Houdans

[BlueBirdChick]

I have a question I know the two chicks that I have are Houdans but Im not sure if they are pure though because they don't have that crest .. I got the eggs off ebay and the guy said he has some but the could be mixes though.. Here are their pictuers I think one is a girl and the other?????

not the worlds greatest photo the one has some yellow going white feathers and the other does have a crest thing going they are almost a month old

 

[nova7353]

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i would say no one has black legs mine never did. and they had crests as chicks to

 

[CrestedGirl]

Thats was your roo Josh, wow! He his very Beautiful, Congrats.

 

[Mofarmgirl]

Pretty roo Josh. I sure hope we can increase the size in these guys. Bluebirdchick..I would say they aren't pure. The should have crests andwhite legs with black spots. Cute though!

 

[BlueBirdChick]

cool thank you

yeah they do have quite the personalities though lol i think the one with the more yellow on its face is a girl and shes spunky Im like cool my parents love them both and Im probably gonna take them down with along of my other chickens.

 

[josh44]

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I am breeding My LF Houdans down to Bantam size

 

[BlueBirdChick]

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I am breeding My LF Houdans down to Bantam size

awesome

 

[corn pecker]

Just a little update on our Houdans. We ordered 2 roos and 3 hens. They are all alive but two of the five have crossed beaks that are getting worse. We will be calling the hachery tomorrow to let them know, does anyone know if you can do any thing about this or should they be culled?

 

[Mofarmgirl]

You know as I've been digging for more info on Houdans, it seems cross beaks are one of the more common problems. I never had this issue in all the ears that I've raised chickens, but after checking out some new babies, I discovered that a couple of them have it as well. Its not severe, in fact so subtle that I really had to look closely to see it. I'm so disappointed because apparently it's hereditary. Sometimes there's hidden genes that you will only be aware of after hatching from your birds for a while. Some people have said that they had chicks with cross beak that did okay but most eventually die from not being able to eat properly. I will most likely cull but that's an individual choice. You can always see how they do in time.
I have to say between this issue, low hatchability rates, and the lack of better stock, I may leave this breed to those with more resources. I think it will call for importing European stock.
I read somewhere here on byc that even places like Sandhill are having cross beak issues.

 

[Chilifur]

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This is precisely why I chose Ideal Poultry instead of some of the others - this does not seem to be an issue they have. Of my ten, none of them have shown cross-beak. And yes, I agree entirely with the sentiment of importing stock, but don't have the 4-digit costs it would take. ;-)

On another note, anyone know of guidelines or wives-tales on sexing these guys before it's truly obvious? They all seem to charge each other with abandon, all hold their tails up pretty high and have that roo posturing. Too much like the older Polish that happens to be in with them!

Noted last week that at least one of them has "horns" I can feel, but aren't visible as they blend in with the black splotch on their noses. And it appeared that some of their nostril areas were significantly darker than the others - until I realized that they changed from day to day - betting that skin darkens and lightens with blood flow like anything else.

Two days ago, it was really clear that one of them must be a boy - the outer edges of that nostril area AND the little wattles are all dark pink (the one marked "Coral"). Interestingly enough, that isn't the one whose horns I can feel.

So far, no other patterns or anything else that indicates gender yet.