Chantecler Thread!

[bruceha2000]

- At what age do the pullets begin to lay on average?
- How do they perform as layers?
- Do they lay as well in winter as they do in summer providing the necessary light but not necessarily heat?
- How do they do in the heat of the summer?
- What size eggs do they give?
- Are they a very noisy breed?
- Anything else I should know about before taking on the breed?

Thanks for your input.

I can't give you much as I have only 2 Partridge Chanteclers and they are from Ideal Poultry, hatched Jun 12. I've never had chickens before so take my information for what little it is worth

Egg laying:
They have light from 4:30 AM until 7:30 AM then again from 3:15 to 5 PM. It is getting dark enough that they are heading in to roost before 4 PM at the moment. No heat.

I still haven't figured out if both are laying. The first started on 11/28 so about 22 weeks. I finally did figure out for sure what color egg she lays but one of the Faverolles lays a similar color egg, MAYBE a bit smaller. I don't have a scale but I would guess on the Medium side of Large though they started Medium. I've given her credit for 24 eggs but that could be high. I would say that even if I have credited her a few to many, she's been laying well. The other finally has some color in her comb and face and for all I know might be responsible for some of the more recent ones.

Noisy:
Not mine

They are very quiet. They don't "bok, bok" like the other 5 breeds I have, more of a trill but I really can't come up with a word to describe it. If Dee has been singing the "I laid an egg" song, I've not heard it. If these girls were behind a privacy fence, I suspect you could have them for years without a next door neighbor knowing. The Anconas and Faverolles on the other hand ... I think one of the Favs talks just to hear herself talk. Yak, Yak, Yak. And she isn't quiet about it.

Summer heat:
Can't say with regard to laying since they were too young but we had some 90's in July/Aug and they were fine.

Winter:
Don't seem to notice the cold. Will go out in thin snow if there is uncovered grass to be had. Supposed to get "freeze your knickers" cold (like maybe -40) in a week or so. The current forecast says -1F for Wed and Thur night. We'll see how every one does.

Other:
We didn't handle any of the chicks all that much when they were young so none are "sit in your lap pet" friendly though the first to lay and the smaller Australorp would jump in my lap when I came with the large yogurt container. Nope, not yogurt - EARWIGS! They are docile, not bothering any of the other girls (the same can not be said of the Anconas). They like their treats, same as all the others and they foraged well before the snow flew.

Hopefully people who actually have some long term experience will respond.

Bruce

 

[RhodeRunner]

Hello all you Chantecler peeps. I am considering this breed due to my location at 7500 feet above sea level in Colorado and was hoping to get some questions answered by y'all. At what age do the pullets begin to lay on average? How do they perform as layers? Do they lay as well in winter as they do in summer providing the necessary light but not necessarily heat? How do they do in the heat of the summer? What size eggs do they give? How large do the cockrells get and do they make good table birds? Are they a very noisy breed? Anything else I should know about before taking on the breed? Thanks for your input.

We breed the Partridge Albertan Chantecler, and just added Whites (they are still too young to really give any information about) to our farm. All of our birds are Non-Hatchery stock, and my response thus pertains to our stock. If you purchase hatchery fowl, understand that the birds may differ. There is also variability within different breeders flocks, as well as the colors.

At what age do the pullets begin to lay on average? Our Partridge and Whites start laying anywhere from five to six months.

How do they perform as layers? We average four eggs per week from each hen.

Do they lay as well in the winter as they do in the summer? Our hens do fine in the winter, and do not receive heat or light. The eggs keep flowing without any problems, but we do keep stocked with younger hens. Older hens slow down after their molt, and don't lay as well in the winter.

How do they do in the heat of the summer? We don't have extremely high temperatures, and our birds live in the shade. We get about a week or two when it hits around a 100 (during the day) and our birds have been fine.

What size are the eggs? Medium - Large

How large do the cockerels get? Our Partridge boys get big, and average about 1/3 pound of growth a week. They fill out at 9+ pounds, while the Whites are smaller. The meat is excellent! We have found it to be tender, moist, and not fatty. I have eaten a lot of roosters over the years, and these are my favorite. However, the meat doesn't tend to be very flavorful.

Are they noisy? They are pretty average chickens on the noise factor.

 

[jermoatc]

Thanks for all your info. I am anxious to try these birds. I was very disappointed in my winter lay rates of my current flock this year despite it reall not having been that cold here and supplying additional light. They were hatched in January so I think many of them started to molt on the fall compounding my problem. I love my wyandottes but they take too long to start laying. I understand white rocks are good too but I worry about comb frostbite. We get cold snaps into the negative 20s.

