Are there any Houdans that look like the APA standard?

[CARS]

Anyone found a breeder in the USA yet (one that is keeping to the standard)?

 

[WyandotteTX]

Great discussion about one of the breeds that is near and dear to my heart. My journey with Houdans started 25 years ago when I was given 6 young Houdan chicks to raise. I had raised them to a couple of months in age and they were looking better when I lost 5 of the 6 unfortunately. BUT, the one that was still around turned out to be a Cockerel. The first year he looked alot like the mish mash of white and black but after his first moult his feathers came in completely different and he was extraordinary. You keep talking about what those Houdans looked like in the standard, well he was a the spitting image of it. Predominantly black with very small white tipped feathers, a large crest(not just the little poof of feathers that half of these have now) and a very prominent V comb. He was exactly what I thought a Houdan should be honestly, and he weighed a good solid 8-10 lbs..he was large. We had him for several years but never were able to get any hens to go with him to raise anymore unfortunately.
Because of seeing such a beautiful bird I was smitten by the Houdans and in later years when I was able to have some chickens of my own I bought some from a hatchery. What a disappointment! They had been bastardized by the hatchery into some mongrel of polish and Houdan. Most didnt have 5 toes and none of them had good mottling in any way shape or form. They were all the size of polish, much lighter than what my Houdan had been. They were flighty and skittish like Polish not easy going and mild like my true Houdan had been.
I have no idea where the Houdans I obtained came from but they were extraordinary. My dad talks about an old woman in the small little town he grew up in who had a large utility flock of Mottled Houdans that she kept next to the house of about 50 -75 birds. He talked about how they all looked like the Cock bird we had raised. What an extraordinary sight that would be to see that many quality birds now!
Entirely opinion here but for all the good that hatcheries do in allowing easy access to birds of wide varieties, they do a real disservice to the breeds themselves by their lack of knowledge or just flat not caring about raising proper representations of these varieties. And yes, I realize they are in business to make money but just think how successful they would be and how many more customers they might have if they bred their stock to be a little more true to type that what they do. Just an observation.
Someday I too would like to delve back into the world of Houdans and reproduce the bird of my memory. IF you want the size you are going to have to breed with Dorkings, if you want the color and mottling like that you will have to cross with either Anconas or Javas to improve their mottling. If you want it all in a Houdan, you are going to have to set up most likely three different breeding pens with combinations of all three varieties to improve those traits. And this isnt even talking about increasing crest size to where it should be either. A daunting task to say the least for an ambitious fancier.
Great talking about Houdans and good luck with such a great breed.

 

[CARS]

WyandotteTX,

I hope you subscribed to this thread because I think this is going to be an ongoing work in progress.

I still haven't figured out how to get anything shipped from Houdan France yet

(although I am not holding my breath on doing so either. There must be someone who has a large specimen out there)

How do people take their dogs on vacation??? Why is poultry so much different????

 

[WyandotteTX]

The reason we cannot import stock from Europe is because of the whole Avian Flu mess that went on several years ago. From what I have gathered you better have a pretty deep pocket book bc of the amount you will have to pay customs to hold the birds in quarantine for a long period of time. I honestly wouldnt trust getting eggs from that far away. It would also be hard to get stock from unknown breeders, etc....Alot of hassle, money and time if it could be done.
I would love to talk to someone who has any experience with it to find out the details for sure.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

go to the USDA NPIP website
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/

Click on the import/export link on the left margin, it will tell you all the ins and out on importing fowl.
In any case you do have to have a USDA importers license...
Some European countries have now been lifted and can be imported from, they have an approved list which eggs can go directly to you from, and an unapproved list which have to be hatched by the USDA quarantine facilities and reared for 1 month. In any case all live birds imported do have a 1 month minimum quarantine requirement and yes will cost a fortune.
There is also a Banned countries list , of which no bird, egg or by product can be imported from, for the most part, these are Middle East countries, Iraq, Iran, Afganistane, and such, you can understand why on these for obvious reasons!!
By check the site out, it has all the info listed there

 

[CARS]

Alright.... maybe it's not productive/cost prohibitive to ship birds to the U.S. anymore. Dang. (unless.....

)

I'll concentrate on finding great U.S. stock then. Any ideas???

 

[Tonopah Pati]

I am surprised how much my Sultan looks like the Houdans. I got a Roo from a feed store. He was 2 weeks old. I thought he was a Silky.

What a surprise! when he turned out to be a Sultan. I have been looking for a nice young lady for him. Some of the hatchery's have them. You really don't know about quality. I know they get the stock from different breeders and not even breed them. The smallest order i can get for my area is 8-10, the most i want would be three. There is a Sultan Thread on BYC. I have a contact with chickenzoo, She has Houndans also. I hope she can help me in my search.

Good luck everyone! Hope we all find what we are looking for

This is my Sultan Louie-Lu-Li Not a year old yet.
.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I breed bantams in white & mottled. I'm hoping to stay close to the standard on each. I will be showing my white houdan hen for the first time next month!

 

[CARS]

Good looking birds! Not alot of meat on them though

. I'm still looking for the big 'ens for eggs and meat.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

LOL Nope, not much meat...have you considered Crevecoeurs? They are surpringsly meaty for their relatively small size. They grow rather fast too and I've found them to be slightly more hardy than Houdans.