Belgian d'Uccle

I got my little golden neck male from my sister-in-law and i just love him. So funny hearing him crow, he trys to sound so big lol. Oh and who could forget his feet with all the feathers. I have a chance to breed these just wondering if i should.

Some of the first chickens I owned were Belgian d'Uccle bantams. I had a male Mille Fleur and a female White. They were two of the sweetest chickens we ever owned. Both of them were of good quality, and the male was particularly beautiful, and with every molt his feathers came back more and more brilliant. The female took a long time to come into lay, but I think this was because she had coccidiosis when she was young. However, when she finally started laying, she laid fairly consistently, and it was always so adorable to see her tiny egg laid in the same clutch as those of the larger birds in the flock. Both of them could fly extremely well. They were very tame when handled and sometimes sought out our companionship.

Unfortunately, our hen was taken (presumably by a fox) without a trace, and our cock died while in the care of an irresponsible poultry keeper who was watching the birds while my family and I were moving. However, I will always cherish the memory of "Bilbo" and "Edwina."

If you have kids, these birds are the choice for you.

If it comes to me owning only one breed, this is it! They are gentle, quiet, sweet birds that lay a large egg for a very small bird. There are many colors though all have spots (the main characteristic of the breed). I cannot love any color more than the caramel color of the Mille Fleurs! I have had other colors, but in my opinion, they pale to the colors of the Mille Fleur. I do also like the Porcelain and a few of the others, but the Mille Fleur took my heart.

I have nothing negative to say except they are not good flyers, and they are not predator safe. If a predator gets in, you are likely to have dead birds. The roosters are beautiful, but they are not good at protecting the hens mainly, in my opinion, because they are incredibly gentle and sweet. They do not expect anything to be unkind to them so predators are not a possibility in their world. The hens and roosters live together in harmony.

I love these birds! I have owned these birds for about 7 years, and I hope to own them for as long as I live. I love my other birds too (Appenzeller Spitzhauben (purchased on and off for 3-5 years--just have been unlucky with keeping the few I have owned), Silver Pencil Plymouth Rock (owned on and off for 20 years), Buff Orpington (have had for a year), Lavender Ameraucanas (owned Ameraucanas for about 7 years), but my D'Uccles are my favorite to date. They have been for nearly ten years, and I doubt the others will take their place as #1.

If you're considering getting them, you should absolutely love them. I purchased mine from a breeder who has had them for decades, and I am thrilled with these beautiful birds. The ones I own lay an egg that is about 2/3 the size of a Plymouth Rock, and that's a pretty good sized egg for a little bird. They are also very consistent layers, and lay an egg about once every 2-3 days, so own a bunch of them! You will love them!

I adore my D'uccle Hazel. She can be picked up by anyone and is very happy to see me and hop to my arm when invited. She lays nearly everyday at a bit over a year old now. NO issues with frostbite despite my cinder block coop.
She does struggle with the bigger girls especially the more aggressive ones but is not at the bottom of the pecking order despite being the smallest.

I bought a flock of 6 pullets and a cockerel last August. They were 3 months old. At 5 1/2 months my girls all started laying, They have been very consistent layers! They are calm, quiet, friendly birds, and my roosters are never aggressive! I love these birds, and can't imagine ever being without them!

I love my D'uccle's they are great pets and great egg layers even though there eggs are a little tiny they do make great breakfast eggs, hard boil eggs, and egg salads. They are so very sweet and have great personality's. In all my d'uccle's I can tell each one who is who. Great chickens! MUST HAVE!!!!!!!!

I had a Porcelain Duccle pair a few years ago. We started letting them out to free range. One day we left to go into town and the Duccles were missing. I now raise Mille Fleurs in a 20 by 50 foot wire mesh topped run with a small tree, grape vines and a huge shade tarp for relief during the summer. I love this breed in all colors. These cute little birds are very sweet pets. If you sit with them you'll be surrounded by soft little purring birds wanting your attention. There eggs ship really well to sell as hatching eggs. I wish I could let them run free! It would be so cute to see 30 of these birds running around the farm. Give them lot's of things to jump on out in there run. Add greens to there diet.

I’ve always loved this breed after seeing them at a country show in Australia. But haven’t been able to find a breeder here as yet. The bantum I’m sure would fit in well with my 3 silkies.