 

[jermoatc]

Where can I get some white Chanteclers?

 

[RhodeRunner]

Where can I get some white Chanteclers?

John Blehm and Verril will ship white chicks.
http://www.chickhatchery.com/DnLd/Order Form - Chicks.pdf
https://www.facebook.com/fayrehalechanteclers?sk=wall&filter=1

 

[jermoatc]

Thanks to ya'll for your help?

 

[Blackhorsehill]

Hello all you Chantecler peeps. I am considering this breed due to my location at 7500 feet above sea level in Colorado and was hoping to get some questions answered by y'all. At what age do the pullets begin to lay on average? How do they perform as layers? Do they lay as well in winter as they do in summer providing the necessary light but not necessarily heat? How do they do in the heat of the summer? What size eggs do they give? How large do the cockrells get and do they make good table birds? Are they a very noisy breed? Anything else I should know about before taking on the breed? Thanks for your input.

I lived in Colorado for around 12 years. I lived in Denver, Rocky Ford, and Grand Junction for most of the time. I miss it!!

To answer some of your questions. I have the partridge (Albertans) and White. They have distinct differences at least in my experience.

• The Partridge birds tend to lay at an earlier age than the Whites. On average, I would say they start around 5 months, while the Whites are around 6 months. However, I did sell some white pullets to others, and they started laying sooner than the siblings that I kept. I don't know why the difference. But, saying that, one of my breeding criteria moving forward will include rate of lay, and laying without added light. Time of initial lay most likely will not have as high of weighting as the other two factors.
• The Partridge birds generally lay a small to medium egg, but I am starting to get birds with large eggs and that will be a breeding criteria moving forward. With the exception of maybe a couple of the smaller white birds, mine lay large to extra large eggs. The Partridge birds are notorious for going broody, and I have never had a white bird go broody. That is a matter of personal preference for people. I like to use broodies when I can to hatch eggs and raise chicks, so I don't necessarily see this as a drawback, but have had some that are constantly broody, so therefore the number of eggs definitely goes down. Some broodiness, just not constant broodiness is my preference. Because of the broodiness, there is not as much of a predictable rhythm to the egg laying routines. With the white birds, I can pretty much count on pullets laying about a year, then going through their molt in the fall, then taking up laying again late winter. I do not use extra light because that is another breeding criteria. I never use additional heat, even at 20 below zero. I need to go over my records from last year, but in general I would say I got 5 to 6 eggs a week from the White birds. I have no idea with the Partridge, but not nearly as good.
• Heat of the summer - We had the hottest summer I have ever experienced in Wisconsin this last year. The air temperature was 105 for several days, and my metal building got up to 115 at one point. I lost a couple of birds, but none of the Chantecler. I will say that they were miserable, egg laying among all breeds slacked off, and fertility went way down. That was for all my breeds, too. If I lived in a hot climate, I would not have Chanteclers.
• The cockerels are excellent table birds. We just put 8 show quality White cockerels in the freezer last week (hated to do it) and have already eaten a couple of them. They make excellent table fare. I gave a couple to a friend, and she is still raving about the flavor. The largest dressed out at 6 lbs. at around 6 months of age. The smallest was just below 5 lbs. Our birds are raised outside and I do think that contributes to the good flavor. The old standard was for roosters that weighed 9 lbs (the APA calls for 8.5). One of the roosters I kept for next year for breeding weighed 9 lbs. a few weeks ago. His father, who came from directly from Canada, weighs 9 lbs. Again, going forward weight will be a criteria.
• Noise isn't an issue with these guys, more so than any other chickens. The Partridge hens make cute little cooing noises that I never hear from any of my other birds. I experiment with crosses, and even when crossed with other breeds, they make the cooing noises. They are very sweet, while as the White birds tend just be very businesslike. I do have one White hen who is very much a busybody, so it will be interesting to see if she passes on those qualities to her offspring.

I will have 4 to 5 pens of Whites going in to this next year. I got roosters from a couple other breeding programs, and hens from yet another, plus my own stock, that came directly from Canada in 2010. My Partridge birds are not at a level that I feel comfortable selling yet. So, I should have hatching eggs, and chicks, of White Chantecler but am not comfortable shipping chicks at this point.

White Chantecler are starting to show up in a few places, so in the next couple of years I think they will be easier to come by. It has just been in the last 2 or 3 years that there was anything in the U.S. to work with.

