D'uccle Thread

[wegotchickens]

ok, my chicks are 3-4 weeks... 2 have combs that are visable but no red yet.. your thoughts.
First chick is black mottled held in front of dd face- has comb, second pic is black mottled held more next to her, with less comb... is first a roo? Last pic is smutty colored gold neck ( I know the dad was a gold neck..mom was MF, Gold neck or black mottled)... Gold neck has same size comb as first bird. Not red, but visable... your thoughts?






Too soon to tell. Have to give them a little more time.

 

[wegotchickens]

Pictures from last week or so of how my babies look now. Their vulture hocks need to molt - in bad shape, all worn down, but their foot feathers are looking much better! A couple of the girls are pretty nice, I believe....except for that dratted missing toenail problem.

I think if my boy had more thick feathering on his feet, he'd be showable. He is the only porcelain rooster I have, so I think I should pair him with a really thick foot-feathered girl...but those two have the missing nails. He does not. Does anyone know if he will help make fully toe-nailed babies, or is the missing nail gene dominant?

I have been talking with a breeder about how to learn genetics, and there are a couple books I'm going to buy if I can find them inexpensively. I might (probably will) break down and buy them straight from the writer's website at full price so they get all the money. There are so many things to spend money on, it's hard to decide what takes precedence. I do have all of their basic needs covered, including heat in winter, so it seems ok to splurge on the fun breeding part of things....

If it's the book I'm thinking it is, buy it. It is a gold mine.

Show them all. Let the judge help you identify the best birds. Then, breed them all anyway.
The missing toenail is a fault, not a DQ as mentioned. It is genetic, and your chicks will be about 1/3 missing toenail, 1/3 'upright' outer toenail, and about 1/3 with all toenails. Sell/cull the ones with missing toenails ASAP. Keep the best of the best from the other chicks, going for birds with normal toenails as much as possible. By the third year you'll throw very few with missing or upright toenails. That's how it worked for me, anyway....
Lately I forget to check, which is why I kept a GORGEOUS pullet that I sold a week ago because she was missing a toenail. The man that bought her got a really good deal, because I'll bet she throws him some nice babes <sigh>

 

[coffeekittie]

You are a big proponent of showing, which is probably a good thing. If nothing else, it gets these cuties out there in the eye of other breeders. I plan on doing the NPIP this fall or winter. I'm nearly ready to have someone official (thus scary for hermit me) come by and see my little setup for the birds. The woman seems nice enough so I'm probably nervous for nothing.

I don't wish to put the chickens through blood draws in each show.

I am hugely worried about the risk of exposing them to diseases at shows, possibly overly so. What do you show folks do to protect your birds as best you can?

 

[Sparky2133]

Well, it's an unspoken rule that you do NOT bring a sick bird to a show. Although, sometimes chickens carry diseases but aren't infected by them.

I clean my water and food bowls frequently. I change the bedding frequently also. Wash your hands a lot, too.

 

[wegotchickens]

Raising healthy birds and doing everything you can to keep them naturally healthy seems to work well for me.

I've read that some folks medicate their birds with antibiotics before and after a show, but I think that's the wrong way to go.

Some folks do bring sick birds to shows, and so I look over the birds in the general vicinity of mine, and if any look 'off', I bring it to the attention of the folks in charge of the show. The show folks will approach the owner, who either gives a good explanation about what's going on with the bird, or pulls the bird. Owners don't want a bad rep, and show peeps don't want anyone to have a bad show experience. Its only happened twice. One time was an eye injury, the other time the bird was withdrawn.

I always advocate showing your birds. The benefits far outweigh the risks, if you want to evaluate your birds and meet knowledgeable people. The judge can rank your birds, if they're the only d'Uccles, or compare them to other entrants. Honestly, seeing your birds in a row with other d'Uccles is the BEST way to compare assets and flaws, likes and dislikes. Plus, if you let the judge know you want to learn, most are VERY good about going back to your birds and looking them over again to give you an honest assessment.

 

[BlueCamas]

I haven't been on this thread in a while, but I'd though I'd stop by and share some pics of my d'Uccles.
Hurley a Mille Fluer pullet, my first d'Uccle

and my three Porcelain hens in the back round.



I had a great Mille Fluer cockerel in with the Porcelains, but a dog got into their pen and killed him before I could get there. I managed to hatch 6 of his eggs and I got some beautiful (IMO

) Mille Fleur split to Porcelain. Hopefully putting one of the cockerels over the Porcelain hens will give me some Porcelain chickies! Anywhere here are the next generation! Almost 4 months old if my calculations are correct.





Just word of warning for d'Uccle owners; Don't let them into your vegetable garden! They eat everything they can reach and love tomatoes in particular

Always amusing watching a little D'uccle jumping to reach a giant tomato dangling just out of reach

 

[hdowden]

I haven't been on this thread in a while, but I'd though I'd stop by and share some pics of my d'Uccles.
Hurley a Mille Fluer pullet, my first d'Uccle

and my three Porcelain hens in the back round.



I had a great Mille Fluer cockerel in with the Porcelains, but a dog got into their pen and killed him before I could get there. I managed to hatch 6 of his eggs and I got some beautiful (IMO

) Mille Fleur split to Porcelain. Hopefully putting one of the cockerels over the Porcelain hens will give me some Porcelain chickies! Anywhere here are the next generation! Almost 4 months old if my calculations are correct.





Just word of warning for d'Uccle owners; Don't let them into your vegetable garden! They eat everything they can reach and love tomatoes in particular

Always amusing watching a little D'uccle jumping to reach a giant tomato dangling just out of reach

ummm i only see 2 porcelain pullets and a cockerel in the first pic

 

[countrygoddess]

Here's my one remaining little d'Uccle (darned predators!) crowing his heart out. His name is Sharpy. He's the sweetest little thing, as were the little girlies who were taken by various predators (raven, fox...). My daughter and I are scheming to get some hatching eggs in the spring. =)

 

[phoebs]

Awesome, thank you tremendously for the information!

Hey, you're new here, WELCOME!

yes welcome

 

[kristip]

Thanks Wegotchix... was hoping that the ones with combs were indicators at 3-4 weeks, but I guess I prefer more hens too! So I will wait as paitently as I can... which is not so patient.

We got our addition attached and now need to convince my broody to spend more time with these chicks rather than wandering around with them trailing her... otherwise they are going in my garage in a dog kennel and boy will my DH not be happy about that...