Houdans

[Yellow House Farm]

Greetings! I have a soft spot for Houdans, but unfortunately they do not fit into the grand scheme of what we have at our farm.

Houdans are in need of an outcross to regain their proper type and functionality. The proper bird for this outcross is a White Dorking. The basic project would take three to four years, and then there would be, of course, further seasons of refinement. It is a specific project with necessary steps. It will require significant culling.

We have some Cackle Hatchery Houdans growing out here. An ideal start would be two Houdan cockerels, Houdan female and one White Dorking female. We would be interested in providing this start to serious, no-nonsense, trainable folks who would honestly like to dedicate time and infrastructure to the redemption of the Houdan as a breed.

Folks can pick-up stock here at the farm, at any of the New England Shows or at the Ohio National.

Again, this is a project for someone with, or at least willing to learn, a proper breeder's mentality and husbandry practices. This is not a "my pet chicken" sort of project.

Best,

Yellow House Farm

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Greetings!  I have a soft spot for Houdans, but unfortunately they do not fit into the grand scheme of what we have at our farm.  

Houdans are in need of an outcross to regain their proper type and functionality.  The proper bird for this outcross is a White Dorking.  The basic project would take three to four years, and then there would be, of course, further seasons of refinement.  It is a specific project with necessary steps.  It will require significant culling.

We have some Cackle Hatchery Houdans growing out here.  An ideal start would be two Houdan cockerels, Houdan female and one White Dorking female.  We would be interested in providing this start to serious, no-nonsense, trainable folks who would honestly like to dedicate time and infrastructure to the redemption of the Houdan as a breed.  

We folks can pick-up stock here at the farm, at any of the New England Shows or at the Ohio National.

Again, this is a project for someone with, or at least willing to learn, a proper breeder's mentality and husbandry practices.  This is not a "my pet chicken" sort of project.

Best,

Yellow House Farm 

This sounds like a fa oulous project. I hope someone akes you up on it. We just have a mixed hobby flock but I do so love my Houdan. Kieth Bramwell at the University of Arkansas is doing great work with the breed. You shoud visit with him.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I do, too, otherwise the stock is just hitting the freezer, and there's no sense in that.

 

[Illia]

Hey Yellow House Farm! Funny you of all people post here, I've been thinking since I very first saw your Dorkings years back and commented on them (seriously I've yet to see many Dorkings in the US better than yours! Nice whites!) that I'd looove to get some from you to improve on Houdans when I get cracking on that as a serious project. Houdans in my opinion are in desperate, serious need of saving and improvement, and they're a major favorite breed of mine. With that said, I'm also in much agreement that if anyone else wants to seriously work on good Houdans, outcrossing them to Dorkings isn't a bad idea at all. Just remember that when you do, and when you're getting back to the Houdan type in the next generations - Focus on two pesky things: Clean faces and small crests. They will happen, and since they are already a common flaw in most Houdan bloodlines in the US, it's imperative that they're given special attention when you're outcrossing to a clean-faced bird without any crest. Otherwise, both Dorkings and Houdans are preetty similar!

Love the pics everyone has posted lately. I went through a few pages of catching up.

Also, gander007, if you want feedback on your birds my advice is to post side-profile shots of the adults and/or parent stock. Young kiddos like that are still too young to truly judge other than pretty birds and awesome pets.

I myself have planned to add a seriously big project of Houdans to my lineup of poultry programs, but I'm still thinking before I do that, I need to make sure I have my sources checked off the list and that I'm fully prepared with all the birds I need.

 

[Miggea]

I havent posted an update of my houdan girl in a while!! I love how much her mottling spreads as she gets older, she should be laying soon if she doesn't wait until spring!

 

[LesGus5]

One of our 2 houdan girls layed her first egg this morning! In fact, it was our first egg overall. She beat out our speckled sussex, and our cochins and RIR's that are 4 weeks older than her! Not sure which of the two layed, but they both got some extra mealworms this morning! If it was Tink who decided to lay, then I will have to forgive her for constantly pecking at my feet.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

One of our 2 houdan girls layed her first egg this morning! In fact, it was our first egg overall. She beat out our speckled sussex, and our cochins and RIR's that are 4 weeks older than her! Not sure which of the two layed, but they both got some extra mealworms this morning! If it was Tink who decided to lay, then I will have to forgive her for constantly pecking at my feet.

So exciting!!! Is she really noisy after she lays? Mine is. Congrats!

 

[LesGus5]

So exciting!!! Is she really noisy after she lays? Mine is. Congrats!

They are both noisy ALL of the time. One is the sweetest gal and the other is such a pecky brat....but we love them both.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

They are both noisy ALL of the time. One is the sweetest gal and the other is such a pecky brat....but we love them both.

Yes, my gal likes to talk a lot as well. She also enjoys being held. She will search me out and peck my leg until I pick her up.

 

[seminolewind]

My affectionate one wants to be picked up and is always talking to me and I pick her up and she pecks at me! What gives?