***Crevecoeur Thread***

[ShelbyCoral]

So sorry to hear Mr. Fox took your 2 rescued rare boys.  I thought Crevies would be prone to fly out of the way of a ground predator since they like to roost in trees but maybe the boys were still too young to be alert.  Since they originally escaped slaughter yet still wound up killed perhaps the better death would've been to humanely/quickly butcher them as table meat rather than to be wasted in a predator attack - hindsight is always 20/20!  Crevies don't seem to be very predator-savvy and yet they crave open active foraging - what a dichotomy!

Seems like the Crevies are difficult to breed to a consistant standard.  Anytime I see a photo of one it looks different from a previous photo I've seen - if you can please post a photo of your new baby with a later update of how it grew up.  I'd love to see pics.  Of all the Crevie research I've done this thread has the most information and experience from owners - I hope you find the information helpful on this thread. 

From my research I understand Crevies are a bit difficult to keep from roosting in trees rather than returning to their coop, that they are shy creatures and non-combative, can be confined but have an extra need for active free-range foraging - after researching these attributes I decided against getting any.  I like my chickens to be as close to pets, sweet, and as manageable as a chicken can get but still have excellent predator-savviness, not be flighty, and return to its coop to roost on its own at dusk - my favourite to meet my needs so far being an APA Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (my avatar) - alert, quick to sound the barnyard alert, wary, non-combative toward her flockmates, and craves human inter-action like holding, petting, and conversations.  

I felt the challenge of an independent yet shy temperament Crevie would be more than I wanted to handle. But I really appreciate people who want to work at preserving this chicken or any rare breed for that matter!  It takes special kinds of people to take on the challenges of special rare breeds.

The fox is like a coyote just orange... it's so big! It jumps over 5 ft tall fencing. The fox took the one in front of me, I ran after it because I heard my crveie crying and it hurt me physically. I don't like my chickens taken front me.
The fox did get hit by a car, but it was so big, it damaged the person car. But, it's baby fox came again and took my cochin and so I ran after it again crying. I did get him back. So i know I can chase them now.

Anyway! The baby looks silver and black? She is still wet.

 

[Sylvester017]

The fox is like a coyote just orange... it's so big! It jumps over 5 ft tall fencing. The fox took the one in front of me, I ran after it because I heard my crveie crying and it hurt me physically. I don't like my chickens taken front me.
The fox did get hit by a car, but it was so big, it damaged the person car. But, it's baby fox came again and took my cochin and so I ran after it again crying. I did get him back. So i know I can chase them now.

Anyway! The baby looks silver and black? She is still wet.

So glad you don't have a bleeding heart for aggressive wildlife behavior and have no qualms about actively protecting your family, domesticated animals, and private property from intrusive aggressive critters! My city has an overactive population of possums and coons so I love it when they're spotted as road-kill on the street. My DD has a forested preserve behind her city property so she gets Deer, Skunks, Coyotes, Feral Dogs/Cats, Rattlesnakes, Rats, Mice, Rabbits, Possums, Raccoons, Squirrels, Hawks, Bobcats - once a Mountain Lion and a Black Bear have been caught on night camera. The only forest critters we haven't seen yet are Wolves, Wild Pigs, Foxes, or Weasels. Skunks and Rabbits toodle across her patio like they own her place. Her dog has been Skunk-sprayed twice and bitten by a Rattlesnake once. I told her these species are not endangered and not to feel guilty about destroying the trespassers before they breed and she gets 10 times more visitors the following season! I babysat her home for 2 weeks and spotted nearly all the above critters while I was there. One lovely morning I had the pleasure of picking up trash-can garbage for an hour after a Raccoon(s) had pushed over the huge heavy bin and tore open every bag with garbage and dragged it to every area of the back lawn! If it were me I wouldn't play nice with wildlife that doesn't play nice on my own property. We had a neighbor whose German Shepherd was always loose and had been cited by animal control in the past. The big mutt picked up a dog buddy and they broke down our gate to get to our coop but a good neighbor saved our hens. We had to repair the gate and for extra security added a 2nd gate a few feet beyond in case it tried to break in again. We were so glad to hear they moved out of the neighborhood!!

Your baby sounds so cute. Maybe after she dries off she'll sprout a little downy crest and beard? Pics please! Will this baby grow up without a companion chick? We had to raise a lone Dom chick once and it would've been much easier if there were two of them to keep each other company since the single chick followed us all over the house - she didn't like being alone.

