Breda Fowl thread

[TheNuttyChick]

I've got my fingers crossed!
Hi GaryDean26,
I was starting to think no one was here.
They sound and look like amazing birds so I figured I'd give them a try.
I just wish there was a little more info on them.​

 

[GaryDean26]

Ya, not a lot of information. Did you read the section on them in the Breeds section of the BYC?

I just have two young pullets myself. I like their temperament a lot and they are my only blue colored birds which is one of my favorite chicken colors. They are "fun" birds for me since I don't have time to research them or space to breed them right now. I may try to get a cockerel in a year or two, but am just enjoying some unique layers for the moment.

Feel free to bounce ideas and discoveries off of us. We will learn together.

Note: I did come across a reference to a study of the Breda comb that was published by Prof. Punnet around 1909, but the archived copies of the Journal of Genetics that published the paper only had issues back to about 1911, so I never read the paper. I found some you-tube videos for show group in the Netherlands that show good footage of all the varieties (blue, cuckoo, white, etc.)

 

[TheNuttyChick]

Thanks, I did see some clips on youtube of them. I will obviously end up with some extra males when they do hatch.
I had posted the question not recently about whether they were more of a mellow bird and I guess the males do get along well too.
I just wanted something that wasn't common around here.​

 

[Flaming Chicken]

Hey Nutty Chick. Breda fowl are unusual and hard to find. Apparently those of us that have them are a bit scarce too.

Good luck with your hatch. Where did you find your eggs? I have 2 pullets and a rooster, I am not sure about the fourth one yet. Could be either!

Carol

 

[TheNuttyChick]

Hi Flaming Chicken!
I noticed that they are a hard to find bird in the US and when I saw them on an auction site I just couldn't resist. From what I've read they were around here before the Civil War, so where did they all go? They seem like such an interesting bird.
Unfortunately, I have a confession to make. I've become an incubator addict. It's nice to find the different, but with the good comes the bad (too many roos).
I do love all the pictures here and thank you to those who have posted them.
And with fingers crossed, my eggs hatch without any casualties, I can let everyone in my neck of the wood see how cool they are, as I will have extras.​

 

[ashandvine]

I've got my fingers crossed!
Hi GaryDean26,
I was starting to think no one was here.
They sound and look like amazing birds so I figured I'd give them a try.
I just wish there was a little more info on them.​

Looking overseas is your best bet for info right now. Not a lot of people have them and its been a pain trying to get folks to even consider them when that GF picture is so hideous. My Breda has one of the best temperments of any of my birds. She is smart, docile, and friendly. A 'pet' in many ways but her egg amazes me. She lays such a big egg for her size and reliably. So far she tolerates the weather pretty well, although I hate to see her panting as much as any of them. I hope you enjoy yours and breed responsibly.

 

[qball53]

We finally got a pen to thurn the Breda into. We have the splash imported male and we believe a younger black male. Then there is a black hen, splash hen and three blue hens. What a pretty little flock. The look funny high steppig in the tall grass because of their vulture hocks.

 

[GaryDean26]

It sound like you have a nice flock now. Are you planning on attending the La Grange, TX show on the first of September?

 

[GaryDean26]

My Breda now have turned out as I originally guessed. At a week old I was sure that I had a light Blue Pullet and a Darker Blue Cockerel (per my non-conventional method shared previously. See below). At about 5-8 weeks old when all the other breed's cockerels started to get large combs and red waddles I change my mind and decided that the darker of the blue breda must be a pullets too since it did not get any waddles in and was not fighting with the other cockerels. When they got to be about 12 weeks old lo and behold the darker one started to grow in some red waddles, so it looks like I am back to thinking the dark blue one is a boy.

This leads me to ask, are all the blue cockerels a darker blue than the blue pullets at 2-3 weeks old? If so this would be an enormous benifit for sexing this breed. Since the blue males have almost black plumage on their head, hackles, and saddle with a blue brest while the hens are all blue (brest head, hackels, back, tail, wings) this would make sence.

Thanks for you feed back in advance.

Here is my light colored Blue Breda Fowl. I have decided that this one is a pullet. I heard her trill today. Someone once said that they could tell their day-old pullets from the cockerels by the sounds they make. They said the trills were pullets.

I have decided that my dark colored Blue Breda Fowl is a cockerel. At just a few weeks old he was already perching on the highest thing he could find. I have decided that the cockerels are the ones that are the first to find the high perches. No science or tests have been applied to either of these methods, but until I know for sure this is what I am sticking too.

 

[Flaming Chicken]

My Breda now have turned out as I originally guessed. At a week old I was sure that I had a light Blue Pullet and a Darker Blue Cockerel (per my non-conventional method shared previously. See below). At about 5-8 weeks old when all the other breed's cockerels started to get large combs and red waddles I change my mind and decided that the darker of the blue breda must be a pullets too since it did not get any waddles in and was not fighting with the other cockerels. When they got to be about 12 weeks old lo and behold the darker one started to grow in some red waddles, so it looks like I am back to thinking the dark blue one is a boy.

This leads me to ask, are all the blue cockerels a darker blue than the blue pullets at 2-3 weeks old? If so this would be an enormous benifit for sexing this breed. Since the blue males have almostly black plumage on their head, hackles, saddle, and back with a blue brest while the hens are all blue (brest head, hackels, back, tail, wings) this would make sence.

Thanks for you feed back in advance.

I have one very dark pullet and the lighter blue is also a pullet. Both of my cockerels look like a light grey dark grey splash combo. Neither cockerel is crowing and are very docile around any other chicken.