D'uccle Thread

[frannyglass]

At about 2 weeks you can make guesses but they are just guesses...for me atleast until they get 3-4weeks old they can go either way. By 3-4 weeks old you should see pullets have an almost flat comb still that should be yellow or maybe light pink/orangish and the roos will have a larger dark pink/red comb growing in.

Thank you! Right now they're maybe 2.5 weeks old, and their combs are still yellow and barely there, really just pointy enough to know that they have single combs. I guess they should start turning pinkish/red within a week or so if they're little roos.

 

[scflock]

I'm terrible at guessing d'uccle. I've only had one clutch hatch from them, and it was almost three months before I was sure. I have the same problem with silkies. Maybe I will get better at it with time, but bantams are tough

 

[misfitmorgan]

I'm terrible at guessing d'uccle. I've only had one clutch hatch from them, and it was almost three months before I was sure. I have the same problem with silkies. Maybe I will get better at it with time, but bantams are tough

i have yet to find an easy bantam...it seems LF i can tell, the little roos stand more upright, generally are bigger, and the combs so by a couple weeks i know...but the bantams i think it is pretty much always a guess, i've never been 100% right. All that said i have 3 EEs that are like 8 weeks old and i still dont know which are pullet/roo, i think it must be related to them not having single combs. They moved out into the coop with the Leghorns last night as they were towering over all the other chicks lol.

 

[scflock]

i have yet to find an easy bantam...it seems LF i can tell, the little roos stand more upright, generally are bigger, and the combs so by a couple weeks i know...but the bantams i think it is pretty much always a guess, i've never been 100% right. All that said i have 3 EEs that are like 8 weeks old and i still dont know which are pullet/roo, i think it must be related to them not having single combs. They moved out into the coop with the Leghorns last night as they were towering over all the other chicks lol.

Cuckoo Marans I can tell when they hatch, polish I can guess pretty good for the first few days, then it's a crap shoot. I'm watching my first batch of EE chicks right now, and trying the "long wings are a hen" theory. I hope that one is true, so I will be 7 of 11 pullets. Silkies baffle me. I quit even trying to sell them sexed until 3 months

 

[paris_r]

At what age do they start showing the differences between pullets and cockerels? I know that by about a month it should be obvious, but when does it start?

i have some that i can tell are males from the start-they have disproportionate combs right out of the egg, but since i have had females that show big combs you cannot go just by that. i have has babies 4 weeks old crow- that is usually a sign! but personalty differences can be seen in genders-it is not always true that males will be doing more challenges and chest bumps but if they usually engage in that behaviour i assume they are going to be boys and am usually right. i had one baby that was completely nasty from day one, used to bite me as a peep, and yes he turned into a neurotic rooster. watch for their body language, it is a pretty good indicator.

 

[Jdc361]

Can someone give me an over all list of pros and cons on d'uccles?

 

[flockofbantams]

Can someone give me an over all list of pros and cons on d'uccles?

Umm
Pros:
Sweet
Friendly
Gentle
Pretty good layers
Beautiful
Do good in winter and pretty good in heat (at least mine do)
Good with other docile breeds

Consif you call them cons)...
Small eggs
Feather feet can get matted up in mud if coop and run are not kept dry or If not showing you can trim the foot feathers


I'm sure there are more pros and cons but that's all I can think of

 

[frannyglass]

i have some that i can tell are males from the start-they have disproportionate combs right out of the egg, but since i have had females that show big combs you cannot go just by that. i have has babies 4 weeks old crow- that is usually a sign! but personalty differences can be seen in genders-it is not always true that males will be doing more challenges and chest bumps but if they usually engage in that behaviour i assume they are going to be boys and am usually right. i had one baby that was completely nasty from day one, used to bite me as a peep, and yes he turned into a neurotic rooster. watch for their body language, it is a pretty good indicator.

I have three that are about the same size, and one smaller, but the smaller one was in bad shape when I got them so I'm not sure that is a proper indicator. I've heard that the ones that yell and run when you put your hand in the brooder are more likely to be pullets, while the roos are usually calmer with humans, but all of these guys yell and run about when I put my hand down but calm down as soon as I pick them up. Except the smallest one, who doesn't seem to mind being held at all in that she doesn't try to fly or walk away, but does yell her little head off. (she yells a lot, all the time. a big talker. she also has virtually no comb.) The one who has been just a bit bigger than the others all along is also the most watchful, and started trying to fly out of the brooder the soonest, so I've suspected him of possibly being a cockerel since day one. But last year (with large fowl) my biggest escape artist turned out to be a pullet, so I just don't know. So far their combs are not very different, so I guess maybe there will be some changes in that department soon.

Cuckoo Marans I can tell when they hatch, polish I can guess pretty good for the first few days, then it's a crap shoot. I'm watching my first batch of EE chicks right now, and trying the "long wings are a hen" theory. I hope that one is true, so I will be 7 of 11 pullets. Silkies baffle me. I quit even trying to sell them sexed until 3 months

How do you makes guesses on polish in the first few days? I've heard they can be really difficult to sex, although I was "lucky" last year and my little roo developed huge wattles very early on. I'm hoping that what I learned raising large fowl helps me to guess correctly with these little guys.

 

[scflock]

Umm
Pros:
Sweet
Friendly
Gentle
Pretty good layers
Beautiful
Do good in winter and pretty good in heat (at least mine do)
Good with other docile breeds

Consif you call them cons)...
Small eggs
Feather feet can get matted up in mud if coop and run are not kept dry or If not showing you can trim the foot feathers


I'm sure there are more pros and cons but that's all I can think of

Pro: Good broodies (at least mine are)
Con: Loud rooster (at least mine is)

How do you makes guesses on polish in the first few days? I've heard they can be really difficult to sex, although I was "lucky" last year and my little roo developed huge wattles very early on. I'm hoping that what I learned raising large fowl helps me to guess correctly with these little guys.

I'm not 100%, but usually I can guess by how their spikey head feathers start growing in. Generally, the hens will grow high on the head, and the rooster's will start sprouting further down their neck, but I have also been wrong. That may not even be a way to tell at all, but I've only missed one out of 7 that way. Could be total coincidence. This is my first year hatching from my flock. That's just what I watch because it takes their wattles so long to grow in. Mine are LF as well, so a little easier than bantams would be. As with silkies, though, I still won't sell Polish until I am 100%, which is usually around 10 weeks. I have 12 developing in the incubator, so I hope to get a little more practice

 

[FairLeaBantams]

I reference to the posts about pasty butt, I read somewhere that giving chicks a little bit of dirt is a good cure. For the last few years, I make sure I give my chicks weeds with the roots/dirt attached from my yard (clover, grass, dandilions, etc,) every day and I have never had an issue with pasty butt. It's worth a try I guess!