Yesterday I made an eight hour round trip to pickup fertilized White Chantecler eggs from a breeder near Granby, Quebec. Most educational, fascinating and successful.
The gentleman who I visited is SERIOUS about both Chanteclers and heritage turkeys; he has more turkeys than Chanteclers but his interest and focus seem likely to be equal. I spoke with him for about an hour about his Chanteclers. He has seven families from which he selects to produce more birds, two of which he discounts and does not sell from as he does not consider them to be to "Standard" (both the official standard as documented by the Trappist monk Brother Wilfrid Chatelain originator of the breed) and his own augmentation of that Standard); he keeps these two families bacause he can reliably trace them back many decades as from authentic Quebec flocks. I believe he is one of about 10 breeders of Chanteclers in Quebec who are responsible for resurrection and nurturing the breed in the eighties and continuing until today.
He breeds from early Spring through September and sells only eggs or layer pullets. He sells breed Standard pullets only although he has about 12 folks who take his non Standard birds at discounted prices for a variety of uses. His coop setup is harshly working class farm level with seven 4' by 6' cages that house one rooster and up to five females plus a closed brooder space where he keeps his chicks and extra working roosters. All enclosures, including those for turkeys, are open air either on one side or fully open and outside in the case of some of his turkeys. During breeding season the Chanteclers are kept in the cages, once the breeding season is over they are segregated by sex and allowed to range in fenced areas in the field next to his barn.
He gave me a very good instruction of the attributes that he uses to judge chicks as "up to standard" and has promised to send along an English translation of Brother Wilfred's 23 page book written in 1923 (I believe) of his Standard for the breed. I have yet to but will write down his comments and will take advantage of his invite to consult in the future as I progress down my own experience with Chanteclers. We also discussed more widely about the breed and chickens in general, clearly his thirty years of experience showed.
He disputes the assertion in BYC's description of Chanteclers as good brood/mother hens BUT this may be because of his preference for breed Standard layers. Certainly I would listen to his knowledge rather than the more general contained on BYC.
I also had confirmed that chickens do not conform to a given breed by virtue of lineage rather if they "look like a duck" and conform to some or all of the APA Standard then they can reliably be considered to be whatever breed they seem. He stated this as due to the fact that reliable tracing over many many years and hatching is impossible. Perhaps a subtle difference but significant to my general understanding of chicken husbandry.
Altogether a most educational and profitable day for me; I came away with 62 fertilized and documented eggs with his handwritten notes regarding parentage of each. More than a casual day at the office.
The gentleman who I visited is SERIOUS about both Chanteclers and heritage turkeys; he has more turkeys than Chanteclers but his interest and focus seem likely to be equal. I spoke with him for about an hour about his Chanteclers. He has seven families from which he selects to produce more birds, two of which he discounts and does not sell from as he does not consider them to be to "Standard" (both the official standard as documented by the Trappist monk Brother Wilfrid Chatelain originator of the breed) and his own augmentation of that Standard); he keeps these two families bacause he can reliably trace them back many decades as from authentic Quebec flocks. I believe he is one of about 10 breeders of Chanteclers in Quebec who are responsible for resurrection and nurturing the breed in the eighties and continuing until today.
He breeds from early Spring through September and sells only eggs or layer pullets. He sells breed Standard pullets only although he has about 12 folks who take his non Standard birds at discounted prices for a variety of uses. His coop setup is harshly working class farm level with seven 4' by 6' cages that house one rooster and up to five females plus a closed brooder space where he keeps his chicks and extra working roosters. All enclosures, including those for turkeys, are open air either on one side or fully open and outside in the case of some of his turkeys. During breeding season the Chanteclers are kept in the cages, once the breeding season is over they are segregated by sex and allowed to range in fenced areas in the field next to his barn.
He gave me a very good instruction of the attributes that he uses to judge chicks as "up to standard" and has promised to send along an English translation of Brother Wilfred's 23 page book written in 1923 (I believe) of his Standard for the breed. I have yet to but will write down his comments and will take advantage of his invite to consult in the future as I progress down my own experience with Chanteclers. We also discussed more widely about the breed and chickens in general, clearly his thirty years of experience showed.
He disputes the assertion in BYC's description of Chanteclers as good brood/mother hens BUT this may be because of his preference for breed Standard layers. Certainly I would listen to his knowledge rather than the more general contained on BYC.
I also had confirmed that chickens do not conform to a given breed by virtue of lineage rather if they "look like a duck" and conform to some or all of the APA Standard then they can reliably be considered to be whatever breed they seem. He stated this as due to the fact that reliable tracing over many many years and hatching is impossible. Perhaps a subtle difference but significant to my general understanding of chicken husbandry.
Altogether a most educational and profitable day for me; I came away with 62 fertilized and documented eggs with his handwritten notes regarding parentage of each. More than a casual day at the office.
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