D'uccle Thread

[Stewzoo]

I am sure this has been covered somewhere in the past 864 pages....

I acquired some Porcelain hens over the weekend. The judge said I should mix them back to my Millies to enhance their color. The breeder said to NOT do that because it will not work. What is the correct way? I am new to the Porcelains, but have done well with the Millies and Golden Necks.

 

[CGinJCMO]

Don't know the full answer but porcelains are dilutes of MilleFleur so I'd guess you would have some of each. I don't know if you need 2 porcelains to make porcelains because the dilute gene is recessive so someone more knowledgeable will have to chime in.

CG

 

[Stewzoo]

Yes. The breeder was saying you needed 2 porcelains because of the recessive gene. It had me all confused.

 

[Brie6895]

Can anyone answer my question? Is this breed just that laid back or could there be something wrong with mine?

 

[nothingbutbirds]

Can anyone answer my question? Is this breed just that laid back or could there be something wrong with mine?

Does she walk around fine? Does she have a normal apitite? Do you worm them? What does her poop look like? She might not be feeling well if she sits on the roost all the time. You could try giving her electrolytes. Might perk her up some. I don't think a chickens feet should be cold.

 

[nothingbutbirds]

I am sure this has been covered somewhere in the past 864 pages....


I acquired some Porcelain hens over the weekend.  The judge said I should mix them back to my Millies to enhance their color.  The breeder said to NOT do that because it will not work.  What is the correct way?  I am new to the Porcelains, but have done well with the Millies and Golden Necks. 

I am not sure if it will enhance their color but I know the Lavender gene can cause feather quality problems and lethal genes to pop up. Many Porcelains have poor feather quality, so some breeders will breed them to Mille Fleur to get feather quality back and then breed the offspring back to the Porcelain parents to get the color back. I still am not amazing with genetics but I dont beleive you would get any Porcelain out of the first cross, since you would be breeding MF/MF+Lav/MF. If you have a Mille Fleur with any Porcelain in its background you might get a Porcelain out of the first cross. So basically you will probably get a quarter or less of the chicks being visaul Mille Fleur split to lavender, and the rest being regular Mille Fleur. Hopefully someone will step in if I am wrong on that.

 

[Brie6895]

Does she walk around fine? Does she have a normal apitite? Do you worm them? What does her poop look like? She might not be feeling well if she sits on the roost all the time. You could try giving her electrolytes. Might perk her up some. I don't think a chickens feet should be cold.

She walks around fine but walks slow. I have not seen her eat that much my my fiancé says he has I am going to be watching on this but she does not in any way get "excited" at the sight of food. I am going to try a boiled egg in a few. I gave her electrolytes and she drank for about 5 whole minutes last night. He poops are not extremely runny but they are not solid like most of my chicks. Also I am not sure how old she is she is around the same size as my 3 week old barred rock if that helps.

 

[nothingbutbirds]

Any mucus clogged nostrils or making noises when shes breathing? I had a bird who was acting about the same. I gave him a soak in some epsom salt disolved in warm water, half a syringe full of Olive oil. I also rubbed some on his legs, comb, and beak. A tea spoon of epsom salt disolved in a cup of water let her drink it freely. I put my rooster in a warm cage by himself with the epsom salt water and some gamebird food mixed in some canned cat food.I also wormed him and dusted him for mites and lice. He is much better now and at the top of the pecking order now.

 

[Brie6895]

She just makes a weird fast cheep every now and then. Her nose is clear. Is there any way I would know if she has worms? I have never wormed them. But when I got her she was outside in a place that was covered in mud from a previous rain storm.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

i think she's sick. The fast cheep is a baby sound they make sometimes when they are bedding up at night; how old is she? I've had an older bird who made that sound still though. Puffed up and walking slow is a big danger sign usually.

Pick her up and put her next to your ear. Does her breathing sound crackly? I have a chick that is a month old that got a chill when the temps dipped, and her momma couldn't quite keep her under her; long and short of it she's on tetracycline from TSC and is doing much better already.

If she's older has she been getting enough to eat? If she's weak the others could be pushing her aside at feeding time; feel her crop and see if you can feel anything in there. Is she drinking? Is her crop swollen and squishy ( blocked crop gets sour and backs up, they get lethargic and go off feed.) Try feeding her seperate first, so she don't get pushed aside. If she won't eat alone get the mildest tempered one in your bunch to eat with her, so she won't feel alone. Sometimes flock competition will drive a bird to try harder to eat.

Those are my starting points that i can think of. There are also diagnostic links, charts and med dosing info in my "fuzzy's notes" in my siggy. Post on the disease and illness part of the forum, to see if anyone else has any other thoughts. I hope she pulls through for you.