Chantecler Thread!

[Quechicks]

sorry for the mistakes ;-)

 

[Quechicks]

Did you notice if the lost had anything to do with the fact that their weren't any mature roo around to warn the babies? Here the only lost to a predator that I got was at the beginning when I had only young birds without experiences. Now I can hear the roo warning the troup when something strange is happening. And the minute the dog hear the roo or a hen she is running like hell toward the roo to see what is going on...too cute ;-)

 

[Arielle]

sorry for the mistakes ;-)

YOu are doing fine-- I only work in Engish these days and still make lots of mistakes. lol Keep posting away!!

 

[RhodeRunner]

I hope you will try again cause tge way you describe tgem well...doesn't sound Chantecler to me.. way too small and the rois aren't agressive though almost all the starting brreds were "fighting" breeds.....you have to have that proud and fighting looks in the male....

Isabelle

heheh. We called them Cushion combed Leghorns, as they didn't seem like Chanteclers at all. I'm certainly not holding our experience against the whites, I'm sure there are much better strains then the one we purchased. I might try the whites again, but I'm not in any hurry.

 

[GhislaineDel]

Hi, I just wanted to post as I've just finished reading this entire thread. Despite my proximity to Quebec (Vermont), I admit that I'd like to get the Partridge. Sounds like I won't be practicing my French with any breeders up there though I live close enough to the border to do so. J'ai d'habitude de parler français avec ma famille belge donc j'ai des fois du mal avec la vitesse des Quebecois!

 

[Quechicks]

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??

YOu are doing fine-- I only work in Engish these days and still make lots of mistakes. lol  Keep posting away!!

Most breeders would agree, I think, that the written description takes precedence over any photo, drawing, or artist's painting.
Here is what the APA Standard says about the female Chantecler back and tail.
Back:  Long, broad at shoulders, sloping slightly downward to rear, where it curves sharply into tail.
Tail:    Medium length; moderately well spread, carried at an angle of 30 degrees above horizontal.  (emphasis mine)

Artists and breeders will interpret the wording differently, and to each his own tastes.   But I don't see any of the pullets shown above, including the one I posted, where there is a sharp curve from back to tail or a 30 degree angle.  Granted, photos don't tell the whole story.
I suppose we will have to agree to disagree on what "moderately well spread" means, and that is okay.   But in order to accomplish a 30 degree angle and still have a sharp curve from back to tail, I think we can agree the back needs to slope from front to rear, and the feathering in the cushion area needs to be fairly tight and close .    I'm working on that with my own birds, and yes, have chosen to breed the darker birds almost exclusively because I think once you lose that it will be very difficult if not impossible to recover short of an outcross.   Having said that, I did pick up one young pullet in Montana this fall that has the back and tail and body length I want, but has that lighter ground color and the concomitant yellow hackles.   She will be introduced into my line next season using an extra dark mahogany male that goes about ten pounds..    Chicks will be toe punched at hatch for subsequent identification, so we'll see what happens.    A work in progress by all means.   Keep up the good work.  And why not consider joining CFI?  Four newsletters per year, an annual breeders directory, and contact with fellow Chantecler folks.   We have quite a few Canadian members, including two of our four Directors.

The back angle is a bit harder to reach on a pullet than a roo. Here I take the standard picture (drawing) of a pullet of frère Wilfrid and aim toward the same body. The problem on a roo and pullet's back is to reach and strait back but leaning backward without a bumb on the back and tail at 30 degree...on the pullet you will often see a strait back with a 30 degree tail wich is ok if you look at frere wilfrid picture

 

[Chantecler7]

Could you post a copy of the picture you are referring to? Thanks.

 

[coopslave]

Quechicks, I agree. I will take a flat back with a sharp curve to a tail over a back that starts at the neck and rises up to the tip of the tail like the Wyandottes have.

The slight slope down is a tough one to get. I would say the Cornish influenced that in the Chantecler and I think there has been far more infusion of Wyandotte in the recent past than Cornish for sure!! Don't want that hackle black problem to come up either!! lol

Chantecler7, that sharp curve they speak about is at the base of the tail, not the base of the neck. A flat back allows that sharp curve to the tail where a back sloping up prevents that sharp curve.

 

[Quechicks]

Could you post a copy of the picture you are referring to?  Thanks.

Of course I will as soon as I get home ;-)

 

[Quechicks]

Here's an example of his coq...

As for the pullet I take this picture and superimpose a picture of my pullet on top of it and check the difference (you know the 2 pictures are the same scale) same for the roo...

There is the same one in the Chantecler document from Frere Wilfrid...