alone, you don't handle them.

Craig: 16:19

Say that again. I've got poor hearing.

Jennifer: 16:22

During the molt, you leave them alone. You don't handle them. Not

Craig: 16:26

much. Just to check condition, but koshin are so calm anyway. I think people are surprised when they see me walk in and just pick up a bird.

Jennifer: 16:36

They are very calm.

Craig: 16:38

Some. Some I chase at night too.

Jennifer: 16:43

Okay. The girls are calm. We'll go with that one. Oh

Craig: 16:46

yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. That's a fact.

Jennifer: 16:51

So you, just to be clear, she don't get inundated with messages. You don't sell or ship eggs and birds

Craig: 17:00

ne Almost never. I've, sent eggs to other breeders, but that's not, and they've shipped them to me during COVID. And during ai, when we were concerned that one flock if AI hit somebody's flock we'd lose all the genetics. So we'd, I sent some eggs to Montana. They sent some to me. Only one egg hatched out of that the best silver lace ro I've ever had in the place till maybe this year. We've networked a little with trying to keep some of these rare varieties of quality and in the public eye. If that makes. Because while I show six different varieties or seven, only one's got a chance of winning. And that's my blacks. I've had when I had blues seven, eight years ago, I could win a show with those and I did. I won the Iowa State Fair with those, but I didn't enjoy'em. And winning. I don't even know what to do with trophies and plaques anymore. It's just they're piled up.

Jennifer: 18:22

Must be a good problem to have. Yeah.

Craig: 18:26

Yeah. And, I don't know, and I'm never gonna get to any of the grant. Lifetime achievement things. I didn't start this young enough. I was in my upper fifties when I did that. So it's I don't know, just enjoying it. And some of the people that I've. Started, or they were seniors in high school this year. They've done well in their own states and I dunno, I'm not, as, I'm protective of try to make sure stuff goes to breeders, breeder exhibitors as much as possible. And, no, I never sell eggs. I think I had an auction one time and it went way beyond what I thought was reasonable and I decided I wouldn't do that again. And especially when post office in California pretty well screwed him up. I don't know. Okay. Because I packed them as well as you could possibly pack'em, and it was iffy.

Jennifer: 19:30

It happens.

Craig: 19:32

When AI hit some of the state's borders closed to people who didn't have AI in certified flocks, and I just chose to not deal with any of that. It's wasn't wasn't something I wanted to deal with.

Jennifer: 19:52

The varieties you're passionate about because you don't want'em to die out, but your blacks are your favorite. Am I getting that correct?

Craig: 20:01

Oh, blacks are my best. They're not my favorites.

Jennifer: 20:05

They're okay. The silver penciled are your favorite?

Craig: 20:09

No silver laced are my favorites. Okay. And golden laced. It seemed to catch more people's eyes, and I am like, but they don't have as much type. And it's all, and once again, there's a variety that friends have helped me rebuild because it was either a mink or weasel wiped out the stuff about four years ago. And that was the last thing killed in that building because I A four H family over in the next county over came and got it and I had the Amish build me a new shed and it's weather tight and I haven't lost the burden either one of my outbuildings yet. My main building is a little that's insulated so I can keep the water thaw in the winter and. I care for'em.

Jennifer: 21:02

Yeah, it's practicality. Makes stuff more enjoyable too. Oh gosh.

Craig: 21:08

I've gone to auto feeders auto waterers just where a neighbor can come in and in 10 minutes the birds get their basic. Okay. Stuff to keep'em healthy until I come back. Yeah, it's all,

Jennifer: 21:26

so when you're selecting, when you're selecting birds, are you pulling the ones you don't like out and getting rid of them? Or are you pulling your favorites out to

Craig: 21:38

really look

Jennifer: 21:39

at

Craig: 21:39

them? Both. Because there's some of those tweeners that are only three weeks behind, and it's amazing how much, if you give'em another three weeks they can bloom width, or it, when I had from January and I was done before the end of March. This year. And while that tight window the birds vary a lot in size and condition, finish throughout that, those groups. So yeah, the most I can do is keep two weeks of hatch together.

