D'uccle Thread

[coffeekittie]

Hi everyone! I don't know if anybody here remembers me, but I took the winter off. Back now, and on page 665 (OMG, the reading...) to catch up with yall. Nice to be back! Missed this thread! Had to stop reading out of frustration with my flock but we're doing better now.

 

[coffeekittie]

Guys, look at his signature line - this is a judge responding honestly. I think we should appreciate him/her taking time to try answering questions....

As I was reading along and catching up, I noticed fewer and fewer of the long-time, knowledgeable folks posting. I am afraid this thread's usefulness for d'Uccle admirers, especially those who want to learn about breeding to SOP, has ended. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, as I have learned a tremendous amount from reading from the 1st post to the end.

The pets and rescues are all terrific, I'm not saying that they aren't. I am saying that this has been a place to learn how to improve our flocks, which means learning proper terminology, along with everything else involved. If you don't care about such things, that's ok. But there are (were) a lot of people here who DID care, and wanted to know correct names, colors, etc.

I am going to restate what I started with: bad idea to knock experts.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[FairLeaBantams]

Bice14 and FluffyCheeks, I love the unusually colored chicks! My favorite thing about this forum is seeing other people's "unusual" birds and coop setups. I have learned so much as well from all the experts here, but I think it's possible to balance the two without alienating anyone. I don't know about you guys, but right now I'm looking out my window to a fresh layer of snow, maybe this non-existent spring is making us all crabby?

 

[Fred's Hens]

BYC rules do demand friendliness and courtesy at all times.

Entering a bird in a "show" is to have one's bird judged against both the ideal Standard established for the breed and against the competition. When discussing the potential of a particular bird as to its features for "SHOW", you should expect to have that bird critiqued.

If you do not wish to have your bird critiqued or cannot handle honest critique of your bird, please, do not ask that it be judged.

Let' move on here.


Fred's Hens
BYC Moderation Team

 

[ESofVA]

How big are the eggs? I purchased a bird that the owner told me was a roo. It has a single comb which it bigger than a hen'sbut smaller than my roos'. It acts like a hen, my roo treats it like a hen; But... inside of my pen I have a smaller pen. A couple of my LF do get in there occasionally as well as the D'Uccle hen. I have two nest boxes and a small cove in the back of the pen facing each other. I also have some plywood boards slanting over the nest boxes. Anyway, it is nice and cosy back in there and a real %$@# for me to get to. (the box setup is tucked back in a smaller space) In those boxes there are two Silkies, one with new chicks and the other sitting. In the cubby, I have found 3 eggs slightly bigger than my Silkies'. Smaller than any LF small eggs I have gotten. One of the other chickens than gets in there is a silver penciled Wyandotte and I thtink it would not be so easy for her to get back there and into the cubby. She is rather new to me so I am not sure if she is laying yet, nor what her eggs lok like. Could she be laying these small eggs? Do you think the D'Uccle could be laying back there? Could those be her eggs or are they too large?
I will get a pic today of the hen and add it.

 

[coffeekittie]

ESofVA, it does sound like your d'Uccle might be laying...although my own Silkie lays I'd say equal sized eggs, not smaller. I only have the one Silkie, so not much to compare to. My Silkie's eggs are lighter in color, just about white, while the d'Uccle eggs are definitely cream-colored (beige-white).

 

[ESofVA]

Waddle - wattle...whatever I'm french, I think it's pretty good I'm writing in english to begin with...you understood what I meant so it's all good! Now I'm paranoid of my spelling!!
Thank you for the information. I do not plan to show him, I just wanted to know what they look for in this breed as I'm new to the d'Uccle.
These birds are just over 8 months old and haven't molted yet...they will get whiter with time am I correct?
For his beard, the female preen (pick at his feathers) him...is this normal?
Also, given you know so much about them, my hen hasn't started laying yet, is this normal?
I've been raising Barred Rock and Buckeyes and they start around 5-6 months. Do bantams, specifically d'Uccles, tend to be late bloomers?
I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but I want to learn about this breed.
I had adoption an old mille fleur d'Uccle last year and he's the one that got me interested in the breed...but we lost him to a predator.

