d'uccles- which rooster to keep for breeding

[bantamF]

Hello,

Nice birds but see these >>> http://translate.google.com/transla...ttp://www.plumage.eu/forum.htm&langpair=fr|en !!

 

[lilcrow]

Quote:
Yup, I guess I have to agree on closer inspection, plus I don't care for what the roo is throwing. I might have overlooked that excessive black in some of the chicks, but that black chick, hummm...........?????????????????? very curious. Some kind of sport maybe? I don't know enough about the other colors to comment intelligently about this, but could the breeder where they came from be breeding blacks and doing a little mixing up someplace?
By the way, I did find a link to a few pictures on the club site. It's almost hiden by using hard to read, extremely tiny text. It's http://belgianduccle.hypermart.net/page14.html

 

[NateinFL]

Yep I'm also sticking with my original post and saying stick with your cockerel. Good luck!

wwmicasa1: if you werent 5,000 miles away I'd be getting a couple babies from you. Is there ANYONE in Florida that has excellent stock? Like show quality?

And lilcrow: I'll let you know if that black goes away on her. I'll give her a couple more months, I'm just very picky I want them to look like the pictures

.

Boggybottombantams: I think u had a link on that club at one time and yours was one that didnt work. Isnt that right?

-Nathan

 

[bantamF]

Quote:
Excuse for the english link !!! se the same in french>> http://www.plumage.eu/l-elevage-du-corot-f5/

 

[lilcrow]

Nathan, wwmicasa1 (Lynne) sells eggs!!! I realize it's not as much fun as getting the babies, but look at what you'd have if you got her eggs. Lynne is the one I was referring to that lives on the west coast. She is also working on the Mille Fleur Cochin project. (scuz' me for blowing your horn Lynne)

Really she doesn't know me, but I know her by reputation and watching her work and pictures of her birds.
Lynne could I suggest that you put your BYC email or link or something on your website, for dummies like me. I've got your web site saved in favorites, but every time I go to refer someone to you for eggs or babies and I want to give them a link for that I go to your web site and can't find it. I have never really gotten the hang of the member search on here, so I have a hard time finding you or your email. Of course I'm asking you to make a major change to your beautiful site for one BYC search challenged person. If you've got a better suggestion, shoot. I guess I could just put it on a sticky, I seem to be using it a lot here recently.
Anyway Nathan, if you've got an incubator it would be worth the effort to try your hand at incubating some of her eggs.
It's not hard to do, I've done it, if you work you just need an auto-turner and circulated air.

I went to the international site that bantamF gave us and WOW! there are some stunning birds on there. I had a link saved for a (belgian) Barbu d'Uclle hen (and lost it, sorry) and she knocked my eyes out. I've never seen anything so beautiful in pictures or paintings and that includes all cocks too. She was breathtaking....really. You'll just have to go find her. You'll see some beautiful birds in the process.

Nothing lacking in pictures there.

 

[NateinFL]

I just contacted Lynne for eggs, thanks for the contact info, you are my new best friend

. Since they're coming from California and I'm in FL, its probably best that I get them shipped something like FedEx right?

 

[millebantam]

Here are some of mine. I strongly agree that there is a wide variety of "looks" of these birds spread about the country. I'm kinda' working with 2 different lines within the same pen. I have 2 different roos with two completely different "looks" about them. Funny thing is both have done fairly well at shows, and it usually depends on the judges personal preferences. i just hatch a bunch out every spring and select out the "keepers" based upon my personal preferences. They're a little beat up in the pics because of the winter and they have broken tailfeathers and foot feathers, but when they are prime, they look pretty good. you can see both roos in the pics and their differences in appearance.

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[NateinFL]

 

[Megs]

boggy bottom- thank you for the site link, i will get in contact with them

wwmicasa1 & millebantam- your birds are beautiful!! i wish i could import birds/eggs to canada, can be difficult to find specific varietys here (let alone nice ones)

lilcrow- that dark one is weird, there is a possibility that he is the result of having a few 3 month old australorps in with my MF bantams for a few weeks and then hatching some eggs fairly soon after, though he really does not look crossed with a standard chicken (same size/shape as the rest of his hatchmates, but missing the beard/muff completely).

i suppose there was a reason the breeder was selling these birds (bought a trio from her, the Rooster and 2 hens), if she had 7 pens as i was told then she would have sold off her "worst" ones and kept her nicer breeders, which is another reason its hard to get a start with nice stock, no one will sell their nicer stock!! (at least not here from what i have seen), i also got a pair of cochins from her, when i saw her other cochins (her breeders) at the local show they were stunning (and beat my cute lil guy out, they were HUGE in comparrison, much cushier look, as is desired) so im breeding my cochins for nicer to! i wont be doing it on any huge scale, as i cant grow out tooo many birds, but i plan to grow out 10-20 (hopefully more, well see) of each of the breeds im working on, and keep the best ones for my breeding pens, sell the rest, etc.

 

[lilcrow]

Congrats Nathan!!! Oh boy!

I'm so excited for you. Next spring let me know how many extra roos you end up with and how they turn out and I might want to get one from you. I think it might be easier to get one shipped from FL than from CA. (live) How many eggs are you getting? and yes if FedEx is an option I'd sooner trust them than the post office. I think most folks use the postal service for eggs, but I don't really know why. If it's for live birds, I understand since USPS is the only way you can ship; no one else will do it.

Megs, where do you live in Canada? Is it possible that we could help you here on this side? I live in Ohio and there are parts of Canada that I could get to, most likely in the spring when the weather settles down. I also have a friend that travels to Canada - someplace in the middle part. I realize it's a big area and it would take some serious planning, but with a lot of work and organizing I'll bet we could at the very least get eggs to you. Do they check the mail that closely, or would it be worth trying to have eggs shipped?

I've thought so many times about trying to get birds or eggs imported from Europe, but I'm sure it's terribly expensive. If I thought that there was someone that was willing to start a line from that hen I saw,

I'd chip in and buy shares or whatever if I could get a few chicks from that kind of a deal. Do you know if anyone has ever done something like that?
Do large breeds mature so much younger that they could breed at 3 mo? That's an interesting thought about the australorps, but as you said, he doesn't look that much different except for the color. I'd guess him as a sport before I'd think of the australorps as a cross, but I'd like to hear what everybody else thinks on that subject.