d'uccles- which rooster to keep for breeding

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

The dark one looks like he came out of the brown/red d'uccles, my have gotten mixed in by accident or something??


Pics are looking better and better folks! That black mottled roo is a spittin image of mine, except mine has the white tipped tail feathers like millies,,

All are beautiful!

 

[lilcrow]

millebantam, I think I really like the boots on your roos. I can't see for sure because of all the snow, but from what I can see, they look like they've got some of the best boots I've seen. That's one of the areas that I think our birds are very inconsistent with and fall way short of the standard on. I know that mine does. He's got lots of feathers, but I don't like their shape or placement. I think the leg feathering should be lots of short, finer feathers and it seems that they tend to get big and coarse and long. I don't know if that's something that has been selected for by some breeders, or a trait that is hard to get rid of. I guess I'll find out unless someone can enlighten me. Any sage breeders of d'Uccles want to share their wisdom on this issue.

 

[Megs]

im in BC (vancvouer island to be exact), so the very west coast of canada. I dont know how closely they check the mail, and im not sure how much trouble you would get into (sender and/or receiver) if you were caught? I suppose if someone was driving into canada with concealed eggs in a car or something they could be shipped within Canada easier. I think its strange you cant even ship eggs across the boarder (what harm can eggs do? from what i know they cant carry diseases etc in the egg).

yes i have also heard it is TERRIBLY expensive to ship birds from overseas (europe, etc), huge quarantine fees (1+ months of quarantine, something like $100 a bird), there was someone on here with a thread abotu importing chocolate orps (i beleave was the breed).

Im not sure how quickly the larger breeds mature to be fertile, maybe 3-4 months isnt old enough, at any rate i dont think he looks like a cross (the dark "chick") just a very poor specimen (NO beard/muff as i said before, my Rooster has very little as well, but both of the hens that are this dark chickes possible mom have good beard/muffs/mottling). he is deffinatly from the Mille Fleur D'uccle pen, no other bids (only other bird with access was the young australorp roo as i said)

and yet more photos, as i didnt have any of just the hens, and my pics of the cockeral were not very good

my 2 Hens

Cockeral (unrelated to 2 hens and Rooster)

Pullet (unrelated to 2 hens and Rooser, but probably 1/2 sibling to Cockeral)

 

[millebantam]

Thanks, and yes, they have enormous boots. On some of them, I actually have to trim the foot feathers with scissors so that they can walk normally without toppling over. I keep all of my chickens in pens that have crushed clam shells as a base/flooring material for good drainage, so they do have a tendency to wear out their foot feathers by scratching around in that abrasive stuff. I do understand what you mention about the boots on the breed in general, and I have seen many at shows that have very sparse feathering.
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[lilcrow]

Megs, I like that first hen on the left in particular. She just has a nice look about her, great beard, good type. The other hens OK, her comb is just a little over sized for a hen, but I don't know how much of a fault that is. It will be interesting to see how the 1/2 sister develops. Pictures are so deceiving, but she's got a curious look about her. She looks like she could either be spectacular or, God forbid, go the other way. I don't mean look bad, just not good type, maybe too heavy? Does that make any sense? It may just be the way the picture is taken.
You know when you finally get your "breeding stock" and you've developed your line of birds you actually want your birds related to some extent. It's how you "fix" their traits, or "look." If you buy birds from a several different breeders and start crossing on each other you loose quality. For instance, Lynne's birds; say you tried shipping some eggs up and started hatching eggs and got your breeding stock selected from her birds. Within reason, you'd want to stay with her line. That is unless you found a particularly magnificent bird that you were sure had something that would contribute to your program, then you would carefully decide who to breed it to by examining qualities between the two birds and how they compliment each other and begin the introduction that way.
By the way, did I read someplace where you got some birds from Ideal? How did you do that? Do they have some special license?

 

[millebantam]

Agreed, the hen on the left has potential. The hen to the right has "hatchery" written all over her. Not that it is a total negative, but her contribution to a serious breeding program would be limited. both appear very healthy and well cared for.