He was the most friendly rooster of all times. I use to trim the feathers on his feet because they were slowing him down - is that a faux pas?!

Is this what a beard should look like?

I am not a judge and I don't know much about D'uccles. I am learning, too. Some people just don't have the patience to answer your questions and not focusing on grammer. I can usually tell when someone speaks English as a 2nd language by the sentence structure and spelling. I don't mind...I just figure out their meanings. BTW... your English is quite good for a 2nd language. I can't write or speak French!! LOL! I have had email friends (other people who worked with plants as I love landscaping!) German and Chinese...their English composition was not near as good as yours!

You aren't stupid because I have a question too and I am not stupid...I just need help with chickens! LOL!
So...I have heard D'Uccle also written D'uccle and d'uccle. Which is really correct please? I have been told by 3 different people that raise large #'s of D'uccles... not on here and some show... that my pronunciation is wrong. Is it pronouncde dew clay' (which is how I was pronoiuncing it), dew seal', dew' cull, dew oo' cull??? and since mille fleur is a color and not a breed it should start with lower case letters?


Now...I have a Mille roo that I bought from the man that owns the feed store I go to most often. He raises mille D'uccles at his personal farm. That roo is about the worst specimen I have ever seen (in pics) of a D'uccle. Even though I don't raise chicks for show, I still want my chickens to look "right". I will never raise/set any chicks from him and he will not stay here. I Here is a picture of him:

 

[ESofVA]

ESofVA, it does sound like your d'Uccle might be laying...although my own Silkie lays I'd say equal sized eggs, not smaller. I only have the one Silkie, so not much to compare to. My Silkie's eggs are lighter in color, just about white, while the d'Uccle eggs are definitely cream-colored (beige-white).

Took this picture of her/him this am, you can see the comparison between its comb and the one the ugly roo I have above!
So...previous owner thought roo, in lieu of its behavior, it seems hen. What do you think???

Gold neck? Mottled??? laced???

 

[nothingbutbirds]

I am not a judge and I don't know much about D'uccles. I am learning, too. Some people just don't have the patience to answer your questions and not focusing on grammer. I can usually tell when someone speaks English as a 2nd language by the sentence structure and spelling. I don't mind...I just figure out their meanings. BTW... your English is quite good for a 2nd language. I can't write or speak French!! LOL! I have had email friends (other people who worked with plants as I love landscaping!) German and Chinese...their English composition was not near as good as yours! You aren't stupid because I have a question too and I am not stupid...I just need help with chickens! LOL! So...I have heard D'Uccle also written D'uccle and d'uccle. Which is really correct please? I have been told by 3 different people that raise large #'s of D'uccles... not on here and some show... that my pronunciation is wrong. Is it pronouncde dew clay' (which is how I was pronoiuncing it), dew seal', dew' cull, dew oo' cull??? and since mille fleur is a color and not a breed it should start with lower case letters? Now...I have a Mille roo that I bought from the man that owns the feed store I go to most often. He raises mille D'uccles at his personal farm. That roo is about the worst specimen I have ever seen (in pics) of a D'uccle. Even though I don't raise chicks for show, I still want my chickens to look "right". I will never raise/set any chicks from him and he will not stay here. I Here is a picture of him:

On a different chicken site a person said he went to a town in Belgium and they pronounced it Dew u slay.

 

[CGinJCMO]

I think you have a hen based on body shape and lack of hackle feathers and saddle feathers
...but I don't know much about GoldNeck or other besides the Porcelain (that's what I've got)

As for egg size, I have a recent photo of d'uccle eggs and LF eggs
(plus one fart egg from a d'uccle - thus the reason for the size comparison photo)

One of those 4 bantam eggs actually might be from my OEGB (the lighter one) but they are all the same size.

HTH,
CG

Quote:
Took this picture of her/him this am, you can see the comparison between its comb and the one the ugly roo I have above!
So...previous owner thought roo, in lieu of its behavior, it seems hen. What do you think???

Gold neck? Mottled??? laced???