Houdans

[LemonMeringue]

Here is a pic of my 16week old roo.

 

[camilleathome]

Im finally able to share some photos of my guys. Ive had them for a little bit. Picked them up with Aoxa .

To start here is my little guy I like to call Lucky. I found him half drowned in my ducks kiddy pool and did not think he was going to survive(I had lost two the day before so the kiddy pool has been drained untill all my chicks are bigger). The VERY next day I find him in my Poodles mouth with feathers EVERYWHERE. I have never been so close to kicking a dog in my life. Again I was sure he was going to die. Here he is still going strong albeit with a few feathers missing.

 

[Chambertin]

Zack, congrats!

Glad to hear about the little one surviving both a drowning and a dog!
Quite a tough little one and well on the way to being a good looking chicken.
Gonna have some really good bragging rights when it comes time to woo those hens!

Every time I see pictures of chickens out playing and having a good time in the field I get a little jealous. My city birds have quite a story but I wish I could just let them out in the grass to have a good time.

 

[camilleathome]

Zack, congrats!

Glad to hear about the little one surviving both a drowning and a dog!
Quite a tough little one and well on the way to being a good looking chicken.
Gonna have some really good bragging rights when it comes time to woo those hens!

Every time I see pictures of chickens out playing and having a good time in the field I get a little jealous. My city birds have quite a story but I wish I could just let them out in the grass to have a good time.

Zack? Whos Zack? lol

I love seeing my chickens in the grass having a good time. We do have to be carefull though as there is a fox hanging around. We see him every evening making his rounds. I need to catch him somehow. We love one of our HRIR to a hawk not long ago as well. But they are so much happier free ranging its one of those things where its risk versus perks. BUT since the hawk incident the chickens warn each other and run to the coop when they see something in the sky!

 

[Chambertin]

Just before you "Zack N Houdan" posted about a win,
Shoulda added your name to seperate, oops

 

[zach N houdan]

Thats great Zach, Congrats! Are you able to post pics of your hen?

Sadly we are either going to have to rehome or butcher. He was supposed to have a home lined up already but it fell through. The only reason he has to go is because of the noise level......just too loud for the neighbors.

thanks i poted a photo of her a couple of pages back but here they are

 

[LemonMeringue]

Oh yes, you sure did, lol. She is a great looking hen!

 

[exop]

I received two Houdan chicks in an assorted order from Cackle. I gave one away to a friend (a pullet) and the one I kept ended up being a cockerel. My intention was always to butcher the Houdan, to see how he fared as a meat bird.

I managed to get my hands on the wild cockerel last night, and I'd say he seems quite small to butcher. He's currently 14 weeks old--and I'd say he's smaller than an Easter Egger I butchered at 12 weeks (but who knows what breeds made up the EE). So, what is the normal age that this breed was typically butchered? I thought I've read that Cackle had fairly good quality Houdans.

George Geyelin, who published a pamphlet in England about French poultry culture in 1865, wrote that Houdans "are fit for the table at four months old". Edward Brown writes in Races of Domestic Poultry, 1906, that Houdan chicks "take fattening well at the age of four months". So you are at least 2 weeks shy of either the age when a Houdan is ready for eating, or 2 weeks shy of the age when it should be fattened for the table (a brief period of heavy feeding and no exercise, in 19th century practice).

More recently, (circa 2009) Houdans raised as an artisanal meat in France were butchered for roasting at the age of five months.

Please note, that if you're serious about eating him, take care not to stint on the feed, and keep him where he has good access to it.

Please bear in mind also, that no-one has really been farming the American Houdan as a meat bird anytime recently. Size, weight and meat distribution have fallen off from what they were in the breed's golden age as a meat breed, as fanciers (and the hatchery industry) have chosen to focus on the Houdan as an ornamental bird and prioritized feather coloring, crest size, etc, over other criteria.

While grappling with your wild bird you may have noticed a bony feeling, prominent keel bone on his underside. The Houdan's large keel bone has a lot of room to anchor large wing muscles (breast meat) and because it is so prominent, you may be surprised at how much meat is actually on there, it looks like less than it is because the keel sticks out and makes the chest appear "bony". Of course, in an historical meat Houdan, there would be a large chunk of breast meat anchored to either side of the keel. This is another of those things we can work to get back by selective breeding (ie. weighing potential breeding stock, but also feeling their chests, thighs etc, and selecting for breadth of body, and for a long keel / long back).

Do bear in mind that individual birds will vary, in weight as well as appearance, and it's possible you may have one of the smaller ones.

Best of luck,
exop

 

[popsicle]

Thanks so much for all that! Very interesting.

We butchered him a week and a half ago--younger than ideal, but I'm never a fan of constant crowing, and boy was he noisy. That day a neighbor said that she really likes hearing the crowing--oops.

Anyhow... we roasted his leg quarters along with some regular store-bought leg quarters. Comparing them side-by-side the Houdan seemed much more meager on the meat. However, comparing the bones after eating was eye opening. The Houdan's bones were so long and fine, that I wouldn't be surprised that there were similar weights of meat. I never get around to weighing cockerels in the processing process.

I was feeding him and his coop-mates fryer ration, however he lived with a glutton of a BBW turkey. Next time I will be sure to keep the Houdans (and any other chickens) somewhere they can have access to feed without worrying about a giant turkey.

Overall I'm quite happy with the Houdan (definitely better than the Easter egger). I'm planning on ordering more next year.

 

[Chambertin]

Been quiet in here lately,
I'm getting excited, only a month left until I see my Chickens again!
Missed them so much lately, especially the eggs.

Oh yeah, I get to see my wife too~