d'uccles- which rooster to keep for breeding

[Megs]

so i have 2 mille fleur d'uccle roosters and im trying to decide which to keep for breeding, the first is a cockeral i hatched this spring (6 months old), i know he has to many points on his comb, but he has a decent beard/muff whereas my other rooster a has very weak beard/muff but he has a nicer comb, which would be better for breeding (i want to improve my stock)?


cockeral

rooster

my first offpsring of rooster, at 4 months

 

[Mahonri]

That's a hard one because they both have undesirable traits. If the hens have good muffs and beard, I'd go with #2

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Select the one with the best type; the cock looks to have too few comb points, so I am not sure that gains you anything. Or you could set up two breeding pens.

 

[Megs]

im leaning towards keeping the rooster and re-homeing the cockeral, or i could always keep both as they are together and get along just fine (assuming they stay ok together once the cockeral is older). the rooster is very protective of his ladies and pen however, he quite often flies at my legs to attack while i have my back turned, never really hurts but its annoying.

 

[lilcrow]

I guess with what you have there, I'd breed #2 roo to a hen that has a tail that colored out early with good white tail tips and then from that I'd watch what I got and hope for a roo that has the best of both. Your roos coloring on his wings and hackle feathers, etc. is nice but his tail is is missing the white tips. I don't know how old he is, but if he's a roo he should already have them and his tail is a little on the less spectacular side, but I do like the coloring on his wings and that doesn't seem to be that easy to get. I'm far from and expert on d'Uccles, but I have an idea of what is good and bad and I've seen so many roos with ill defined coloring on their wings, or for that matter everywhere and his is pretty nice. If you breed him to a hen or hens with heavy beards, that issue can be corrected also. I've got a small flock of 5 hens and I believe a very nice cockerel. If you're interested in seeing him, I'll see if I can remember how to display pictures in photobucket.
There are so many Mille Fleurs around and so few that are good, I applaud your efforts to improve your stock.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

If the cockerel is the one in the back ground of the first pic, I'd keep him, he has a better millie color, and better beard. The other one doesnt have enough marking for me, and a very weak beard which is a muct for good d'uccles. Honestly though, if you really want to improve your birds, I'd toss both on find a good high quality roo with all the desirable traits

 

[NateinFL]

Quote:
That is SO true! I have gotten mine from 4 different sources and they all look different. Each strain is visibly different. One strain I have is lighter in background color, one strain has LONG leg feathers, one has short leg feathers, some have lots of black on the face and neck, etc. Why wouldnt the cockerel make a good breeder? I like the fluffy tail, and his beard is good, is his color off? I dont have experience with them yet, but I'm quickly finding out a lot on this truly unique breed

 

[lilcrow]

OK, I'm seeing the black you were talking about on your cockerels necks. That looks like a columbian gene to me. ????? Where in the world that would come from is any one's guess. How old are these guys? What is the story on the black bird? Consider the source Nathan, I'm NOT an expert I'll tell you what I've heard/read/been told. That black on their necks may be hard to get rid of if it's a columbian gene, simply because of the nature of the gene. It's dominant, pervasive and it leaks through generation after generation (the way I understand it).
As far as the cockerel goes, there is nothing "wrong" with him, and since he is a cockerel he will go through as many as a couple more molts before you get to see his full color. I'd just like to see a little clearer definition on his wings and I still want those tail feathers tipped. Hopefully he'll pick that up when he molts. Those may be small things, but if you're looking to improve, those are things you can focus on. Look at the standard of perfection and breed toward that picture. It looks like that one pullet is molting (tail fell out) she could have a very nice tail when it comes in and the other hen/pullet has nice tipping on her tail, so they may be able to help correct some of that, they also appear to have nice beards.
I had to edit this because initially I wasn't paying attention and was referring to that group of dark birds a pullets/hens. My mistake, so I had to change this post. Sorry about the gross error.

 

[americana-chick]

I would say #2 too

 

[NateinFL]

Quote:

You know I wasnt the original poster of this forum those arent my chickens on this post. Either Im confused at what you are saying or I think you mistook those milles on this thread as mine. I will post pics hopefully Saturday. Gotta get to work now. -Nathan