Jennifer: 22:21

That is a hard thing for me to do. I have Orpingtons now and I hatch. Probably for four months different matings this year. And it is frustrating to go out there and you've got little ones and then you've got these bigger, more mature ones and you, it's really hard to not force yourself not to compare the two sizes, age groups.

Craig: 22:50

The only thing that happens with most of those is I keep feeding them until they prove there. Not going to make it. Whether it's failure to thrive or split wing or something that will make them. Not something you ever want to be known for letting somebody else have. I just keep feeding them. That's why I buy so much feed.

Jennifer: 23:17

We're not gonna talk about feed, how much feed we go through.

Craig: 23:21

Not

Carey: 23:22

doing it.

Craig: 23:24

I've got a mill about 65 miles from me that lets me cut the middlemen out so it, it takes a little time, but it saves me some money.

Jennifer: 23:34

Yeah. You're not gonna get rich doing this and it is a hobby.

Craig: 23:38

Oh, it, I could maybe make money, but then I'd have to do it in a way that I wouldn't enjoy.

Jennifer: 23:44

Is there anything else you would like people to know to keep them interested in Bantam coachings?

Craig: 23:50

Or shows. I've got my page, Craigs and I try to answer questions and that's on Facebook. I don't have a website. I'm not trying to be commercial. I can sell everything that I think's worth selling without. Advertising just some of the pet stuff, but I dunno. People don't understand how much money we have invested in our flocks. I know people think what we ask is a lot, sometimes, and I think I have close to$15 in every chick that I hatch. Whether it's we talk, feed, bill if we split the three buildings over that I built just for poultry over the number of birds I'm too small to, it puts a whole lot of money on each bird that we hatch. I'm not, anytime I see a bird that I think could help my flock. I'll offer to buy it. And if it, they say yes I pay what it costs. And if they say no I'm okay with that too. I just hope they're gonna breed it if I can't. And yeah, it's just my big biggest problems over the years have been predators. And the building in 2012 because of predators building in 2000. 22 or 21 because of predators. The one last year because the one I built before was half the size of the previous one. And so I needed another one for grow outs that as I cut back on varieties over the years as I was getting closer to this winding down of my hobby. I I've been working with some of this stuff again that I enjoy, but it's takes a lot of space.

Jennifer: 25:52

Yes. This is a space hogging hobby.

Craig: 25:57

Oh, yes. It takes a while just to move all the compost over the, that I take, takes a good size tractor to move it all.

Jennifer: 26:07

Yep. We have mount more here. I've never thought of it that way, but yes, that's,

Craig: 26:15

You till it into the garden. You spread it on the pasture, you spread it on the hay ground, you do little of everything.

Carey: 26:21

And

Craig: 26:22

and it's not a big pasture and it's not a whole lot of hay ground, but.

Jennifer: 26:26

And you're constantly cleaning. It's always dirty. Everything in the poultry house.

Craig: 26:31

Correct. And I do run a filter in the winter trying to keep the suspended particles out of the air because of asthma. Which not the best hobby for a man, but with asthma. But I love it. It's, it gets me out of the chair multiple times a day. And we haven't bought an egg in years. Even ban'em, ko and eggs, they're not prolific, they'll lay for four or five years. A really good one. You keep'em and freedom. But anyway,

Jennifer: 27:02

They are cute little things.

Craig: 27:05

I like'em. So anyway thank you for having me.

Jennifer: 27:09

Oh, thank you for coming on and talking about'em. We enjoyed it.

Craig: 27:12

Yeah, I've enjoyed hearing about'em. There's all sorts of pictures on my pages too people can ask. Just you guys have a great day.

Jennifer: 27:22

All right, you too. Bye.