D'uccle Thread

[joanie_maine]

After a very hard winter ( my frozen hands and toes), I sold a good many of my d'Uccles. Most of them went South to warmer climates

Now that Spring has sprung, we're back on track with porcelain hens laying and this years hatch of eggs growing out.

I have mille, porcelain, gold neck and black chicks coming along.

So glad we hung in there and survived the winter.

 

[Bama1]

After a very hard winter ( my frozen hands and toes), I sold a good many of my d'Uccles. Most of them went South to warmer climates

Now that Spring has sprung, we're back on track with porcelain hens laying and this years hatch of eggs growing out.

I have mille, porcelain, gold neck and black chicks coming along.

So glad we hung in there and survived the winter.

Beautiful I love the porcelains.

 

[Hennyetta]

Here are a few of the mille fleur D'uccle chicks that I got from a member on here, SIMZ.

These are the first D'uccles I have had, so I'm wondering about the color differences in the chicks. Some of them are gold-colored with black/greyish chipmunky-looking markings, some are kind of greyish-gold (hopefully that makes any sense!) and one is really dark grey, almost black. What is the difference between these different colors as chicks? They are all from mille fleur parents, I believe.

The two chicks in the front are the darkest and lightest chicks that I have. What's with the big difference? Will one end up a darker mille fleur color and one lighter? Or does what shade they are as chicks not have anything to do with what color/shade they are as adults?

 

[Overoberyl]

Here are a few of the mille fleur D'uccle chicks that I got from a member on here, SIMZ.

These are the first D'uccles I have had, so I'm wondering about the color differences in the chicks. Some of them are gold-colored with black/greyish chipmunky-looking markings, some are kind of greyish-gold (hopefully that makes any sense!) and one is really dark grey, almost black. What is the difference between these different colors as chicks? They are all from mille fleur parents, I believe.

The two chicks in the front are the darkest and lightest chicks that I have. What's with the big difference? Will one end up a darker mille fleur color and one lighter? Or does what shade they are as chicks not have anything to do with what color/shade they are as adults?

Honestly there's really nothing cuter than a D'Uccle chick, seriously!!

Is it possible the lighter chick is a Golden Neck? The others look like MF to me, or maybe they could be blue MF I can't tell...

 

[Hennyetta]

Honestly there's really nothing cuter than a D'Uccle chick, seriously!!

Is it possible the lighter chick is a Golden Neck? The others look like MF to me, or maybe they could be blue MF I can't tell...

I know, they are just darling, aren't they? Those puffy little cheeks!

I'm pretty sure her birds are all mille fleurs, so unless MF/MF can produce other colors besides MF, these would all have to be MF, right? I am so not a color geneticist! I did wonder about blue MF with the darker greyish ones. They look to me like they have a bluish tint, but like I said, these are my first D'uccles, so I don't really know what to expect. The light chick has very faint grey chipmunk markings on her back.

I guess I need to contact SIMZ and ask her if she has other colors, or maybe she will see this and comment. I was expecting all MF, but maybe I do have some other colors in there. That would be fun!

 

[SIMZ]

They are adorable! They were hatching so quickly and all mixed up in our little brooder that I really didn't get to examine them that closely. I did notice that little dark one, though.

The parents are all Mille Fleurs. In our previous hatch we had different colored chicks and a very light chick, but none as dark as that one in your picture. That batch is feathering in and the lighter chick ended up with lighter base feathers, but they seem to all be mille fleurs - at least I hadn't considered anything else. Now I'll have to go look at them closer since they're in with my new layer chicks.

Is it possible that the Mille Fleur parents could be carrying genes for different colors? It wasn't something I had considered before now since we bought all of our birds as adults.

 

[Hennyetta]

Okay, did a little hunting, and there are some good D'uccle chick pictures on Feathersite.com:

http://feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/Millies/BRKMilleFleur.html

The chick pictures are down near the bottom. There is a picture of one labeled MF that is every bit as dark as my dark chick, so I think my darker grey ones are all MF. The lighter ones are probably MF as well, but I wouldn't rule out blue MF.

That lightest one resembles the pictures of the golden neck chicks, but with more grey on its back. I said in my previous post that it had chipmunk markings, but I was wrong. It just has grey on its back.

Then I have a couple of gold chicks with pretty strong chipmunk markings. I don't see any chicks like that on Feathersite. Who knows, maybe they are all MF, and just display a wide variety of shades and marking as chicks. I really don't care what color they are, so long as they are healthy!

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

Most MF show a wiiiide range of chick down color, but always come in the same, tan with black strip down the feather.

 

[SIMZ]

Okay, did a little hunting, and there are some good D'uccle chick pictures on Feathersite.com:

http://feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/Millies/BRKMilleFleur.html

The chick pictures are down near the bottom. There is a picture of one labeled MF that is every bit as dark as my dark chick, so I think my darker grey ones are all MF. The lighter ones are probably MF as well, but I wouldn't rule out blue MF.

That lightest one resembles the pictures of the golden neck chicks, but with more grey on its back. I said in my previous post that it had chipmunk markings, but I was wrong. It just has grey on its back.

Then I have a couple of gold chicks with pretty strong chipmunk markings. I don't see any chicks like that on Feathersite. Who knows, maybe they are all MF, and just display a wide variety of shades and marking as chicks. I really don't care what color they are, so long as they are healthy!

I went and looked at our chicks and they all have black stripping in their feathers like I would expect from a mille fleur. Some are definitely lighter then others, but I was expecting variations in the base color. My daughter and I talked about watching a really light chick that hatched to see if it's feathers grew in lighter. Even so, I don't remember him being as light as the chick you have.

I'm very curious about this now! They're kept separate from our other chickens and we don't have any other breed of bantams now, so variations from mille fleur would be from my current birds. Please keep us posted, especially as they grow.

 

[Hennyetta]

Most MF show a wiiiide range of chick down color, but always come in the same, tan with black strip down the feather.

So it's not outside the realm of possibility that these are all MF, then?

I went and looked at our chicks and they all have black stripping in their feathers like I would expect from a mille fleur. Some are definitely lighter then others, but I was expecting variations in the base color. My daughter and I talked about watching a really light chick that hatched to see if it's feathers grew in lighter. Even so, I don't remember him being as light as the chick you have.

I'm very curious about this now! They're kept separate from our other chickens and we don't have any other breed of bantams now, so variations from mille fleur would be from my current birds. Please keep us posted, especially as they grow.

I will! Even if they are all MF, it will be interesting to see how the different shades turn out. Hopefully I can tell the difference between them once they start feathering out so I'll know what each looked like as chicks!