Houdans

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Yes but we live off of a large lake and we frequently get freezing fog. I use pop bottle waterers in the winter for all of my pens. I can't keep any single combed breeds for that reason--I was ending up with no combs....which affected fertility rates and made showing a little too embarrassing to attempt. LOL

 

[camilleathome]

Hoping aoxa posts her babies on here soon. I went up with her and picked up 10 of my own. one died and were still not sure why. Might have gotten trampled. Everyone else(9 houdans, 10 blue australorps, 10 easter eggers, 2 turkeys) are doing great

 

[zach N houdan]

im getting a trio of Houdans to put in with my 2 Hens from David West. Im not thrilled with them but i will use them for breeding this year and then wait for when Dave has some more for me!

 

[Chambertin]

I really hope Aoxa and the whole farm are recovering well.
Such a great person and such a terrible event.

Think about the positive and remember we all are cheering you on Aoxa!
Missing you and when you have time let us know how things are. You were always a great voice to read on here, welcome back anytime.

EDIT:
wow, 451~

 

[Tricoglossus]

Hi everyone here are some more pictures of my two adolescent Houdans, still unsure of gender! Still absolutely no attempts to crow and no male behaviour, but they still look so boyish to me!

Houdan 1 on left, 2 on right:



The following pics of Houdan 1:




Note curly tail feather:



1 on the left, 2 on the right:



All the following pics are of Houdan 2:










They both have very small combs and almost no wattles whatsoever. Incidentally I also posted in the "What breed or gender is this" forum and the thread is here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/796557/mottled-houdans-gender

Anyhow I'm interested to hear what you guys think of them now. Oh and they are about 5-6 months old now.

 

[exop]

Hi Tricoglossus, I'm going to say a definite "girl" on Houdan 1. The round ends on the crest feathers are a giveaway. Houdan 2 is more of a conundrum. However, it might be a girl too. Your birds are older than mine, and my lot (April 9) are already starting to show very pointed dagger feathers in the crests of the boys, as well as distinct reddening of the face / comb area. Allowing for some difference for our different strains of Houdan... still, I would expect to see more pointed feathers and redness in a boy. I have a few crowing too (wishing I could attach audio file of asthmatic baby crowings).

Best - exop

 

[exop]

Whups duplicate post

 

[farmer boy]

hello everyone ... I have a houdan rooster and he is very kicky and im trying to make him stop is there any good ways of doing so because if not he is going in the cooking pot ... his mate disappeared in the woods so his new mate for now is a polish (pure bred) and Houdini is a pure bred to ...
this is Houdini the kicker

this is his first daughter she is bigger and older now with a beautiful crest

this is his second daughter she is older now and just getting her crest

and there is Houdini and his mate corrella she is a white crest black polish

 

[exop]

I suspect feather picking.

I'd be curious to see what Walt and everyone thinks about these birds. This video was posted in April, so should be this year's breeding stock.

Not the greatest video for sure. These Houdans look stressed and unhappy ... how much of that is due to retreat from the camera person, it's hard to know. They look crowded — once the camera has zoomed in on the birds, who are all pressing themselves against the far wall of what seems to be a fairly large enclosure. The birds in the foreground look agitated, with upright posture, behavior and vocalizations communicating alarm... and they are eying whoever is taking the video like they see a two headed snake. I see a variety of body types and tails, and some hens with denuded backs. Hoping that the Kris Kraeuter type is still a significant part of the mix.

Something to remember is that in a high energy, sexually competitive breed, a hatchery flock is never going to look like they just stepped out of a poultry show... crests and tail feathers especially are going to suffer. Compare Cackle's video of their buff laced polish flock, where the birds are packed in like sardines but still manage to look beautiful and don't seem to notice they are being photographed...

Temperamentally, Houdans are very different from BLP. (Nice polish, by the way).

Kudos to Cackle for stepping up and posting video of their flocks. I have a lot of respect for what they've done for breed preservation and don't want us to rush to judgement based on footage of a flock which has spent its life in confinement, is obviously actively breeding and also in a state of alarm.

 

[zach N houdan]

hello everyone ... I have a houdan rooster and he is very kicky and im trying to make him stop is there any good ways of doing so because if not he is going in the cooking pot ... his mate disappeared in the woods so his new mate for now is a polish (pure bred) and Houdini is a pure bred to ...
this is Houdini the kicker

this is his first daughter she is bigger and older now with a beautiful crest

this is his second daughter she is older now and just getting her crest

and there is Houdini and his mate corrella she is a white crest black polish

isolate him in a crate with no hens for a couple days to a week to knock out the behavior do not let him free range and be around hens if he is mean