Houdans

[aoxa]

Nothing works better than the flip.
Kicking, yelling, what have you...
Our big rooster has had superjuice going through him or something and is more than willing to chase peck feet and try to take on all 3 dogs. The youngest loves it, but the other two and wife have different opinions.
I put him on the flip program for a couple weeks and he's a good boy now.
When I'm around he's good to the girls, doenst peck and will even relent and let me pick him up to move him around.
He does get a good neck scratch to help with all the chaff on those hackels, so he has an excuse to tell the girls.
However when the wife is out, or mother in law is playing with them he's all tesosterone and tries to mate everything in sight.
Anyone who has a problem rooster just grab the feet and flip em, works wonders.

He's the only rooster I've ever had that does it. He has chased the pets often. He's all talk and no action though. If you don't back off he does.

I've read this on the houdan thread on a Canadian forum:

Houdans are rare.
They come in two varities: Mottled and White, with Mottled be the more common of the two.
Roosters can reach a weight of 8lbs and hens at 6lbs. However, it is more common to find both sexes at lighter weights. There is a problem in the breed being under its desireable weight and size.

The roosters are spirited and are shin kickers, so they do show aggression in that way. I can go into my coops and my roos will allow me to handle their hens. I can easily pick up any one of my boys and they will melt like butter in my arms. However, each of them are shin kickers and I have the bruises to prove it.
The hens are very easy going. I find mine to be very good layers. Eggs are medium to large size.
I have never had a houdan hen go broody. To hatch eggs you will need either a broody hen or an incubator.

Houdans are really good over winter. They take being kept in their coops very well. That's one of the reasons I like them. They have small wattles and their comb seem to stand up to frostbite well. The only thing you do have to watch is their crest. Like Polish, Houdans can experience crest freeze. You can buy waterers that have narrow lips, like tipsy pails, so Houdans can't get their crests wet. We adopted our large waterers so they have narrow rims that serve the same purpose. We use a bowl that we place in upside down and weigh down with a brick or rock.

Though I have never eaten my birds, many books describe the Houdan as being a very fine eating bird. Many high end resturants in Europe serve houdan. They say the meat is very tasty.

If you are going to the NCAPA show in Wetaskiwin, I am hoping to bring some of my houdan roos and hens. The only thing that will stop me will be the weather.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

This is our first go around with boys. We have two Salmon Favorelles, one Houdan and one silkie (that are male). As far as temperment with our Houdan, he is not agressive to his people except on occassion. When he does the shuffle or on the occasion that he decides to peck a toe, he is promptly picked up and gets a lecture on who is on top of he pecking order around here. Then he usually stays on a lap for a good petting. Out of the 4 boys he is probably #3 on the ladder with the poor silkie on the bottom. He does challenge and will stand up to the Favs but is usually the one who backs down. I wish he would romance the girls a little more but I think he just jumps on when the two more dominate ones aren't looking and gets it when he can.

 

[Chambertin]

Silkies and Houdans are like night and day around here.

I have two Houdan roosters seperated by just under a month in age. They both started crowing really early, somewhere in the 2 month old range. They love to strut and dance crow and thump those wings. If anyone knocks on the door, or if something that doesnt belong lands in the balcony area it's met with a good warning trill.
May as well be a guard chicken.

The silkies are about 2 and a half months and havent given crowing a try (we hope that contimues). They sing when they want the girls attention and hardly do anything but chest bump each other and then stare. Whoever blinks first loses and they start over. Tame as can be, and interesting to watch.

The boys get along with the Houdan roos and never challenge them or get challenged (maybe the Houdan roos think of them as ugly girls) they only push the Houdan girls around when the silkie girls want to eat.

Houdans are a little pushy, but really good protectors. They quickly learn and arent a problem if trained. I really like them.
Although if these silkies dont crow I'm going to breed them like crazy. A fuzzybutt who doesnt crow... Money in the bank.

4 of 5 silkies. One girl is very shy.