 

[Megs]

lilcrow- yes ideal is the only hatchery (i have found) that can get the health papers to get the chicks into canada, we still have to drive over the boarder into the states to pick them up (can get them shipped to the closest boarder state, for me its washington) you pay $100 for health papers (i assume the hatchery gets inspected by some kind of health official to declare their birds are healthy enough to be trasported into canada, not to sure, but it must be a pain since there are so many USA hatcherys that wont do it). my two porcelain d'uccles (i put photos a few pages back) were from Ideal, I did not bring them in myself but purchased them off a woman who did a big order (i think around 400 chicks) , i paid $12 each, i also bought 2 mottled cochins from that order and lucked out with 2 pullets there to!!

thank you for the feedback, im pleased enough with the hens, all my birds are healthy and happy which is my main concern. i will have to wait and see how that pullet turns out (her comb is already quite large, sparsly feathered feet, probably wont be great), im excited to hatch some chicks and grow them out, see if i cant have some nicer birds for 2011 breeding season, i know it will be a slow process to improve what i have now, but it will be a fun project and im mostly doing it for fun, people in my area arent looking for high quality birds, they just want backyard bantams (mostly as pets).

i have done some reading on "line breeding", at the moment im not set up to go to that extent (i only have one pen per breed), but i will be building a few chicken tractors or possibly caged breeding pens, though id prefer to make 4X4 coops with runs directly underneath (so 4X4 run as well) for breeding trios. can anyone reccomend a good chicken breeding book? or articles online? along the lines of line breeding, as i have heard you want to keep mostly to the same bloodline once you have a nice line.

better photo of the not as nice hen on the right in the other photo, i do agree she is not as nice, her shape is quite different (narrower tail, larger comb etc)

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Hey Megs,
Just so you know, there are many many diseases that are spread from hen to egg, and can be transmitted then to all your stock, typhoid/pollurum, macroplasmas and many others, the Typhoid and pollurum deal is why we all have to be, or are suposed to be APIP tested here in the states just to ship outside our own state. I tried overseas deal once, and after all the permits, licesnce and customs paperwork, it just wasnt worth the trouble. I kind of agree though, just to Canada, I dont see the big deal. If someone in Minnesota had a sick bird, and it took 3 steps and was in Canada, what's the difference right? I would thing NPIP papers would be fine for us to ship to either you or Mexico seeing how we are all connected. I can justify the overseas deal, but??? Who knows.
Wonder how Ideal got the papers to do it??

 

[lilcrow]

Aubrey, how much did it end up being to get ?? birds over from Europe, let's say England? Did you check the export laws and regulations out of different countries? I've seen pictures of some of the bantam cochins they have over there (they don't call them bantam cochins, they're Pekins I think), but anyway.......they are drop dead gorgeous and in colors we could only dream of. That lemon blue that everybody wants?..........they've REALLY got it over there, and there are other colors I can't even remember, but I do remember they took my breath away. I just wonder if several folks couldn't go together and bring some birds over?

 

[NateinFL]

I think the mille fleur bantams here in the US are "less pure" than they should be

. I mean look at the differences, even in a group of 12 that I received from Ideal a couple months ago, there is just so much variation. And then to compare them to some of the other milles I have acquired, they are not coming from the same ancestors. No doubt in my mind that I they have been mixed with other breeds to get to certain qualities. I think its just sloppy breeding in general. I think that some people believe that just because their feathers are speckled and their feet have feathers, then they've got a mille fleur d'uccle that's .

I also have heard that its not a good idea to keep bringing in new bloodlines just to do it. That should only be done if there is a particular trait lacking in your line that you want to work out. My oldest rooster does not have the white tipped tail feathers that I've seen on here. I hate to get rid of him but it looks like I will now have to, or I need to get him with a hen that does have the tips and see if the offspring will end up with the white tips on their tails. It may be several generations before the white tips are consistent but I'm sure it can be done.

It's great to find others here that have worked with the breed and are familiar with it. I just tell friends and coworkers that I have chickens. I dont bother telling them the breed name because they give me a funny face. If I do I first go into detail about them, then tell them the name and then they are intrigued

I've also learned to just wait before jumping to conclusions. The babies I've raised this year change drastically by the time they've had the first molt. I've been holding onto everything until after they molt.

-Nathan