D'uccle Thread

[salunra]

Between all your beautiful pictures and all the gorgeous birds at the Ohio Nationals I am ruined.

I went over and introduced myself to some neighbors that have hatchery millie fleurs from Mt. Healthy. They were *so* white.

So.... how do I talk my husband into an incubator and hatching eggs so that I can get some better quality d'uccles? I've already requisitioned him to build a coop

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
we do

If you have them, do you sell eggs?

I'm working on them in d'anver
getting some d'uccles this spring in them.
They come up on ebay every spring, and one of our users on thsi thread also has some. They are still rare, but available here none the less

 

[wegotchickens]

Quote:
I went the 'better to ask forgiveness' route and got myself a bator as a pre-birthday gift for myself. I didn't get around to explaining about the superiority of non-hatchery birds until boxes showed up marked "fragile" and "embryos". Then I pointed out differences between hatchery & heritage at some local shows to bolster my argument.

I'll post some pics of the blue babies this evening. They are definitely feathering in a deeper shade than the lavenders. All the babies were very disgruntled at the wing feather & pasty butt checks last night. Greedy boogers just wanted food. One blue chick is larger than the other. A pair would be sooooo lovely!

 

[salunra]

So.... I am sure this is a totally naive question. But for those of you that do breed, what do you do with your culls? I can't imagine that bantams are worth much eating.

 

[GypsyChic]

Quote:
Nope, I dont eat my birds but do eat their eggs...yummy

I usually give mine away or sell as pets for a couple bucks to help recover a bit on feed bill.
Anything more than $2 or $3 each

...I'd never sleep, LOL.

 

[salunra]

Do you just sell them through craigslist or online?

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

the term 'cull' could mean just separating them from your breeding flock. not everyone kills their birds when they say to cull, they rehome them as pets mostly. sometimes other breeders see good characteristics worth using in their breeding projects.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Quote:
Sell them for a couple bucks a piece to help pay for feed. Mine lay like rabbits, so we have tons of them running around from incubating. I finally had to put a stop to my hubby putting them in the bator because we have so many of them!

 

[salunra]

Thanks! We have 5 acres. But I don't want to be over run with chickens.

Before I get into this I want to sort of "get my ducks in a row" so to speak.

 

[wegotchickens]

Here ya go, A.C. The blue babes, as requested.

And for comparison, a pic of the last set of lavender (self blue) babes: