***Crevecoeur Thread***

[333113]

At what age should we be seeing the V-comb in the cockerels, and how much? When is it sure to be fully developed? @ConnieA maybe you know this one?

Depending on how large the comb is, you may see a hint of comb as early as two months in hens and roos. Some roos have larger combs than others. I know some breeders are selecting for smaller combs and wattles.

BTW, behavior can be a really good predictor of sex in Crevecoeurs. Boys tend to rush up to another chick and get tall, on tiptoes, even. If the chick he rushed to was a boy, there will be at least a brief response of going on tiptoes to meet the challenge. If a girl, she will respond with a stare, or by ignoring the boy and walking away.

 

[Zuramir]

Mine are 2 months old...

and one is developing a comb while the other is not. They both jump and kick their feet at each other but also snuggle and are really attached to one another. Their tails are quite different as well, one being more straight up and the other going more out (that’s the one developing the comb). Neither have waffles or telltale saddle feathers, I can’t imagine that they could be the same sex though as different as they look from each other. Right??? They are from the same clutch but one was a late hatcher and needed help out even. That’s the one who was smallest in the beginning- maybe still- and the one with no comb.

 

[Zuramir]

Haha waffles!! autocorrect does it every time! Obviously meant wattles.

 

[Sylvester017]

@alexisrambles

Don't know what kind of hawks you have in your area but we have Cooper's Hawks. Every Spring fledgling juvenile hawks often sit on our fence or roof or lawn furniture surveying our hens. For 9 years now I've kept pop-up canopies in the chicken yard to purposely clutter-up air space so the hawks have no open area to swoop down on unsuspecting hens before they can quickly hide. For added protection we've added 5 large dog houses and several makeshift lean-to benches and planted some dwarf trees to give the girls lots of nearby places to hide so they don't have to run in the open. Apparently hawks prefer swooping down on running prey or catch prey aerially rather than do ground-battle with prey -- so we tried to clutter-up open spaces. Even our vulnerable crested 9-yr-old 2-lb Silkie has been safe in our setting. For what it's worth here's our backyard set-up:

A 4-ft (2"x4") wire fence divides our people/garden patio from the chicken yard which has 3 pop-up canopies, 5 dog houses, and 4 makeshift lean-to benches

The largest canopy is over a 4x4 dustbath sandbox which stays dry during downpours and provides shade during heatwaves (2 small Pomegranate seedling trees at back wall are taller than the canopies now!).

3 seedling trees were planted and wire protected last year and some have reached over 7 feet this year and provide shade for the hens -- this is one of our Meyer Dwarf seedlings from last year (Cuckoo Breda hen in photo).

View from the people/garden patio with chicken yard in distance (last year).

Some makeshift benches the hens like to snooze under (2 Dominique hens in forefront).

This 4-ft wide walkway is view from the coop run door leading to the first canopy with sandbox. The bench was erected to give the hens shade and provide hiding in the open walkway space. We use all the benches to sit and visit with the girls to feed them treats. I would've preferred having prettier purchased benches for the yard but these makeshift benches have longer measurements to provide better cover for the girls -- so I sacrificed pretty benches to have practical lean-to's. (Dominique hen in photo) .

This year some of last year's seedling trees have grown as tall as the pop-up canopies!

 

[SharW75]

Does this little one look like a Crevecoeur? It was in the bantam bin at our TSC.

 

[Zuramir]

Does this little one look like a Crevecoeur? It was in the bantam bin at our TSC.

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Looks like it to me. here are mine at about 3.5 weeks

 

[333113]

Does this little one look like a Crevecoeur? It was in the bantam bin at our TSC.

View attachment 2200980

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Yes, looks like Crevecoeur, to me.

 

[SharW75]

Wow, how lucky for us! Now I hope it's a hen! Thank you!

 

[Sylvester017]

Wow, how lucky for us! Now I hope it's a hen! Thank you!

Crevies are so rare even a cockerel may be worth keeping

 

[Zuramir]

Crevies are so rare even a cockerel may be worth keeping

I think I have one of each and will be rehoming them as a pair if so. They are so close and attached to each other it seems cruel to separate them and I’m not allowed a roo.