***Crevecoeur Thread***

[Sylvester017]

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!

I love that owners share about the good temperament of their Crevies. I came close to looking for a breeder to add a gentle hen to my gentles flock but one owner said her Crevies refused to go into their coop to roost and kept flying up into the trees to roost. It was the one negative that kept me from actually considering the Crevie. Small or less eggs isn't an issue for me but having a breed that stays in the yard is critical in my small yard suburban neighborhood. Crevies, Polish, Silkies, Cochin bantams, Sultans, Breda, Ameraucana, Araucana, and occasionally some EEs, fall under the gentles 5-lb-and under category. We stay away from LF, heavy, or dual-purpose breeds to eliminate dominating bullies in our smallish backyard. We love bantams but have to stay away from the flying varieties. Hence we have the flightless Silkies and a gentle BW Amer. We're expecting another Amer (blue) and Blue Breda juvies tomorrow morning thru USPS. I am crossing fingers these two new girls will be gentle smallish additions to our current 3 hens.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

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!

Thanks!! I didn't get them for egg production, more as cool looking pets, lol I was curious though.

I really like their looks, and currently have 2 little female chicks that are about 3 weeks old. They both have quite the personalities! Very funny and boisterous. Since they are a rare breed i was interested to excited to get them and i may get a rooster down the road and start a breeding project. I'm a sucker for crazy chickens (i currently have like 22 different breeds around here) and thought they would be really fun! Thanks for the info!

 

[SnowChik]

Thanks!! I didn't get them for egg production, more as cool looking pets, lol I was curious though.

I really like their looks, and currently have 2 little female chicks that are about 3 weeks old. They both have quite the personalities! Very funny and boisterous. Since they are a rare breed i was interested to excited to get them and i may get a rooster down the road and start a breeding project. I'm a sucker for crazy chickens (i currently have like 22 different breeds around here) and thought they would be really fun! Thanks for the info!

You're totally welcome!

I really love their looks too...I had some Polish growing up that weren't the brightest, so I love the fact that these Crevies know what's up, yet are really sweet too! My mom and dad were not hand raised so they're a bit more skittish, but my babies are all turning out really nice. I may have some extra roosters from the hatchings I'm doing this Spring, so if you're still interested in getting a rooster send me a PM this summer. I should have a better idea of who I'm going to use in my breeding program by then. I honestly love the roosters almost more than the hens-they've got awesome personalities!

I love that owners share about the good temperament of their Crevies. I came close to looking for a breeder to add a gentle hen to my gentles flock but one owner said her Crevies refused to go into their coop to roost and kept flying up into the trees to roost. It was the one negative that kept me from actually considering the Crevie. Small or less eggs isn't an issue for me but having a breed that stays in the yard is critical in my small yard suburban neighborhood. Crevies, Polish, Silkies, Cochin bantams, Sultans, Breda, Ameraucana, Araucana, and occasionally some EEs, fall under the gentles 5-lb-and under category. We stay away from LF, heavy, or dual-purpose breeds to eliminate dominating bullies in our smallish backyard. We love bantams but have to stay away from the flying varieties. Hence we have the flightless Silkies and a gentle BW Amer. We're expecting another Amer (blue) and Blue Breda juvies tomorrow morning thru USPS. I am crossing fingers these two new girls will be gentle smallish additions to our current 3 hens.

I think the flying thing may be indicative of the breed. Mine like to fly too, but I have to keep them enclosed due to hawks and other raptor predators in our area.

I actually live in town and keep my breeding pens at a friend's house outside the city limits (we're waiting to get in to a farm ourselves,) but the ones I have at my home in town are large fowl Cochins. You might look in to either bantam or large Cochins because they really can't fly, and they hens are usually very sweet. You can run in to the occasional Cochin rooster who's a pill, but every Cochin hen I've had has been lovely. The first show birds I owned as a kid were actually Silkies and bantam Cochins, and they seemed really well matched in temperament.

Good luck with your new girls on the way!

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

You're totally welcome!