 

[aoxa]

Silkies and Houdans are like night and day around here.
I have two Houdan roosters seperated by just under a month in age. They both started crowing really early, somewhere in the 2 month old range. They love to strut and dance crow and thump those wings. If anyone knocks on the door, or if something that doesnt belong lands in the balcony area it's met with a good warning trill.
May as well be a guard chicken.
The silkies are about 2 and a half months and havent given crowing a try (we hope that contimues). They sing when they want the girls attention and hardly do anything but chest bump each other and then stare. Whoever blinks first loses and they start over. Tame as can be, and interesting to watch.
The boys get along with the Houdan roos and never challenge them or get challenged (maybe the Houdan roos think of them as ugly girls) they only push the Houdan girls around when the silkie girls want to eat.
Houdans are a little pushy, but really good protectors. They quickly learn and arent a problem if trained. I really like them.
Although if these silkies dont crow I'm going to breed them like crazy. A fuzzybutt who doesnt crow... Money in the bank.
4 of 5 silkies. One girl is very shy.

All of my silkies are very late crowers. I have 6 month old boys still not crowing. They are mating though.. or at least trying.

Silkies are very tame pretty much anywhere. My boys are sweet as can be. Girls don't move an inch when I go to pick them up.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Our lonely silkie boy is getting a bit frustrated. He was the only silkie to survive the hatch and the other girls don't seem to recognize him as male. He is trying to mate with them but they are all LF and they just shake him off then run him. He is challenging all the males but generally looses and gets run off. I am hopeing to get him a couple of girlfriends so he can be the manly chick he so wants to be.

It is rather a show to watch him and the Houdan who is twice his size face off, flare, jump and kick. He doesn't back down but will usually conceed at the end.

BTW the silkie was 4mo. before he began to crow.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Okay, the "shin kicking" has begun. I really think it is more like shin bumping as I didn't actually see him do it. I was in the coop getting ready to collect eggs and felt something hit my lower leg. I turned around and there was Zeus doing the drop wing, roo shuffle. I scooped him up as quickly as I could, flipped him on his back and had a little conversation about who was boss around here. I put him down and went about my egg collecting and again, another thump on the leg, so this time I cradled him like a baby, onhis back, and carried him around for a good long while. So far so good. We'll see if he has learned his lesson.

 

[Chilifur]

I've grab them by the back of their comb and push their heads (beaks) into the ground until they submit. That's more along the lines of how they communicate. Putting them on their backs is more of a dog thing that birds don't understand. It sometimes works because they are just scared, but I do not feel that it gets the message across. At least, I've tried both and the comb-and-head-down seems to work far better for me.

 

[Schipperkesue]

Hello fellow Houdan lovers. I have read or skimmed all 60 of the pages here. I am new to Backyard Chickens and this is my first post. I have a few Houdans from hatchery stock- Performance (Canada) and McMurray. My breeding partner, the lady who wrote the quote a few posts above, and I are working together to improve the breed. Comparing the stock to the standard indicates this will be a long slow process.

Has anyone here hatched large numbers of Houdan eggs? A few pages back I read a sad story of a new chick that lost her balance and never recovered. I have had many issues with chicks hatching with splay legs, and even worse, splay legs developing as the chick grows, sometimes even at a couple weeks old! It is very disheartening. I live in a dry climate and do my best to keep the humidity up in the incubator but I don't think this is the problem. My splay leg problem improved dramatically when I lowered my incubator temperature by half a degree. Anyone with other hatching hints and advice?

Sue

 

[Chambertin]

Wow, sounds like an interesting problem.

I wish I had first hand knowledge, but...
There was a post where I read the flooring in the incubator and brooder can increase the chance of splayed legg. Make sure that there's plenty of grip for the new little ones. They have to work those muscles and get strong early on.

Good luck and I'll share anything more I find.

 

[Schipperkesue]

I only wish it was so easy. They flooring was grippy. It was the birds themselves. Even as older birds, several developed twisted legs that turned backwards. I hatch other breeds as well and have never encountered such things. At least one thing I never have problems with is twisted beaks. I am wondering about trace minerals now.