Chicken Breed Focus - Houdan

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Are there houdan bantams?

There used tho be, haven't heard from or of anyone with them in a while.

 

[JaeG]

Darn, you're in new Zealand? That hen has the most depth I've seen on one in years. I'd love tho get my hands on some of that!

There are a small group of people working on them here. As a breed it was almost lost and no birds outside the commercial poultry industry can be imported to NZ so its a good thing they were saved. That's my Dorothy who is about 7 years old now. She's always been the gentle leader of our flock. Her legs are yellow so she's not show quality but she is a very pretty girl.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

There are a small group of people working on them here. As a breed it was almost lost and no birds outside the commercial poultry industry can be imported to NZ so its a good thing they were saved. That's my Dorothy who is about 7 years old now. She's always been the gentle leader of our flock. Her legs are yellow so she's not show quality but she is a very pretty girl.

Our birds here are largely very small and light bodied, my Houdans are lighter in weight than my Leghorns!

 

[FluffyFaverolles]

Beautiful birds, the head feathering isn’t as fancy looking as some other breeds, but that’s ok. More of a punk rock look. Love em

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Beautiful birds, the head feathering isn’t as fancy looking as some other breeds, but that’s ok. More of a punk rock look. Love em

Depends on the line, most I've seen here in the states are every bit as ridiculous as a Polish because they have had Polish bred into them.

 

[Chicken_loverXx]

Yes I owned 2 houdans recently Donald disappeared sadly I think something got her ☹ but I still have one, boris ❤

they could be houdan bantams but I’m not sure because they are tiny like my pekin bantams

 

[Allthefloofs]

Our Houdan Spots is one of the nicest chickens we have ever had. She is a lap chicken that adores people. Her temperament can’t be beat. I don’t know if it is a breed trait but she is just lovely. From now on we will probably always have at least one in our flock if not more.

 

[lisa73me]

I would love to get into these someday, hopefully a breeder shows up in this thread.

Message me! I know someone!

 

[Allthefloofs]

Depends on the line, most I've seen here in the states are every bit as ridiculous as a Polish because they have had Polish bred into them.

This is interesting to me because our Houdan bears almost no resemblance to our polish (I have 5, buff laced, white crested black and some tolbunts), she is very much heavier, sweeter and much larger than our polish. Ours is hatchery quality too. Are there places I shouldn't order from? I ask because I want more and may not necessarily want to use the same hatchery and would actually prefer to order from a breeder if possible to support them.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

I haven't handled a lot of Polish, but Houdans are supposed to weigh 6.5-8 lbs, Polish should be more around 4.5-6lbs. My Houdans are Polish weight, if yours are heavier I'd love to know which hatchery she's from! These are from Cackle, I've been trying to coordinate with breeders up North for over a year to get some with no luck.