I really love their looks too...I had some Polish growing up that weren't the brightest, so I love the fact that these Crevies know what's up, yet are really sweet too! My mom and dad were not hand raised so they're a bit more skittish, but my babies are all turning out really nice. I may have some extra roosters from the hatchings I'm doing this Spring, so if you're still interested in getting a rooster send me a PM this summer. I should have a better idea of who I'm going to use in my breeding program by then. I honestly love the roosters almost more than the hens-they've got awesome personalities!

yeah, polish are not the brightest i'll keep that in mind if i decide to start breeding I personally love rooster more than hens. They are so different and fun! and so pretty, lol

 

[Sylvester017]

I think the flying thing may be indicative of the breed. Mine like to fly too, but I have to keep them enclosed due to hawks and other raptor predators in our area.

I actually live in town and keep my breeding pens at a friend's house outside the city limits (we're waiting to get in to a farm ourselves,) but the ones I have at my home in town are large fowl Cochins. You might look in to either bantam or large Cochins because they really can't fly, and they hens are usually very sweet. You can run in to the occasional Cochin rooster who's a pill, but every Cochin hen I've had has been lovely. The first show birds I owned as a kid were actually Silkies and bantam Cochins, and they seemed really well matched in temperament.

Good luck with your new girls on the way!

It was a toss-up between Cochin bantams and Silkie bantams and as luck would have it a friend hatched several Partridge Silkie eggs she ordered for a project and I got 2 of them for free on the day they hatched. Couldn't beat the price so that was how we got Silkies instead of Cochins. Both breeds are incredibly sweet and just as broody so I don't feel jilted not having both breeds.

Thanks about the GL w/ our new girls. They arrived this morning and are really gorgeous birds. As I expected the Blue Amer is a kooky spooky jumpy jittery breed but gentle as can be when held and the Blue Breda is very inquisitive, thoughtful and calm. Hope she stays that way. The two were raised together from day-old in the same hatch so here's hoping they continue compatible. Both birds are unique and we are having so much fun observing them.

 

[SnowChik]

Hi all you Crevecoeur folks! Just wanted to share a picture of my latest Crevies hatching...still in the adorable gremlin stage!



And yes, they do fly. Here is a picture of one of my month-old cockerels William perching on the edge of the brooder/juvie pen. The funny thing is, he knows that he can't get back in if he flies out, so he never does! I can also bend my head down close to him and pet him while he's perching and he doesn't mind one bit.



I'm seriously addicted to them now!

(Yup...my husband let me use the guest bedroom as a chick nursery! He's a keeper!

)

 

[smoothmule]

Who in this group raises Creve's and has a hen for sale? I would pay well for a good hen. (would need to be able to ship)

 

[SnowChik]

Who in this group raises Creve's and has a hen for sale? I would pay well for a good hen. (would need to be able to ship)

I'm working on developing my parent flock right now, but I should have some finished hens available later this summer (probably August-September.) This year (due to my smaller flock) I will be re-homing any excess breeding birds to people who already have a Crevecoeur and are interested in breeding them, and then next year I should have the availability to ship hatching eggs and breeding pairs (once I get separate bloodlines established.)

We've got to get more people breeding these guys to save them. If you're interested later this Summer PM me and I'll keep you in the loop on how things are going. I'm also totally willing to help newbies learn how to breed and hatch these guys and keep track of genetics so that the bloodline doesn't get too badly inbred.

Crevies are awesome! So glad you're interested in them!

 

[exop]

I'd like to put in a word here if I may... I haven't been back to this thread in a good long while. Mostly it seems to be people who have just got Crevecoeurs saying positive and encouraging things to each other, which is nice, but it starts to become an echo chamber where things that need to be said are not said.

Something I would like to say is, McMurray Crèvecoeurs are not Crevecoeurs. They have a certain percentage of Crevecoeur in them, some more than others, but there is also a large amount of self black nonbearded Polish, somebody's breeding experiment which they acquired. There are also some health, robustness, and shipped chick liveability problems. The birds have a cute and needy personality, like little puppy dogs, which comes from their white crested black Polish ancestors... this is not a typical Crevecoeur personality. Anyone who has one of these cute, often beardless, Polish shaped (yes, the body shape is different) birds is most welcome to enjoy it, but should not use it as an example to promote the breed and should not pass along hatching eggs from it as a Crevecoeur. Anyone who loves this personality type and wishes to promote birds who have it, should try out the actual White Crested Black Polish (large not bantam), which also badly needs breeders. It is a deserving candidate for preservation and is one of the most ancient documented Western chicken breeds.

