D'uccle Thread

[Phoenix Farms]

Dispatch them? As in sell them? My booted rooster is only mean when it's eating time. As all chickens are. He will just kinda peck at them and chase them away until he is done eating. But every time my Mille has pecked me I just pick him up and hold him. I did that today and he hasn't bit me since.

 

[nothingbutbirds]

Dispatch them? As in sell them? My booted rooster is only mean when it's eating time. As all chickens are. He will just kinda peck at them and chase them away until he is done eating. But every time my Mille has pecked me I just pick him up and hold him. I did that today and he hasn't bit me since.

if he bites you just chase him and dont let up till he submits, it sounds mean but he thinks you are a rival rooster and that is what the other roosters will do he will challenge you agsin at some point and you will have to repeat the process.the petting will make him think hes being rewarded for biting, after chasing him he will stop he will probably be afraid of you but then you want to start handling him again. if he dosent stop hold him to the ground making hes beak touch the ground hold for 20-30 sec, keep doing this till he lays still on the ground without lifting his head up.then walk away and dont handle him for the rest of the day.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

I had one rooster that got meaner as he got older. He finally just started running across the yard to attack. Dispatch, as in, uh, you get the idea. I don't not try to foster off mental rejects on other people. He was very pretty, but I WILL NOT breed meaness into my birds. I want my culls to go to young families that like the fancy feet, and they usually have young children.

 

[nothingbutbirds]

you can actaully breed meaness.I had a rooster who hated everyone but me and all the roosters i hatched from him where really nice.

 

[Phoenix Farms]

Ah, yes, I get the idea. I just don't have the heart to put down a tiny 4 month old chick. Yes he crows but he still makes the chick peeping and is small enough to fit in one hand. My booted rooster is nice to people but like I said, only food aggressive to the young rooster chicks. Not the pullets.

 

[Overoberyl]

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?

I also have had a good experience with Ideal. I didn't have high expectations being that they are hatchery birds but the D'Uccles I have from them have turned out much, much nicer than I expected. They are very calm and have sweet temperaments, not flighty at all actually. I ordered from them because I just wanted some to have as pets, but I actually feel I might have a nice foundation for a decent breeding program now, though some of their varieties are certainly better quality than others.

Ordering a dozen eggs might not be a bad idea even if you only need 6, with shipped eggs it's unlikely all 12 would hatch anyway...

 

[Overoberyl]

I had one rooster that got meaner as he got older. He finally just started running across the yard to attack. Dispatch, as in, uh, you get the idea. I don't not try to foster off mental rejects on other people. He was very pretty, but I WILL NOT breed meaness into my birds. I want my culls to go to young families that like the fancy feet, and they usually have young children.

I am just now faced with the dilemma of what to do with my extra D'Uccle cockerels...in my oldest group of porcelains I have 7 cockerels and only 2 pullets. Though they are living together peacefully, I obviously don't need that many boys. It just seems odd processing a D'Uccle for the dinner table, but I have yet to get any takers from CL and I refuse to give them away for free...I hope you don't mind me asking explicitly, but what do you do with them? Do you process for meat?

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

I ALWAYS list them on craigslist first. I usually won't kill them just because I have too many roos. (that just means I need more hens!) I was preparing them for the dinner table because I dispatched them all at once, but after plucking, I discovered that my flock run their feed off their bodies all day long in the pasture! It wasn't even worth the effort. I had my neighbor show me how to do it because I figured it was something I needed to learn as a farmer. I hated it. Now, I won't kill any of them, UNLESS I have one that I feel is just plain mean and should not be bred or given to some poor unsuspecting person. That only happened once (killed a mean one). Since then, I have nothing but great birds. I do have a huge Australorp that I'm trying to get rid of. The only roos I want are in my banty breeding programs.
Killing is no fun. It's not pleasant, it's messy and you have to be careful to get rid of the blood somehow to avoid predators. You can't even feed the dogs because you don't want them to get a taste for fresh chicken.

Try to find them a home. Someone will want them. Or you can get more hens!!!!!!! (That's my choice, but I have a couple of acres all fenced.)

Post them here. Someone may very well want to buy some , especially porcelains. Pictures!

 

[eggxelent]

Does anyone have SQ Mille fleur chicks? I need them soon, no hatching eggs or pullets. Thanks!

 

[joanie_maine]

I ALWAYS list them on craigslist first. I usually won't kill them just because I have too many roos. (that just means I need more hens!) I was preparing them for the dinner table because I dispatched them all at once, but after plucking, I discovered that my flock run their feed off their bodies all day long in the pasture! It wasn't even worth the effort. I had my neighbor show me how to do it because I figured it was something I needed to learn as a farmer. I hated it. Now, I won't kill any of them, UNLESS I have one that I feel is just plain mean and should not be bred or given to some poor unsuspecting person. That only happened once (killed a mean one). Since then, I have nothing but great birds. I do have a huge Australorp that I'm trying to get rid of. The only roos I want are in my banty breeding programs.
Killing is no fun. It's not pleasant, it's messy and you have to be careful to get rid of the blood somehow to avoid predators. You can't even feed the dogs because you don't want them to get a taste for fresh chicken.

Try to find them a home. Someone will want them. Or you can get more hens!!!!!!! (That's my choice, but I have a couple of acres all fenced.)

Post them here. Someone may very well want to buy some , especially porcelains. Pictures!

I agree that culling is no fun. But it's a fact of life in poultry.

Personally, I can't afford to feed a bunch of birds that I don't need. And when it comes to roos, you can hardy give them away, especially bantams. I always have too many roos.

Craigslist is the best to try .And you're lucky if someone local will drive to your place to take them, even for free. On here, local too is your best hope, since nobody wants to pay $55 shipping for a free roo!

Culling only takes a few minutes, Snap their necks - it's bloodless.