Houdans

[ashandvine]

I do have a question, as I have no idea how purebred my birds are. Did the large head feathers come in really early? My rooster seems to have stopped at a mullet instead of the full rockstar look.

In my experience the cockerels had very upright crests and the feathers were more pointed. The females had crests that were more rounded, probably what you were thinking of, from the beginning, but with age they all developed more fully. As this is a breed, that at least here, has diminished from its SOP standards and I am trying to work them back up to standard I can only guess what your birds are like. If you are able to post pictures for us to look at that helps a lot with us making observations and giving feedback. You want to make sure, one of the most important things, is that they have the 5 toes and that they are formed correctly. There are a few pictures on line of what their toes should look like.

 

[Chambertin]

I had a couple pictures posted, but I guess I forgot to add one on that last post. Oops
Let me know what you think.

At first I considered them to be a Dorkings, originaly from England then moved to China by a local breeder, however when the rockstar hair came in I knew that was not the case. Next on the 5 toe list was the Houdan and those in the Dorking club agreed with me.
Other standards can be seen, the V-comb and such, but the large head feathers have kinda stopped growing out and the lady of the pair now looks like shes just wearing a hat.

Here are some pictures:

Definatly not a Dorking (just over 2 weeks)


Growing up and getting a good crown of feathers. (over 3 weeks)


Rock star hair isnt growing as much (past one month)


Full V-comb came in and you can see the 5 toes, but no more head feathers.
Maybe he's still too early as he is only about one and a half months old.

One more close up of him and his angry face:

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Wow. His comb and wattles are big early. I wasn't convinced about mine until about 31/2 months. My avatar is one of my boys just after we moved them out of the brooder and if you look at the default gallery on my profile page, you can see them at various ages. I would say you may have some kind of mix. I am not an expert (only our second year with birds and our first with Houdans) but based on how ours are developing. My boy now at 18weeks doesn't have wattles that large. His are more like a red wrinkly chin on each side than true wattles. Can't help any more than that.

Do you keep them in your house all the time, or just for pics?

I also notice no spots on their legs. Some of mine have more spots than other but they all have spotted legs and now even their beaks are starting to spot.

 

[Bentley]

Wow. His comb and wattles are big early. I wasn't convinced about mine until about 31/2 months. My avatar is one of my boys just after we moved them out of the brooder and if you look at the default gallery on my profile page, you can see them at various ages. I would say you may have some kind of mix. I am not an expert (only our second year with birds and our first with Houdans) but based on how ours are developing. My boy now at 18weeks doesn't have wattles that large. His are more like a red wrinkly chin on each side than true wattles. Can't help any more than that.

Do you keep them in your house all the time, or just for pics?

I also notice no spots on their legs. Some of mine have more spots than other but they all have spotted legs and now even their beaks are starting to spot.

Puddin Fluff, Your Houdans are bearded Houdans and the wattles are supposed to be more hidden. There is a clean faced houdan as well and the wattles will always be more pronounced in clean faced birds as compared to bearded varieties. Having said that, the comb is still pretty big for a crested bird. I like crested birds to have combs that are less pronounced and recognizable.

 

[Kassaundra]

When I was reading about houdans I seem to remember that the europeans favored the larger leaf or butterfly combs, but the americans favored the smaller "v" type comb. I wonder if that is the difference we are seeing in his larger combed houdans, if they are from the european lines rather then the american lines?

 

[aoxa]

Anyone know when Houdans start to lay? Skittles' is ready (according to how much her pelvis has moved to allow room for an egg to pass) and she has been whining a lot lately. Squatting.. She would be 24 weeks old now.

Here she is

 

[ashandvine]

Might check to make sure she isn't laying internally or egg bound...
I know, ball of fun I am today. She looks so nice. A lot of white. I wonder if she will darken up and get more even? I don't know what Canadian standards are but ours would want that.

 

[aoxa]

Might check to make sure she isn't laying internally or egg bound...
I know, ball of fun I am today.  She looks so nice.  A lot of white.  I wonder if she will darken up and get more even?  I don't know what Canadian standards are but ours would want that.

 

According to the breeder - and his images of his stock - they get darker after their molt. That's what he claims, and I saw his 3 year old birds. They were much darker than my two. Skittles has gotten darker after her juvenile molt. Time will tell!

I doubt that she is internally laying. She is still relatively young, and hasn't visited a nest box yet She's rambunctious and wild lol. I love their quirky attitude.

 

[ashandvine]

At first I considered them to be a Dorkings, originaly from England then moved to China by a local breeder, however when the rockstar hair came in I knew that was not the case.


Full V-comb came in and you can see the 5 toes, but no more head feathers.
Maybe he's still too early as he is only about one and a half months old.

So, they aren't growing crests like I thought they would be by now either, as mine were born with them right off. They could be poorly bred or they could be slow growers who are actually closer to the heritage lines many of us wish we still had here. Something to know about mottled Houdans is that they change a lot over their first two years. A lot of older breeds with the fancy spotted feathers do. Here is something else you might like:
http://archive.org/stream/cu31924003117870#page/n9/mode/2up

Yours have the comb found in this book which is quite old. I would stick with these a little while and see what happens. They have good toes and heavy breasts. Like you, I am not impressed with the female but not all hens from any breeder are winners. Maybe take a look at what else they had?? Stick with them for a year. Keep posting pictures.

 

[fowlman01]

According to the breeder - and his images of his stock - they get darker after their molt. That's what he claims, and I saw his 3 year old birds. They were much darker than my two. Skittles has gotten darker after her juvenile molt. Time will tell!

I doubt that she is internally laying. She is still relatively young, and hasn't visited a nest box yet

She's rambunctious and wild lol. I love their quirky attitude.

I have only seen the females get whiter as they age (after a year), not darker. The female to the left is becoming too white.

Walt