D'uccle Thread

[chicken grandma]

I have one D'uccle hen, 2 years old. Her photo is by my name. Does anyone live near me? I would like to add my hen to a flock or adopt another hen so she has company!

 

[wegotchickens]

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Where are you in NC? Do you ever get into TN at all?

 

[SuperChiks]

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Where are you in NC? Do you ever get into TN at all?

I'm in Granville county - but I could get to you - i LOVE that area.

 

[NateinFL]

Thank you Lori, nice looking cockerel! Can't imagine two extra teenage girls at the house...I teach high school and I will be teaching Algebra to 125 teenagers in under 2 weeks but it's okay my Summer has worn itself out...days are getting boring spending way too much time playing comptuer games.

I wish those needing milles lived closer, I have an overstock of babies right now, I only keep 1 in 3 once I get an idea of what they'll develop into. My incubator has been running almost nonstop for months now, sure that is contributing to the high electric bill but its totally worth it.

 

[SuperChiks]

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Willing to ship?

 

[NateinFL]

Yeah, let me see how many girls I get out of this latest bunch...never shipped birds before but I know it can be done and I'll do it. This winter I was hatching all girls and now it's mostly boys...but okay b/c I need better roos anyways. I'll let you know in a few weeks.

 

[SuperChiks]

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ok great thank you!

 

[Nimby Chickens]

So I went and counted the spikes on the combs... Cornelius has 4 (not including the front and back doodlies) and Barnaby has 5. How many are they supposed to have? Dolly's comb is too small to tell right now but her beard is coming in! She's a real cutie pie!

 

[wegotchickens]

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You're welcome Nate!
I actually think this boy has too much white at this age, but the judges these days are VERY into color, so I will probably keep him. Standard says the spangles should be quite small, but the judges are consistantly awarding the birds with the best middle toe feathers and biggest consistent spangles. The toes I totally agree with, the big spangles are not accurate.... But who's going to argue with the judges, right?

I have more mf than I can keep right now as well. The 2 older girls are from a different bloodline but not as nice of a type. They are currently for sale along with a young cockeral. My own girls are spot on, and aging until the next show so I can see how they look. Since I sold most of the oldest birds I can keep more juvies.

I am about ready to sell my white pair. Just dont have time to make them look spiffy enough for the shows, and let them be chickens the rest of the time. I will sell them in September at a local show. I will stick with mf, lav, black and goldneck for the winter. I really love the black, both the color and their personality. They are sociable as my milles, and one is more so. She scolds me if I don't cuddle her during my chicken chores. Cute, except when I'm in a hurry.

For those who want docile d'Uccles, I recommend hand-feeding and handling them almost every day. I have small pens that they stay in when young, and get them out every day, look them over, and some days they go to an outside 'play pen' for the day. I feed them once a day and keep my hand near the feeder for a couple of minutes. So the boldest get to eat first, and all of them love to see me coming. I try to only keep the friendliest of the birds that look the best. A docile bird of decent quality will get better marks than a perfect bird that's psycho when the judges are there.

I am about to sell a goldneck roo who will be the perfect child's show bird. He is as gentle as a lamb when I get him out of his box and put him away each night. He takes good care of his ladies, but I've bred him already and have his 'kids', plus need the space. I love gentle, friendly birds. I've sold many that were so sweet the kids could take them inside to watch cartoons after school. That makes me happy!

 

[wegotchickens]

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There should be 5 points, evenly spaced. The front of the comb counts for points but the 'blade' at the back does not count but should have only one tip and not a bunch of bumps.

This means my mf roo does not have a perfect comb. But comb issues are only 1/2 point unless there's a dq level fault, so I'm happy with him.