I would HIGHLY recommend getting a Mille Fleur, Or any kind of d'Uccle for that matter. They are small, so if you had a flock of them you could have a smaller coop. My full grown one is about the size of a dove. I got mine from a farm museum gift shop, and she has been one of the best things in life along with all the other 17 different chicken breeds that I have had so far.

I really LOVE d'Uccles!!!!!!! My favorite color is Golden Neck. We have had Golden Neck, Mille Fleur, Black Mottled, Self Blue, and Porcelain. All have the same sweet personality in my experience.

I first had some d'Uccles last year I think...or the year before. I sold them thinking that I would go back to large fowl, and ended up missing them so much that now we have ordered more from Welp Hatchery (where we bought them the first time). We are only ordering Mille Fleur, Golden Neck, and Porcelain this time.

They are so very docile. Even the roosters were not aggressive. They never seemed to want to free range with the other birds- they wanted to get to the feeders instead! That''s when I learned they were happier in a bantam-only pen. This might not be an issue with others, but at the time I had some very aggressive hens and they had a hard time getting to the feeders whenever they wanted.

So, they enjoy staying close to home (even after they filled their crops at the feeders), and can fly like a helicopter- straight up and hover!!! What is so interesting is that even though they could fly right over our fences, they didn't go far. They didn't want to come up to the house and mess up my bark nugget flowerbeds like the large fowl did when they got out.

I love to see them hopping along, raising their feet so high as they walk or run! They are just adorable and love interacting with humans. My children held them on their laps and they grew to enjoy that cuddle time, unlike some other breeds.

My favorite thing about them is that I wanted a breed where I didn't have to send away the roosters. I don't like to send away an animal that I have promised a home to by buying chicks. I know that I might need a rooster pen eventually, but these guys really don't eat much.

D'Uccles (I pronounce it "duh-ooh-cull" with the emphasis on oooh.) are so wonderful and are very pet-like. They are more like having a cat or dog. I tell my DH that it doesn't matter how many eggs we get or what size the eggs are (we have Orpingtons for eggs), because they have won my heart.

UPDATE: I have 5 d'Uccle roos now and one of them has done the wing dance for me. I am watching to see if I will have to get rid of him...I am giving him some time to see if he will show more aggression- then he is out of here. The other 4 roos are just so sweet.

Update again: I am getting rid of my roosters. 3 out of 5 have turned aggressive on me. Granted, they are only 10 inches high and they do try to make friends with me after they kick me. But I am not looking forward to dealing with spurs when they come in.

We got a couple of these birds as extras with some hatching eggs we ordered. They turned out wonderfully and have been fantastic pets for our two kids. They are very gentle, can be picked on by aggressive birds but are able to fly to get away. They are so beautiful and have such fun little personalities. The hen in these pictures is over 5 years old and is in great health. Their foot feathers can get clumped ice or mud in them which needs attention. They do best in a covered run where they don't have to walk around in the snow or mud. We had a couple close calls due to their ability to fly and get into situations that we initially did not think would be an issue. With plenty handling these birds get very tame and are very easy to trim nails on etc. They seem to be very vocal but their 'voices' are very mellow and pleasant to listen to - sometimes it sounds almost as though they are having a conversation with you. This is my favourite bantam breed.

Mine are hatchery birds. One day, I will seek out a breeder and get breeder stock. I just love these little guys. I have 3 (2 mille fluers and 1 porcelain)

The roosters are handsome little birds with some beautiful colorations. All the ones I own are for show use and are funny little birds to own. And are the cutest little chicks.

I acquired my D'uccle boy by accident; he was young when we bought him, and looked just like a hen! We were very surprised when he started crowing two days later, and posted an ad to sell him (we didn't want any roosters with our girls). As the days went by, we fell more and more in love with him, and took the ad down. I'm glad we did! He is such a sweetheart, always jumping up on my lap when I'm reading or watching TV (he's an inside chicken). He is completely relaxed whenever I pick him up, and even falls asleep in my arms if I hold him for a while.
I definitely recommend this breed to anyone looking for a pet chicken.

I only have one belgian d'uccle and I know all chickens have unique personalities but out of my mixed flock he has the most comical and winning personality of the bunch. Aloysius, my belgian d'uccle rooster, is extremely inquisitive. He follows me around the yard, eats out of my hand, and is the head man in charge. He is the head rooster even though my LF golden laced wyandotte rooster Goliath is 3-4 times his size. If Goliath is making my hens squak when mounting Aloysius runs over to make sure they're okay. His crow is way nicer to listen too than Goliath's. I'm in the process of integrating more hens into the flock and it's so funny to watch this little bantam chase the LF hens around. I would recommend this breed to anyone. They are docile and great entertainment to have around not to mention stunningly beautiful.

