D'uccle Thread

[SIMZ]

Cool beans.

my latest hatch- has orange chipmunk strips. thinking it's another pumpkin dilute, d'uccle/serama cross. Any other guesses as to color?

So sweet!!

 

[SIMZ]

I wanted to share a story about one of our little roosters.

My daughter got 3 Mille Fleur chicks last spring. She loved them and always played with them....and ended up with 2 roosters a hen with a gimp leg (so we thought). We discovered months later that "she" was actually a "he", even though we'd been crediting him with laying some of our OEGB's eggs. LOL

"Rosebud" has become "R. Bud" and is the sweetest little guy I've ever seen. We can always count on him to come up when we're out there, fly up on something and chatter away. We just love that little guy!

 

[warmheart]

If going through a hatchery was one's only option, which hatchery's lines might be most likely to provide Mille Fleur D'uccle hatching eggs that would produce a more calm bird? Thanks for your input!

An aquaintance selecting hatching eggs for a school project likely must go through a hatchery. My home may take the resulting chicks. I'd like birds who will be fairly calm, especially if/when handled.

I know D'uccles aren't the calmest, and that temperament in lines vary. Calmest hatchery lines?

 

[mstricer]

Did you try the BSA section. Most hatchery eggs are not as fresh as one might think. If I had eggs I would sell you some. My girls aren't laying yet. As for them being calm, it's how you raise them. Most are calm, roosters loud and can be testy, no mater how you raise them.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

I had great luck with Ideal. But it's like any individual. Some will always look up to you as alpha and some are just always going to be individuals. It just depends on how you raise them. I start my flock indoors for the first two months, where they get plenty of interaction with humans. Then they go outside into a huge coop with the others, but they aren't allowed free range during the day like the older birds. After another month, I'll leave the coop open during the day and let them make their choice. Every time they see me, they know I have food and will all come running. Really, the only time I handle them is checking them. Even wilder birds, like the Spangled Hamburgs, can learn to cuddle if that's what you want.

From Ideal, I'd say half were show quality and the other half were extremely nice. That's how close to standards they are breeding for. I used Welp and got poor quality: too much white and no middle toe feathering. Half my black milles from them have a weird blue on them. If they were real blue< I would have expected some gold necks, but they have black and blue feathers on the same bird. Like this



I'm growing this guy out just to see how he ends up.
Sorry I couldn't really give you more insight to calmness. By the way, D'uccles ARE one of the more friendly birds. Not sure who said they are flighty. They can fly, and will hop onto the roof occasionally, but they'll come when called...

 

[warmheart]

Thank you Lorilynfarms for your answer! I really appreciate your input. Unfortunately, Ideal won't sell hatching eggs unless it's a full dozen, and the project needs just 6. McMurray only sells eggs as a "bantam assortment." Thank you for the heads-up on Welp. This is challenging.

I love your methods of accustoming the chicks to human caring and voice!

 

[SIMZ]

Warmheart -- I just sent you a PM about hatching eggs.

 

[warmheart]

Thank you, Simz!

 

[Phoenix Farms]

11 months old and still no eggs. Is this normal? My oldest pullet is a Booted and my Millie Fluers are like, 4 months old and super tiny.

Also, one of my Mille Roos, the most mature, is mean. He bites my hand or finger when I go to grab him or anyother of the chicks. He, 2 pullets and a BLRSW roo are inside because they wouldn't stay out of the rain. I socialized all of them since I bought them but he is mean. My Sablepoot (Booted) rooster is mean to the 10 week old chicks my broody hatched. He only get mean to them once they get in an older age. Anyone know how I can stop this.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

I dispatch mean ones. There are too many nice birds that need homes to put up, and breed, bad tempers.