 

[ShelbyCoral]

So glad you don't have a bleeding heart for aggressive wildlife behavior and have no qualms about actively protecting your family, domesticated animals, and private property from intrusive aggressive critters!  My city has an overactive population of possums and coons so I love it when they're spotted as road-kill on the street.  My DD has a forested preserve behind her city property so she gets Deer, Skunks, Coyotes, Feral Dogs/Cats, Rattlesnakes, Rats, Mice, Rabbits, Possums, Raccoons, Squirrels, Hawks, Bobcats - once a Mountain Lion and a Black Bear have been caught on night camera.  The only forest critters we haven't seen yet are Wolves, Wild Pigs, Foxes, or Weasels.  Skunks and Rabbits toodle across her patio like they own her place.  Her dog has been Skunk-sprayed twice and bitten by a Rattlesnake once.  I told her these species are not endangered and not to feel guilty about destroying the trespassers before they breed and she gets 10 times more visitors the following season!  I babysat her home for 2 weeks and spotted nearly all the above critters while I was there.  One lovely morning I had the pleasure of picking up trash-can garbage for an hour after a Raccoon(s) had pushed over the huge heavy bin and tore open every bag with garbage and dragged it to every area of the back lawn!  If it were me I wouldn't play nice with wildlife that doesn't play nice on my own property.  We had a neighbor whose German Shepherd was always loose and had been cited by animal control in the past.  The big mutt picked up a dog buddy and they broke down our gate to get to our coop but a good neighbor saved our hens.  We had to repair the gate and for extra security added a 2nd gate a few feet beyond in case it tried to break in again.  We were so glad to hear they moved out of the neighborhood!!

Your baby sounds so cute.  Maybe after she dries off she'll sprout a little downy crest and beard?  Pics please!  Will this baby grow up without a companion chick?  We had to raise a lone Dom chick once and it would've been much easier if there were two of them to keep each other company since the single chick followed us all over the house - she didn't like being alone.

My Silkie just hatched one of her first chicks. I took the chick and put it with my crevie. Don't worry my silkie won't get mad. She only incubated eggs... once she is done, she wants to find more eggs. So i have no choice but to take the chickies...

Her name is Marshmella and she steals eggs. Lifts them up and takes them to her nest under her wing. It's crazy I know!!! She has 5 more eggs under her so my Crevie will have allot of companians.

Picture? Did someone ask for a picture!?!? Sure! Haha!

Her friend is a splash maransx sweetish flower hen.

 

[ShelbyCoral]

I honestly love her beak! The top is all black and her bottom beak is all white! Will it stay that way? I hope so...

 

[Miss Ashly]

I just wanted to pop my head in and say that I just placed an order for both Crevecoeur and La Flèche chicks from Ideal as well as hatching eggs from Urch. My chicks should arrive March12th and the eggs... Who knows?! I'm very excited to start my own mini flock of both the Crevecoeur and La Flèche and have thoroughly enjoyed this thread.

Hopefully, I'll be adding some photos in a month of my new babes!

 

[Sylvester017]

I just wanted to pop my head in and say that I just placed an order for both Crevecoeur and La Flèche chicks from Ideal as well as hatching eggs from Urch. My chicks should arrive March12th and the eggs... Who knows?! I'm very excited to start my own mini flock of both the Crevecoeur and La Flèche and have thoroughly enjoyed this thread.

Hopefully, I'll be adding some photos in a month of my new babes!

Those are 2 interesting breeds you picked. I assume they will be in separate areas? The La Fleche are a bit aggressive and the Crevies are more gentle. I just love the rare breeds to see how/what ppl are doing in their projects!

 

[Miss Ashly]

Those are 2 interesting breeds you picked. I assume they will be in separate areas? The La Fleche are a bit aggressive and the Crevies are more gentle. I just love the rare breeds to see how/what ppl are doing in their projects!

Yes! The La Fleche have their own living quarters! The Crevies are shacked up with a silkie and a couple of bantams!

 

[SnowChik]

Congrats on your new Crevies MissAshley!

I'm also getting in to my first Crevecoeur babies this spring! I got my mom and dad from a friend who wanted to get rid of them. (She had to move and her mom didn't like them.) I have utterly fell in love with the breed thanks to those little guys!

My first babies are 2 weeks old right now-I'd love to keep in touch and compare notes on how yours are doing! So far mine are all turning out just like their dad, who is like a feathered black rototiller. ;-) I took a video of them trashing the brooder looking for imaginary food only 5 minutes after I'd cleaned it and all the feeders and waterers. I love that they're so instinctual! And smart! I've never had chicks figure things out like scratching and flying and dust bathing so quickly. They're the little ringleaders and teach my Orpingtons and LF Cochins how to do everything.

I definitely want to breed these guys seriously because they're too awesome a breed to die out!

Here's a couple picture of my mom and dad, and one of my new babies.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

hey, i was wondering, do both girls and boys have the "horns" or just the roos? Also, what is their egg production like? Thanks!

 

[SnowChik]

hey, i was wondering, do both girls and boys have the "horns" or just the roos? Also, what is their egg production like? Thanks!

Not sure about other folks' Crevies, but my mom has very small horns that you can barely see at the base of her crest. Her egg production is seasonal and she lays a very nice quality petite white egg. It's really similar in size to a LF Polish egg. When she's in season she'll lay daily, but out of season she will sometimes not lay at all. I honestly wouldn't recommend them for egg production due to the size and frequency issues. (In our household we live by the motto "every egg is precious" so as many as possible are being hatched, not eaten.)

That said, we really need as many people as possible interested in the breed if it is to survive, and they're honestly the most intelligent chickens I've ever raised (and I've been breeding show poultry for a very long time.) I know my sample size is small right now (only mom and dad are adult) but all of their babies are coming out with the same personality and joie de vivre. If you're considering a Crevecoeur, I say go for it! They're a blast!