Chantecler Thread!

[Beour3rd]

That sounds good! I was debating back and forth between the Whites and the Partridge/Albertan; read this whole thread hoping to find something that would help me make up my mind! It seemed like a few people were finding the Whites to be smaller than the Partridge, so I'm glad to hear that's not the case.

Kathleen

so have you decided?

im still torn but leaning towards the partridge. i mean logically they can both handle the cold the same as they are both with the same attributes.. however the partridge should be more able to soak up the sun and stay warm.. to my thinking.

also the partridge has brown eggs which for some reason seem to be the "accepted" form of a free range egg. people like brown.

those two reasons are why i am leaning there.. whats your thinking? and reasoning?

 

[Freeholder]

I'm going to get the Whites from Cackle. I really like the Partridge color best, but the Whites are the original breed, and seem to have some advantage in foraging. I'm concerned about the Whites being more visible to predators, but I do have a livestock guardian dog who seems to finally have come into her own (she's not quite two years old).

One reason I was leaning more towards the Partridges is just that they were developed in Alberta, and (born in Oregon and raised in Alaska) I'm a Westerner. However, the Whites are the original breed, so that balances that out, too.

We live in the high desert, with cold winters and short, dry summers, so I need hardy productive fowl. I hope the Chanteclers will meet that need. I've tried a couple of kinds of European birds alongside American breeds (Cuckoo Marans and then Salmon Faverolles, which I still think are about the prettiest breed of chicken out there!), and they just didn't cut it as far as hardiness in our climate. The Americans alongside them, with exactly the same care, did just fine. I'm thinking that our birds need that dash of Asian fowl that the American breeds all have.

Kathleen

 

[Beour3rd]

seem to have some advantage in foraging.

could you explain that to me? are they better for this in some way?

 

[Freeholder]

could you explain that to me? are they better for this in some way?

Well, a couple of posters on this long thread mentioned that their Whites were very active foragers, while their Partridges stayed closer to the coop. All things being equal, I'd like to have chickens that can pick up some of their own food part of the year, at least. As long as my dog does her job and keeps the predators away!

Kathleen

 

[Beour3rd]

who has any views on getting whites and partridge both? they will obviously interbreed but you could keep a rooster of each and make sure you keep the flock from only purebread.. anyone? i was debating this.

ive found previously that chickens will take habbits from each other, might work to train the partridge to forage

 

[Blackhorsehill]

I have partridge and Whites.

I had partridge first, because I was able to source some close to home. Later, I was able to bring my first trio of Whites in from Canada. I did not realize at first that they were not the same bird, it was only later after more research and reading that I discovered the partridge were originated in Alberta by someone else, and using a different group of birds as source stock.

My personal experience with partridge as homestead birds has been disappointing. Although this is a case where others seem to have large birds, that has not been my experience. My partridge are much smaller than the Whites. They have completely different personalities and habits. The white birds are very businesslike, I guess you could say. The partridge hens are very sweet, and generally spend most of their time being broody. What happen then is that this time of year, I have more partridge laying than whites, as the whites have gone though a very hard molt, and are now busy growing back feathers. All the birds ( of more than one breed) that were broody during the year have yet to molt, and are still laying. The whites will start laying again in a while after their feathers have grown in, and I do not use supplemental light. All the pullets will lay through their first winter without any light. I never use supplemental light, because I need to know who lays without it, for one thing.

These birds are raised and let loose together. I separate out my breeding groups in spring so that I know what is going on, as I also do pedigree breeding. If you breed the partridge and whites together, all you have are some pretty crossbreds.

As far as habits from one rubbing off on the other. No........ They are what they are. Again, that is my experience.

Early this last spring, I had around 100 babies in a grow out pen. Unknown to me, we had 2 families of hawks, cooper's and sharp-shinned living near that pen. Before we knew it, we had lost almost all of the Partridge babies. I lost one white. The whites are very hawk wary, and the partridge spent all their time with their heads down scratching. So much for the coloration making a difference. I have never ever lost an adult white bird to hawks, even though they roam several acres away from their home base. I have come to the conclusion that hawk watching, rather than feather color determines survival from hawks. That is just speaking from my experience.

As far as cold hardiness, both birds do just fine in Wisconsin winters. Most of my birds go through the winter in uninsulated mobile huts.

Both breeds (yes, I am one of the people who consider them separate breeds) lay brownish eggs.

Please realize that these are my conclusions based on my own experience and research. Others have reported similar findings, but I cannot speak for them.

Any more questions??

 

[Chantecler7]

As I have stated many times before, you can't judge an entire breed with a small sample. There are many strains of whites and there are many strains of partridge and buff. Further, Barred Rocks are not the same as White Rocks or Partridge Rocks, or Buff Rocks or Silver Penciled Rocks. You could say that about the different varieties of any breed. With regard to the "two breeds" thing, there are differences between the varieties of any breed, and there are differences between the different strains of one variety. Individuals may disagree, but individuals don't get to make that determination. The question has been visited and revisited by the American Poultry Association, and they have decided there is one breed and two recognized varieties of Chantecler. There are also at least three varieties of bantam Chantecler, two of which are recognized. I would caution anyone against painting with a broad brush based on limited experiences. The best thing to do is try birds from a number of different sources, monitor results, and then form opinions - which may differ from that of others based on their own experiences. .

 

[RhodeRunner]

so have you decided?

im still torn but leaning towards the partridge. i mean logically they can both handle the cold the same as they are both with the same attributes.. however the partridge should be more able to soak up the sun and stay warm.. to my thinking.

also the partridge has brown eggs which for some reason seem to be the "accepted" form of a free range egg. people like brown.

those two reasons are why i am leaning there.. whats your thinking? and reasoning?

All the color varieties of the Chantecler lay brown eggs. So, that doesn't have to be a determining factor.

 

[RhodeRunner]

Well, a couple of posters on this long thread mentioned that their Whites were very active foragers, while their Partridges stayed closer to the coop. All things being equal, I'd like to have chickens that can pick up some of their own food part of the year, at least. As long as my dog does her job and keeps the predators away!

Kathleen

I didn't notice any foraging difference between our Partridges or Whites.

 

[RhodeRunner]

who has any views on getting whites and partridge both? they will obviously interbreed but you could keep a rooster of each and make sure you keep the flock from only purebread.. anyone? i was debating this.

ive found previously that chickens will take habbits from each other, might work to train the partridge to forage

We started with the Partridge variety, and found them to be a great homesteading breed. They mature rather quickly, and developed with a solid frame, so you can pretty much eat them at any age. The roosters grow around 9.5 - 13 pounds, and the hens around 6.5 - 8 pounds. The hens start laying around five to six months, and are good layers of large (Grade A) brown eggs. They do get very broody. The temperament has been excellent with the Partridges. We never had an aggressive rooster, and the hens are quite calm and social.

I tested two groups of our Partridges Chanteclers by allowing one group to free-range, and cooping the other group. They both grew just as quickly, which we did not find true with quite a few of our other breeds. The free-rangers ate around 50% of what the caged Partridge Chanteclers consumed. We didn't have any casualties. They didn't wonder as far as our gamefowl, but that actually keeps them safer.

We liked the Partridges so much, so we bought some whites. They matured just as quickly, but where a great deal smaller. With hens maturing around 4-5 pounds, and roosters around 6.5 pounds. The roosters where extremely aggressive, and the hens where rather flightly. They where better layers then our Partridges, and ranged just as well. Unfortunately, I wasn't pleased with our whites, so I culled them. We might try them again someday, as not all lines are like the one we purchased. But, none of us are that big of a fan of the color white on a bird.