Chantecler Thread!

[TimG]

I have limited knowledge, so please confirm with someone else before just accepting this. But, it is my understanding that the male Partridge Chantecler should have a very dark/black chest. Like the one in your first picture. The second one that say you can feel his breastbone also has very light/red/buff coloring on his chest. So, while he make be pleasing to the eye, I don't think he conforms very well to color standard. (I agree with you, btw, if I had to choose coloring that I liked, it would be the lighter 2nd one, but I don't believe that the standard agrees.)

Where did you get your start with Partridge Chanteclers?

Tim

 

[azhenhouse]

Years ago, as a novice Orpington breeder, I would take all my birds to a show and allow the judge to decide. they will usually place to 5th or 6th place. Since not as many will have your variety/breed yours may be the only ones there. If any males place, keep them. the ones that do not place, cull to the freezer. If you enter them in a State Fair you will also win $$$$ in premiums for entering them.

You may also be able to find a poultry judge near you and for a small fee/expenses may visit your farm and help you cull.

My son is taking some to our country fair, but they will be the only ones there. I think we are the only ones in Arizona to have them. Great idea on the State Fair. We were planning on culling in the next few weeks, but we'll spare some to take to State. We will try to pick out the ones I think are the best, and go from there. Thx

 

[Blackhorsehill]

If you have 13 roos to choose from, then I would make your selection based on the best overall bird as a first choice, and keep a backup. I learned this the hard way, when I went a long time without a good roo for one of my breeds, when the one I had died and I couldn't find a replacement.

The first rooster seems to me like a good choice. He seems to display most of the qualities you want, including the black breast. His wattles may get larger. Ideally, you want minimal to no wattles, but you can certainly cull in your future generations. Start with what you have. I made the mistake of not selecting enough for size, and now my Partridge birds look pretty good, but they are toooooo small. The second does not have the black breast. There are some good pictures of Partridge Chantecler here. http://www.cherrycreekcanadians.ca/chanteclers.htm

If you don't belong to the yahoo group, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/chanteclerpoultry/ you might want to join. There have been some good discussions lately on breeding. Also, Chantecler Fanciers International has a newsletter, I think every four months? I can't remember. Anyhow, I believe the last one was devoted to breeding the Partridge variety.

And, last but not least, did Jim mention he has started a great facebook page for the Chantecler??

 

[azhenhouse]

If you have 13 roos to choose from, then I would make your selection based on the best overall bird as a first choice, and keep a backup. I learned this the hard way, when I went a long time without a good roo for one of my breeds, when the one I had died and I couldn't find a replacement.

The first rooster seems to me like a good choice. He seems to display most of the qualities you want, including the black breast. His wattles may get larger. Ideally, you want minimal to no wattles, but you can certainly cull in your future generations. Start with what you have. I made the mistake of not selecting enough for size, and now my Partridge birds look pretty good, but they are toooooo small. The second does not have the black breast. There are some good pictures of Partridge Chantecler here. http://www.cherrycreekcanadians.ca/chanteclers.htm

If you don't belong to the yahoo group, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/chanteclerpoultry/ you might want to join. There have been some good discussions lately on breeding. Also, Chantecler Fanciers International has a newsletter, I think every four months? I can't remember. Anyhow, I believe the last one was devoted to breeding the Partridge variety.

And, last but not least, did Jim mention he has started a great facebook page for the Chantecler??

Thanks for the information, and I will being checking out the websites. Appreciate it.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

We are not suppose to "publicly" post links to similar forums on BYC.

 

[Blackhorsehill]

We are not suppose to "publicly" post links to similar forums on BYC.

AAck I did not know that. Hope I don't get in trouble.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
The BYC staff will see you are new and usually overlook it with just a warning or a reminder. Now when I do something, I get sent to a corner without my dinner!

By the way...

 

[RhodeRunner]

Interesting reading. My 2 Partridge Chanteclers are from Ideal. They will be 10 weeks in 2 days.
They clearly have the cushion comb and based on coloring are girls

But I have a question: One has an "up" tail, the other a "down" tail. I'm not breeding so it doesn't matter either way but is one a correct form and the other incorrect? Just trying to figure out how "type proper" they are so others MIGHT know what to expect from Ideal 's PCs. Reading various threads it seems that some hatcheries do "better" type-wise with some breeds than others and potentially "better" with a breed than a different hatchery. I have no idea how many PCs they hatch on a given day but I suspect it is highly likely that any 2 birds you get from a hatchery are not related, unlikely the same mom and depending on how many roosters they have, not the same dad either. Thus, YMMV (or is that Your Chicken May Vary?)

Thanks,
Bruce

The Partridge Chantecler needs a lot of work in the tail department. What you are seeing is hens with short tails The hen without the tail sticking up will have a very short bunny tail. The other pullet will still have a short tail, but it will be longer. Medium length tails are desired.

A hen with a short tail


Pullet with a longer tail

 

[RhodeRunner]

azhenhouse

4.5 months is very young. Your cockerels are still growing, so I do not recommend a final selection. However, culling out some of those boys can definitely be done, starting with that solid red cockerel.

When culling through my Chanteclers, the first thing I do is walk into the coop with a weight scale. The Chantecler should be a heavy breed (the standard says 8.5 for roosters, and 6.5 for hens) however, I like them a bit heavier. Keep in mind that once you loose weight, it is very difficult to regain it. So select for it early on! You can always cull for better color, combs, and so forth in the future.

From your pictures and writing, cockerel number one looks promising. I would hold onto him, and let him grow if he is your heaviest cockerel. Hold onto all the other boys that are around his weight, have a good amount of meat on their breasts, and have no serious defects.

Cockerel number two is far from the standard, and I would cull him. Not having weight on his breast is a biggie, as well as his color. Though color is the least important factor while breeding, that boy is too far from the standard. Roosters should have black chests, although allowing some red flecking will help keep the hens color nice.

As the other said, keep a couple roosters. The day you cull all but one rooster, is the day your rooster dies.

 

[BonneTerreChick]

I know its a long shot, but I am wondering if there is anyone out there that has a couple partridge Chantecler pullets/hens available. We hatched eggs and ended up with only two roosters. They are the friendliest of the multitude of roosters we hatched(I ended up with 15 cockerels and 4 pullets!). I really would like to keep these guys, but need some girls for them if I am going to do that. I can use some meat hens with them, from a project a friend is doing, but would really like a couple, or even one, nice girl to put with them to keep producing straight/true partridge Chantecler. Anyone have any or know of someone that might?