(About the time I dropped off the BYC radar for awhile)
I feel ya! Most of my flock was killed yesterday, but by some chance I’ve been able to track down birds from 2 separate breeders! While I’ll never be able to replace my birds because each one has a unique color pattern I am getting a calico trio from the person I got my first birds from and a group of millies from one of the best breeders of Mille in the country (Cindys plucky cluckies)Glad to see this thread making a comeback, this breed/color is one of my all time favorites!
@black_cat my entire flock was killed by weasels a few years back
I haven't gotten back into breeding, I've been too busy. I hope to get back into it when life calms down, if I can find a good source to get me going again. I just have a small laying flock now.
So sorry to hear about your birds, they were beautiful! I will definitely keep you in mind when I'm ready to restart
Mille fleur refers to the color pattern, and there are a number of breeds that have mille varieties. You babies look like they might be a mix between silkies and cochins - they're adorable! Their color looks like some of my first generation cochins did as chicks, but it's hard to tell how they'll feather out. Keep us updated with pics as they grow!
Hello. Yes, you are correct. I’d done some chatting with MF breeders in the past. The correct shade of brown is an argument between breeders. Most of the breeders said that a dark Mahogany/Red color is acceptable (I will show pics for these examples). The hens should be dark like a dark buff, and roosters a deep mahogany, as stated above. Most people have too light of hens, some with too dark of roosters. The flowering itself (amount of black and white) is the hardest to get true. Each feather must have a “V” shaped black on the end of each feather, with white right beneath it. On the hackle and saddle feathers of a bird, the biggest issue I can see is too much black and/or too much white clumped up. I have some birds, and am working on them. Due to some deaths, we are left with two meh quality birds. The biggest issue is the tails aren’t as full/round as they should be. The rooster is a tad too long, and not as wide as his father was. But it’s a start. Gotta work with what I’m left with. Very small scale project. Just hoping to improve. The next issue after achieving perfect(ish) color AND type, is getting them to breed true. That’s where most are stumped. But most have wrong colors. There is another argument between starting with a “Wheaten” or “Partridge” base to get this pattern. Most birds with excessive black on hackle feathers, and with too light of hens, have been Partridge-based birds. My initial pair was Wheaten-based, and I haven’t had too much of an issue with it. However, it could be how far along the birds were developed when I got them. I hope this helped/made any sense at all to you. Took me a while to comprehend all this when I first started learning, and I’ve got a far way to go. Here are some pics for reference (not all are mine):
same issues with type, but his color is exactly what it should be. This is what I was told by other breeders. This rooster is no longer with us.
i would bring in some better heavily patterned mille's to use, it appears that the birds you have now are just progressively turning away from mille fleur. they are loosing their patetrn quite rapidly.
It may have been a little confusing. I showed the two birds I got a pair from. They weren’t that good. They hatched Chase and Chloe, who of which lived to be one and two years old. From there, they hatched the last two birds, Cashew and Casey. I think you may have confused Chase and Cashew as the same bird, and Chloe and Casey as the same bird. The current generation is only just getting their flowering in. They will be fully feathered around two years, and probably gain all their flowering in at around three years. Sorry for the confusion.