I will put in a good word here for Privett. Their birds look and act like Creves, although they are rather small. I strongly recommend Privett, as well as Duane Urch who can be somewhat harder to get birds from. Urch and Privett are visibly different strains but both are recognizable as the historical Crevecoeur. Size issues really need to be addressed by selective breeding within the breed. McMurray should be a case example of how crossing out can mess up the birds.

Edited to add: one of the best things that anyone can do, without committing to a long term breeding program, to keep the Crevecoeur going is to continue supporting the commercial sources: buying from reputable hatcheries, so they know people are interested in the breed.

Love

exop

 

[SnowChik]

I'd like to put in a word here if I may... I haven't been back to this thread in a good long while. Mostly it seems to be people who have just got Crèvecoeurs saying positive and encouraging things to each other, which is nice, but it starts to become an echo chamber where things that need to be said are not said.

Something I think needs to be said is McMurray Crèvecoeurs are not Crèvecoeurs. They have a certain fraction of Crèvecoeur in them, but also a large amount of self black nonbearded Polish, somebody's breeding experiment which they acquired. There are also some health, robustness, and shipped chick liveability problems. The birds have a cute and needy personality, like little puppy dogs, which comes from their white crested black Polish ancestors... this is not a typical Crèvecoeur personality. Anyone who has one of these cute, often beardless, Polish shaped (yes, the body shape is different) birds is most welcome to enjoy it, but should not use it as an example to promote the breed and should not pass along hatching eggs from it as a Crèvecoeur. Anyone who loves this personality type and wishes to promote birds who have it, should try out the actual White Crested Black Polish (large not bantam), which also badly needs breeders. It is a deserving candidate for preservation and is one of the most ancient documented Western chicken breeds.

I will put in a good word here for Privett. Their birds look and act like Creves. I strongly recommend Privett, as well as Duane Urch who can be somewhat harder to get birds from. Urch and Privett are visibly different strains but both are recognizable as the historical Crevecoeur. Size issues really need to be addressed by selective breeding within the breed. McMurray should be a case example of how crossing out does not automagically result in a win-win.

Love

exop

I totally second this! Crevies that are being bred need to conform to the breed standard as much as possible (with the known issues of the earlobe color and lack of size being worked on.) I raised WCB Polish for a long time and true Crevecoeur DEFINITELY don't act like a Polish. Mine I would call the definition of alert and "cocky"-very vigorous and inquisitive, can be flighty if you don't work with them. Extremely vigorous chicks (actually the strongest of all the birds I've got!) My Polish I always thought of as sweeties, but they were not particularly bright. (Got eaten a lot...that's why I quit doing them.)

Exop-it's so awesome to see you're back! I'd love to PM with you when you can as I'm serious about getting the breed back to the standard, and I'm trying to find out who else is serious about breeding them too. I'm not sure where my line came from (my friend was very vague about where she got them) but from researching what the "Crevecoeur" birds from hatcheries look like I can say that mine are definitely not from a hatchery line. My best guess is they might have come from Rare Feathers before they quit doing Crevecoeur, as they look most similar to the birds they used to have. I've done a lot of hunting to figure out where mine came from so that I could find others bred like them...it's not been an easy search...

Any Crevie in my group that doesn't have a healthy full crest and bearding is not included in my breeding program-I have a couple who have a little bit of red in their earlobes, but not enough that I would call them show-worthy (yet-we will work on that.) Their size is definitely bigger than a lot of the Crevecoeur I've seen, and they're bigger than a LF Polish, but not as big as the standard states. I'm working to get them there...I know my friend quietly bred them for a while, so the cock and hen I have as the parents were from the line she was working on. (She got married and moved to Pasadena where she couldn't keep them.)

Exop-I'd love to chat more when you can! Glad to see you back...even better news for the Crevecoeur!