Raising roosters with chicks

 If you're going to raise roosters with chicks you first want to start with a good rooster. This is my rooster Crimsons (above) first time with chicks and is handling it very well and has a good Personality for being raised with chicks , He guards the chicks from dogs me and even my turkey even though the turkey and me aren't trying to harm them, yet he is kind to the chicks and does every thing except keep them warm, if you are going to raise chicks in with your flock I suggest raising only broody hens in the pen as hens that aren't brooding will seriously injure or kill the small chicks.

Above is another photo of Crimson (Left) Cookie Dough (center) and Fluffy( Right) Their are 7 Chicks total 3 Mille Fleur's & 4 Porcelains hatched on June 18th  most of which will be for sale.

How to show d'uccles

 In this post I'm going to write about what to look for in your d'uccles  if you're planning on showing them, and what good pattern and shape look like. Above is Colonel Blue, my Porcelain cockerel,   you Can see he doesn't have much color, but it is normal for young d'uccles to not get full color until 1 year old , you actually want this because to much pattern early on can lead to having too white of an appearance later on . Note the feathered legs and feathered middle toes,this is very important . Vulture hocks , v shape in back , not squirrel- tail .Straight mid- sized comb with 5 evenly separated points, and thick beard,This rooster's downfalls are Poor feather quality .

 This is my Porcelain hen, Snowflake. She has a nice comb, beard, and muffs,  a  'v' shape good pattern and foot feathers. If you're  going to show Porcelains  these are decent examples of what they should look like. The hardest thing to breed for is feather quality which can be improved by breeding  Mille Fleur's to the porcelains, which I explain in another post.

 This is Cookie Dough  who has the same shape as the hen above . One thing that happens as d'uccles age is that their spots get bigger  and there are  more spots covering up the color. Cookie's only downfall is she's slightly light in color and her comb isn't the best. One of the hardest  things condition wise are the Vulture hocks and foot feathers , to keep them in good condition I'd say to use 3 to 6 inches of shavings and keep it stirred up so it doesn't compact  , my breeding pens are 7x8 Feet I use two bags of shavings to  keep my birds foot feathers in good condition, misting birds with a spray bottle in hot weather also helps out.

 This is Crimson. He has a nearly perfect comb,  nice beard, muffs, and feet .His downfalls are a U- shape,  lack of bull neck, and  his tail feathers are to spaced out, one more thing for the Mille Fleur's are you want one solid shade throughout the body, the main description of a good quality d'uccle as far as shape is a small thick looking bantam , with thick neck feathering, thick beard and muffs, a large chest giving them a proud look, vulture hocks feathered legs, straight comb with 5 points, and a tail at about a 80 degree angle that doesen't  show light through the tail feathers, to see the faults of the d'uccle see my post on disqaulifacations  and defects.

This is a close up of a Mille Fleur.                     This is a Black Mottled hen To see more                                                                      on showing this color see my post strictly on this color.

by Bugs.

How to Tell Different Colored d'uccles Apart

 Above is a Porcelain chick. It is a pale blue and cream color. Note~ all pure- bred d'uccle chicks have a beard feathered legs and a single comb.

 Above is my porcelain rooster  Platinum ,who is the father of the chick above. This is an example of what a Porcelain will grow to look like.

 Here are two Mille Fleur d'uccles chicks. They are orange and black or orange and gray. Note the beard feathered  legs and single comb.

 Here is my Mille Fleur rooster, Crimson. He is the father of the chicks above. He is a good example of an adult Mille Fleur.

 Above is a Black Mottled d'uccle chick. They can be the color above or solid black with a little white .

 Here is my Black- Mottled hen, the mother of the chick above. Black- Mottled adults are solid black with white dots. You can read more about the color in another post I did called Black- Mottleds, a challenging color.

 Here are a pair of white d'uccles that I used to have. The chicks are a white or pale yellow. I've found that by one month old you can sex d'uccle chicks and pretty much get guaranteed results. Roosters have a taller bright red comb and taller tails, hens have short pale orange or pink combs. If you would like to sex them earlier you should get  the book 'Sexing All Fowl' from the library or a  hatchery. So far I've had 100% success  from the sexing methods , as far as
I know My pet chicken is the only hatchery that sells sexed bantams so its a good skill to have .

Above are a Golden Neck and Self -Blue d'uccle .As chicks these colors can get mixed up with Mille Fleur's and Porcelains. Golden-Necks  are solid orange as chicks and self- blues are solid light blue.

 Above is a diagram of 6 of the 10 standard colors , colors not shown here are Porcelain, Gray , Buff, and Blue, Self blue pullet below. by Bugs.

Sebastopol Goslings ~ Ella & Fella Make My Heart Glad

These videos show my grandson Bugs with my Sebastopol goslings Ella & Fella who are a few days old. Goslings grow quickly though, and Ella & Fella are a delight to have around Cedar Pond.

Ella & Fella have been a delight to me and even now they are larger and more beautiful. They follow me around like puppies and if I sit down to watch them they come and lay down by my feet. They are beautiful and make my heart glad. By Granny Baa.