***Crevecoeur Thread***

[chicken boy sam]

Looked at the breed list and it wasn't there!!!!!!! I thought we needed this thread in order to promote and protect this beautiful crested breed that deserves to be noticed. I never realized how rare they are! I went to the Eastern States National and there wasn't ONE there!!!! Share your pictures, tell about your Crevies, and just discuss the breed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crevecoeur Info!!!:

My Pet Chicken
McMurray Hatchery
Feathersite
Polish Breeders Club, Includes Crevecoeur
Backyard Chickens
Article On Houdans&Crevecoeur
ALBC
APA STANDARD: Large Fowl: Text - 152-153, Picture - 164 Bantam: Text - 273 Picture - None
APA STANDARD: Page 2, Post #15, Thank you Boggy Bottom Bantams!
OTHER BREEDS RELATED TO/CLOSE TO CREVIES: Page 20,Post #196, Includes pics of other breeds and map.posted by Exop... Thanks!!!
IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE, PM ME!!!!!!

Colors!!!
Black, although Blue and white in other countries

The other colors were "created" during the Victorian poultry craze of the late 1800s, by crossing with Polish. This was during the same time period when the Crèvecoeur (the normal black version) was a major eating fowl in France ... and was considerably larger than it is today. The color variants were never really widespread. There are also some closely related breeds (Merlerault, Caumont, Pavilly) all black, from other parts of Normandy, which share some of its features (the Merlerault is similar to a Crèvecoeur without a beard). As far as I know none of them were ever imported into the US. (Thank you exop for that last blurb

)


Breeders!!!
Boggy Bottom Bantams- Very tame birds- Bearded Crevecoeur Bantams (One of the only breeders!) Available

Rare Feathers Farm- Birds that are a joy to be around- Standard, SQ Crevecoeur Many egg auctions up!!!

Exop- Large Fowl SQ Crevecoeur- Indiana- In spring eggs and started birds available!!!

If you're a breeder, PM me, and I'll add you to the list with what kind you breed and what you sell!!!
Also, I only have "active" breeders on the list... If I took your name off of the list, then it means I haven't heard from you in awhile!!!


I only have one Crevie......she lays a white egg just about every day.....
Here's a picture of her, her name is Jet (I'll get some more later):

 

[CreveChris]

Cati the Daddy is our top cockerel at present and he is so sweet if not a bit overly bonded. He comes to fetch me when I stray too far from the flock and loves to be picked up. Here he is strutting his stuff. (I'm addicted to making Crèvecœur music videos, sorry not sorry.)

 

[333113]

Take a look at Jeannette Beranger's Crevecoeur Project for the Livestock Conservancy on Facebook for a serious discussion of the Crevecoeur standard. I have had Crevecoeurs since 1997, derived from Murray McMurray stock, which was a lot closer then to the real Crevecoeur type than they are now. I agree that they are now smaller and more like Polish type.

A lot of people think that Crevecoeurs and black Polish look alike and have mixed them accordingly. Crevecoeurs are large, big-breasted birds who were originally raised for their fine meat qualities (short fibers = tender meat). Even the APA (American Poultry Association) acknowledges this difference: the Crevecoeur roo should be 8 pounds, hen 6-1/2 pounds; the Polish (including black) roo should be 6 pounds, the hen 4-1/2 pounds.

Now that we know more about the DNA of chickens, we know that at least all the crested birds tested, which include Crevecoeurs, Polish, and Sultans, share the DNA that causes their crests. So, that will _not_ be a difference between crested breeds based only on the crest. IMHO, if a crested breed does not have a full crest, they have been cross-bred with a breed that does not have a crest.

A standard for Crevecoeurs was established by the American Poultry Association (APA) in 1874. HOWEVER, it does NOT match the French or other European standards for Crevecoeurs, in that the APA standard calls for red earlobes, as opposed to white earlobes for the European standards. Note that most APA breeds that have red earlobes have brown eggs, and most APA breeds with white earlobes have white eggs. The Crevecoeurs have always had white eggs, so logic would suggest that they would have white earlobes.