They're great!

I had a d'uccle that passed away from unknown causes. He/she was so friendly and cute. Great bird for kids!

These chickens are so nice, and they are real lap chickens!
I have one that's the bottom of the pecking order and whenever she gets chased or pecked she'll come running to me!
She loves to be snuggled! Unfortunately she is too scared too eat on her own so I have to hand feed her.
And she goes through phases where she won't eat a certain type of food for a few days ,and a lot of the foods the other chickens love, she won't eat.
After a while of me being gone she'll come looking for me.
Here are a few picks of her:

Her name is Millie!

I have wanted this breed for years. Ever since I went to a lady's house to buy a mixed doz fertile eggs and saw her one singular millie fluer d'uccle hen. She only had the one but I had never seen one before, and considering I live in a very small poultry community it really sparked my interest.

I searched for ages locally for a breeder, no one really knew what they were or had crosses (generally with silkies or pekins) so I took to buying online. Finially found a few breeders and got some eggs sent up to hatch. Hatched nearly the lot and got all hens but 3, which is great for me since I have so many chickens as it is and live in suburbia. When they started crowing, it was so quiet and kind of comical. They haven't gotten much louder and I seriously can't hear them with the house all closed up; my bobwhite quails calling is waaaaay louder. Videos on Youtube.com of this breed show that they can indeed get quite....shrill and loud, but mine are pretty good. Must just depend on the individual bird, however this is just my own point of veiw and experience.

The chicks are adorable when they first hatch. They are like fat faced little penguins and they only keep getting cuter. I found that within 2 weeks you could single out the obvious boys however one of them took a little longer to show that he was male, as his comb was a little slower to develop than the other two (and he's the best boy out of the three). I got a huge variety of colours just from one breeder alone, with a couple being peculiar mixed colours: quail x milliefluer being the main mix I've noticed, which is basically a quail coloured d'uccle with a few white spots all over.

I love watching them walk on the grass because they look like they are wearing huge swimming flippers when they are walking, or that they are worried they'll step in poop. They always stick with their own little group which I think is safer considering how small they are. I have not lost one yet by a hawk but I have defiantly seen them being swooped at by them, and they usually huddle up and head for the closest cover while the bigger poultry scare the hawk(s) away. My new puppy would also pick on them particularily because they were small and slow, but I sorted that out pretty quick by moving the dog to another area where she couldn't get the d'uccles. My bigger breeds will pick on them if they can, but they seem to not really mind. As an owner of poultry, I just have learned to feed at different stations so everyone gets a chance of a feed, rather than dumping food all in the one spot for the greedy chickens to hog out.

They are so easy to tame as well, and with their cute, funny appearence I can see how along with pekins, that they would be great for kids. I didn't handle mine at all until 4 months old and it took just a few mealworms to gain their trust. Now they circle my feet like little fluffy sharks. I also like that they will forage all day. I feed my birds a big pot of mash in the morning to which my birds will demolish quite quickly, and always have pellets in a dispenser that they can access at anytime. However the d'uccles will have some mash, pick at the pellets and just hang out in the garden for the rest of the day. Defiantly love their bugs. The roosters seem to be most exceptionally friendly in my lot, which is a nice change from some of the grumpy roos I've owned in the past.

One problem I have come across with the breed however is the fluffy legs. I've had feathered shanked birds before with faverolles, marans, silkies and pekins, however the Belgians are just the next level up. These legs are like wings they drag across the ground. I am yet to decide if i should try showing mine, but they seem to break their feathery quills from just regular free ranging so it might be a risky move since I am new to the show scene and have only entered Leghorns seriously before. They would definatly make one feel quite accomplished if they won however, as they seem to be quite high maintenance if one wants to perform at the top. Regardless, the fluffy legs is what drew me to the breed anyway, I love them.

Visitors love them. Usually they laugh at them, and question why the hell I want to keep a tiny chicken, but most people love them. I don't care much for the eggs, so I'm not judging them upon that aspect. I just wanted them purely for looks. If I wanted smaller egg machines, I would be reveiwing hamburgs. Though laying is pretty decent, I just let them hatch their own eggs, which they are incredibly good at. Top broodies, they just can't help themselves.