 

[skookumchuck]

I lived in Colorado for around 12 years. I lived in Denver, Rocky Ford, and Grand Junction for most of the time. I miss it!!

To answer some of your questions. I have the partridge (Albertans) and White. They have distinct differences at least in my experience.

• The Partridge birds tend to lay at an earlier age than the Whites. On average, I would say they start around 5 months, while the Whites are around 6 months. However, I did sell some white pullets to others, and they started laying sooner than the siblings that I kept. I don't know why the difference. But, saying that, one of my breeding criteria moving forward will include rate of lay, and laying without added light. Time of initial lay most likely will not have as high of weighting as the other two factors.
• The Partridge birds generally lay a small to medium egg, but I am starting to get birds with large eggs and that will be a breeding criteria moving forward. With the exception of maybe a couple of the smaller white birds, mine lay large to extra large eggs. The Partridge birds are notorious for going broody, and I have never had a white bird go broody. That is a matter of personal preference for people. I like to use broodies when I can to hatch eggs and raise chicks, so I don't necessarily see this as a drawback, but have had some that are constantly broody, so therefore the number of eggs definitely goes down. Some broodiness, just not constant broodiness is my preference. Because of the broodiness, there is not as much of a predictable rhythm to the egg laying routines. With the white birds, I can pretty much count on pullets laying about a year, then going through their molt in the fall, then taking up laying again late winter. I do not use extra light because that is another breeding criteria. I never use additional heat, even at 20 below zero. I need to go over my records from last year, but in general I would say I got 5 to 6 eggs a week from the White birds. I have no idea with the Partridge, but not nearly as good.
• Heat of the summer - We had the hottest summer I have ever experienced in Wisconsin this last year. The air temperature was 105 for several days, and my metal building got up to 115 at one point. I lost a couple of birds, but none of the Chantecler. I will say that they were miserable, egg laying among all breeds slacked off, and fertility went way down. That was for all my breeds, too. If I lived in a hot climate, I would not have Chanteclers.
• The cockerels are excellent table birds. We just put 8 show quality White cockerels in the freezer last week (hated to do it) and have already eaten a couple of them. They make excellent table fare. I gave a couple to a friend, and she is still raving about the flavor. The largest dressed out at 6 lbs. at around 6 months of age. The smallest was just below 5 lbs. Our birds are raised outside and I do think that contributes to the good flavor. The old standard was for roosters that weighed 9 lbs (the APA calls for 8.5). One of the roosters I kept for next year for breeding weighed 9 lbs. a few weeks ago. His father, who came from directly from Canada, weighs 9 lbs. Again, going forward weight will be a criteria.
• Noise isn't an issue with these guys, more so than any other chickens. The Partridge hens make cute little cooing noises that I never hear from any of my other birds. I experiment with crosses, and even when crossed with other breeds, they make the cooing noises. They are very sweet, while as the White birds tend just be very businesslike. I do have one White hen who is very much a busybody, so it will be interesting to see if she passes on those qualities to her offspring.

I will have 4 to 5 pens of Whites going in to this next year. I got roosters from a couple other breeding programs, and hens from yet another, plus my own stock, that came directly from Canada in 2010. My Partridge birds are not at a level that I feel comfortable selling yet. So, I should have hatching eggs, and chicks, of White Chantecler but am not comfortable shipping chicks at this point.

White Chantecler are starting to show up in a few places, so in the next couple of years I think they will be easier to come by. It has just been in the last 2 or 3 years that there was anything in the U.S. to work with.

I would love to buy some hatching eggs from you I want to have some of these birds very bad. The wife says that I am obsessing I replyed so! The whites are what I want to use for meat birds and keep some of the hens for eggs. I was born in Alberta Canada and want to have them on my farm for nostalgas sake. I am also going to try to get a Canadianne Cow (basicaly a Black gersey) as well. It is great to see the interest in the Chanteclairs and see people saving the breed. I hope to do my part starting this spring.

 

[IndianHeaven]

Are Ideals Hatchery birds good? I live in the Cascade mts.. 3 feet snow now.. 27 degrees. Placing an order in April for more buff brahmas, which are my first love.

 

[Jake Levi]

Ideal generally has pretty good birds, but, they arenot show quality birds, they are hatchery birds.

Which variety were you looking for ?

John Blein(sp?) of Birch Run MI ships Chanteclers as does Sand Hill Hatchery, you can google either.