My presumption is that the early American poultry wars (and oh my gosh it was just that, a marketing war to put certain birds and certain eggs on the American table) made it more difficult for the Crevecoeur to compete. Crevecoeurs in Europe always had white earlobes and laid white eggs; it would take a big effort to breed Crevecoeurs to a standard with red earlobes and also white eggs. Thankfully (and probably unbeknownst to people in that period of time) the genetics of earlobe color and the genetics of egg color are not linked. So it was not as difficult as the marketers anticipated to change Crevecoeurs to the "right" red earlobe color, even if it was a superficial and silly change. But, by then, most production layers were not Crevecoeurs.

Let me say, too, that Crevecoeurs have tender meat and white skin. Marketing in the early part of the 20th century led people to believe that yellow skin was healthier. So, Americans were cheated out of better-tasting, more tender chicken by marketers who sold the yellow-skinned chicken as a better choice. On the meat side, the marketing focused on having yellow skin, something not readily achieved by Crevecoeur breeders. So, unfortunately, the American public was denied the tender, flavorful meat of the Crevecoeurs, and instead had to make do with chicken that was surrounded by yellow skin, and fat.

Sadly, the APA does not share their standard openly, and as a life member of the APA I want to honor that commitment. But, as I have told several past APA presidents, I think this is a mistake. The ABA (American Bantam Association) shares their standard with the world. I strongly believe that this has been a main cause of the commitment of new breeders to the ABA standards. I wish that the APA would see things the same way.

I've got a few Creves from McMurray but two of my girls are built more like polish so far. It's probably going to take a year or two to breed to standard. Speaking of, anyone have a good link to what's the standard for Creves?

PS- these kiddos are something like 14-15 weeks!

View attachment 1838389 View attachment 1838390 View attachment 1838391 View attachment 1838392

 

[minus10gmt]

This is all fascinating info. Thank you very much @ConnieA - I know that, at 10 days old these birds are going to evolve a lot and I'm just too excited, like watching a pot boil. And when you mix in the fascinating history, and the fact that there are actual "poultry historians" (wow!), I appreciate these little survivors more every day. I'll post back here or DM you and update at some point!

 

[333113]

Crevecoeurs do exhibit single combs from time to time, but much more often they have a "leaf comb," which is a combination of a horned comb and a single comb. So, you could be seeing a single comb, but I wonder if you are seeing a leaf comb on your chickie.
I am attaching a photo of one of my Crevecoeur roosters with a leaf comb.

I am also attaching an article from SPPA on Feathersite.com which discusses the leaf comb and some of the other Crevecoeur history and features you might find interesting:
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGD/Houdan/HoudanCrev.html
Hope this helps!

 

[atmaclean]

I’ve got some crevecoeur eggs on the way and am so very excited to get them. I’m hoping the eggs will not be too damaged in the shipping. Hope to set them mid week.

 

[Mama_in_the_Dell]

Could this little one be a Crevecoeur? Does he look like your chicks?

 

[SharW75]

Crevies are so rare even a cockerel may be worth keeping

Oh yes, pullet or cockerel, we're keeping it! I just always hope for eggs.

 

[Zuramir]

Breaks my heart too! Re-homing birds is not easy on the emotions!

I don't care what anyone says -- but in my 9 years of backyard chickens I've found that alike breeds do bond better with each other -- I have two Dominique hens that were babies together and as 3-yr-old adults they're always toodling around close to each other. It was the same when I had two Silkies together -- they toodled around together away from the other hens. A single breed without a matching breed as a companion in the backyard flock is practically an outcast. Some standard size breeds like Leghorns, Barred Rocks, Breda, or Rhode Islands don't seem to mind being loners but toss in an alike breed like themselves and it changes the dynamic -- they pal together. I've watched videos of different breeds and when they settled down for mid-day snoozing it was interesting how most of the alike breeds huddled in their own little group.

Your birdies are so adorable!

Thank you my crevs will stay together no matter what. I will definitely miss them so much if it comes to rehoming. But they do belong together

 

[kmbxrf]

Alice