Houdans

[Chambertin]

All my peepers are mixed or I would love to help tracking.
The Houdans I had were born with the blue or greenish blue eyes and they changed to yellow once puberty started in.

 

[Tricoglossus]

I got three chicks last week. Two of them are about 3 months old, the other is about 2 months old. I am hoping for pullets! The older two are pictured below.

Chick 1:



Chick 1 on left, chick 2 on right: (note that chick 2 burnt its crest on a heat lamp before I got it, so some of the tips of the feathers are not as long as they should be)









Here the younger chick is on the perch and chick 1 is standing next to it

 

[Chambertin]

Looks beautiful and I dont see anything that screams Roo, but I'm used to my birds who have much larger combs.
Have fun watching them grow up and have fun with the egg wait!

 

[DuckiesGarden]

Has anyone tried crossing mottled houdans with anconas? I recently got a new batch of chicks and unfortunately I lost 2 out of 3 of the houdans the first and second day after I got them and I'm probably not going to be able to get any more (I've hit my chicken limit for awhile! I already had a full grown flock of 8, just added 24 new ones, and my 2 dutch banty hens are sitting on two clutches of eggs, so there's more coming I'm sure!) So anyway I'm wondering if I could cross that 1 houdan with my anconas (when everyones grown of course) and get some chicks that still resemble the houdan (having a crest and whiskers on it's face)but maybe lay a larger egg? This is assuming that the houdan is going to be a roo since all my anconas are female. Any ideas on the outcome or pics from someone whos already tried this? Thanks!!!

 

[draye]

Quote:
I'd give it a try could always cull if you don't like what you get.

 

[DuckiesGarden]

Oh I'll definitely give it a go when they get of age. I don't like to cull females tho, only extra roosters for the freezer (My chickens have turned into pets whether they should be or not! ) I'm hoping that because the two are similar in coloring and egg color that those traits will come through in the chicks. Now if I can get a hen that looks like a houdan but lay the larger eggs of the anconas I'd really be happy. But I don't know enough about genetics to figure out how to get that!

 

[Kassaundra]

I don't know how many remember my hooda girls, but I hatched some of thier eggs this spring. I haven't posted pics here b/c they (the hoodas) are mixes, and the offspring are really mixes so at most the chickie doos would be 1/4 houdan. But anyway my hooda's do not have perfect houdan feet both have on 5 toed foot and one regular toed foot, anyway at least one of the offspring has great 5 toed feet bilaterally!

 

[exop]

DuckiesGarden,

I have a better solution for you!

I am in Williamsport, Indiana (that's not far from Lafayette) and I have 30 (yes, really) four week old Mottled Houdans. Promising, healthy birds and I cannot keep all of them. Should be sexable soon, within the next week or three. If you want one or two or three Houdans I am right here! PM me and we can talk. I do get around the state a bit and maybe we could meet up somewhere, or a passing friend / relative could act as courier. Older chicks like these no longer need a constant heat lamp so that makes things easier.

Were yours part of a McMurray order? I ask because of the problems with mortality. It seems like McMurray needs to put in a little work on the vitality of their Houdan line.

This new lot of chicks are from Cackle, who in my opinion have some of the best Houdans in the country right now, for size and type, thanks to some additions to their flock in 2006, that's after the University of Arkansas breedng program got their starter Houdans from Cackle.

Several other hatcheries have some questionable birds.

McMurray's may well be very pure, but show some signs of inbreeding including deformed beaks and sickliness. I tried some in 2007 and things have only gotten worse since then. Privett / Welp has posted photos of their Houdans, which was thoughtful of them:
...Hmmm.

Please, please don't anyone cross breed the Houdan to anything else. If we want to improve the breed we have got to avoid any further dilution of it. If large eggs are a concern of yours, the chicks from Cackle might be a solution for you as my order included some honking great chicks which must have hatched out of decent sized eggs.

PS. A note for the worriers: glancing over this thread just now, I have been very depressed with the amount of talk there has been about crossing the Houdan to the Dorking to "improve" it.

There is NO evidence to suggest that the Houdan arose out of a Dorking cross. This idea sprung up somewhere around 1890 - 1900 after people had gotten used to the idea of a finite number of chicken breeds, each with distinct traits and no crossover. But there is nothing to back it up, and all the Houdan traits can be accounted for without looking outside France. (There are a lot of French regional breeds. For example the Gournay is another mottled breed, there was an article in Backyard Poultry magazine this spring).

Best - exop

 

[DuckiesGarden]

Yes mine were from mcmurray! I also had problems with the faverolles I got from them! I would LOVE to get a few houdans from you but my husband said no more chickens! I might be able to sneak around that though, i'll have to think on how to do it! Could you let me know how much you want for a couple and how far you could drive? I'm near clay city, southeast of terre haute.Sure do appreciate it! I'd love to be able to breed them true to form instead of crossbreeding.If I can't figure out a way to sneak them could I get in touch with you later on? you're the closest i've found and I sure won't be going thru anymore hatcheries! (I don't know how to pm, you'll have to let me know!)

 

[Cynthia12]

Well, I did it. I got me some cute little Houdans. Man, they are cute babies. Can't wait to see what the two I picked out to keep will look like. Love those sweet little faces! Who can tell me what in the world that one chick is? With the cute circles around it's eyes. Right up front.