Houdans

[tommysgirl]

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

Hi all!

YHF I would love to participate in a project like that but in addition to not knowing the first thing about what to select for or how many chicks I would have to hatch in that time I am on the opposite side of the country from you and could not pick up stock.


Do you like the Cackle Houdans? I can see from your post that they are not what they ought to be but would you consider them a good source for chicks?

Where did the rest of you all get your Houdans? I want them but want to avoid hatcheries and that is proving to be a problem. Would love to find a hatching egg source. There were some in AZ and I know Urch/Turnland had them. Has anyone bought chicks or eggs from a non-hatchery source?

Thanks!

 

[LesGus5]

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?

Sounds like my "Tink". She's laying an egg every other day though, so she is forgiven for pecking me, squaking at me, and generally getting under my feet at all times. She also wants me to pick her up, but that just makes yard work impossible!

 

[Illia]

Do you like the Cackle Houdans? I can see from your post that they are not what they ought to be but would you consider them a good source for chicks?

Where did the rest of you all get your Houdans? I want them but want to avoid hatcheries and that is proving to be a problem. Would love to find a hatching egg source. There were some in AZ and I know Urch/Turnland had them. Has anyone bought chicks or eggs from a non-hatchery source?

Thanks!

I know your question is mostly directed at YHF, but:

Your best bet when it comes to getting half-decent Houdans is looking through the internet for what is the average appearance of Houdans per hatchery, then either choosing the best to get HUGE batch from and cull very hard, or get batches from multiple hatcheries and again, cull hard. As for avoiding hatcheries, good luck. If you are nearby or can afford going to a large APA sanctioned show, look hard for breeders there. Become a member of the Polish Breeders Club and search breeders in their directory. Be aware that if you want good birds from good breeders, you'll need to get adult birds. And to get those shipped if you're lucky to find such breeders, it's not cheap to ship adult birds. But worth it if you're serious.

Some common major flaws/things to look out for in Hatchery Houdan stock: Upright and lean bodies, small crests, excess white in the mottling, squirrel tails, underweight birds, and non-bearded birds. Look for the biggest, heaviest of the lot, look for the more rectacular, deep bodied birds that truly look like a brick of meat walking around, and look for birds without any solid white in their primaries, secondaries, or tail feathers. The best approach is also to find hens who appear to be nearly black in color. Once fully mature, those ones lacking the good mottling will look like a very properly mottled bird, whereas ones who look very splashy when young will mature to have far too much white.

Of course, the number one thing to do, really, is compare to the Standard of Perfection.

Oh and, Cackle Hatchery has a YouTube video of their breeding flock. That gives you an idea of what to expect. I've seen it, and they look pretty typical hatchery Houdan as just about every Houdan I've seen. A few years back there was a BYCer who had some decent ones, not showable great, but a good start. Haven't seen activity from them in a while though. Wish I knew where they got their stock from. With Cackle's video, I'd say you might find a semi-decent hen or two if you get a batch of at least 30.

I've got a few Houdans that are semi-decent and once had a cockerel I got from someone who wasn't all that great. All of the birds came from, and I quote, "Eggs on ebay from a breeder in New York," was the only info I got about them. This was like 4 years ago though, that they were born. (The info is hazy because I got them as young birds from a local gal who hatched them from said eggs)

 

[tommysgirl]

I know your question is mostly directed at YHF, but:

Your best bet when it comes to getting half-decent Houdans is looking through the internet for what is the average appearance of Houdans per hatchery, then either choosing the best to get HUGE batch from and cull very hard, or get batches from multiple hatcheries and again, cull hard. As for avoiding hatcheries, good luck. If you are nearby or can afford going to a large APA sanctioned show, look hard for breeders there. Become a member of the Polish Breeders Club and search breeders in their directory. Be aware that if you want good birds from good breeders, you'll need to get adult birds. And to get those shipped if you're lucky to find such breeders, it's not cheap to ship adult birds. But worth it if you're serious.

Some common major flaws/things to look out for in Hatchery Houdan stock: Upright and lean bodies, small crests, excess white in the mottling, squirrel tails, underweight birds, and non-bearded birds. Look for the biggest, heaviest of the lot, look for the more rectacular, deep bodied birds that truly look like a brick of meat walking around, and look for birds without any solid white in their primaries, secondaries, or tail feathers. The best approach is also to find hens who appear to be nearly black in color. Once fully mature, those ones lacking the good mottling will look like a very properly mottled bird, whereas ones who look very splashy when young will mature to have far too much white.

Of course, the number one thing to do, really, is compare to the Standard of Perfection.

Oh and, Cackle Hatchery has a YouTube video of their breeding flock. That gives you an idea of what to expect. I've seen it, and they look pretty typical hatchery Houdan as just about every Houdan I've seen. A few years back there was a BYCer who had some decent ones, not showable great, but a good start. Haven't seen activity from them in a while though. Wish I knew where they got their stock from. With Cackle's video, I'd say you might find a semi-decent hen or two if you get a batch of at least 30.

I've got a few Houdans that are semi-decent and once had a cockerel I got from someone who wasn't all that great. All of the birds came from, and I quote, "Eggs on ebay from a breeder in New York," was the only info I got about them. This was like 4 years ago though, that they were born. (The info is hazy because I got them as young birds from a local gal who hatched them from said eggs)

This is great info. Thanks so much...It is not exactly what I wanted to hear but it is good info

What I hoped to learn was that there was a Northern CA breeder within driving distance who had beautiful birds and would sell hatching eggs but I guess there are worse things than not getting what you want.

At this point I don't have the space to focus on breeding. I have a mixed flock of 35+ and totally love all of the variety.

Thanks so much for your response. It really will be helpful if I take the plunge and do a hatchery order at some pt.

 

[tommysgirl]

anyone familiar with this person

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRE-SALE-6-...016?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2344720748

These look not so brickish...I have seen pics of the Heritage RIRs and they have that shape. The seller for these is in Arkansas.

 

[Illia]

I've seen those, yes.

I guess to answer you in a nutshell, if you're looking for local Houdans good luck, however there's always Craigslist, not sure about hatcheries in CA though. Either way, if you want nice Houdans you're asking for the lottery. If you'll settle for any Houdan, Craigslist is a great first choice. California has quite a lot of poultry owners and sellers.

Edited to add - The Where are You? Where am I? section of this forum has a thread for your area, you could as there too if you just want any Houdan.

 

[seminolewind]

I have one I hatched from a private seller, and I have 2 from MurrayMc, and I got some nice sized ones from them. All three are sweet, except the pecker who acts oh so sweet, I pick her up and she PECKS at me. And she's talking the whole time.

 

[Illia]

Curious, what's "nice sized" ? I'm asking because I'd actually like to get a better idea on what to expect from Murray McMurray. I don't want to spend hundreds on a hatchery that might be a poor decision.

 

[seminolewind]

My one hen is more or less the size of my Polish. The 2 hens from the hatchery are more the size of a standard hen. Even my Crevecours from the hatchery are bigger than Polish.

 

[tommysgirl]

My one hen is more or less the size of my Polish. The 2 hens from the hatchery are more the size of a standard hen. Even my Crevecours from the hatchery are bigger than Polish.

Which hatchery did you use?