Exciting Blues ! (Self-Blue Mottled Rooster & Porcelain Hen )

Last year I hatched two d'uccles that I don't typically get out of my breeding pens.  The first color is a Self Blue Mottled d'uccle who has some gold leakage in his neck hackles.  Some of the other blue colors are, Blue, Self Blue and Blue mottled.  The Blue color is a mixture of blue and black, the Self Blue color is a solid gray blue. This color is also referred  to as Lavender. Then there are the Mottled versions of the Blue and Self Blue colors, which are the same as the colors above but have white spots throughout their body.

In this photo you can see the cream-gold leakage in his neck hackles. This most likely comes from the Mille Fleur in his background. Typically Self Blue Mottleds don't have this leakage. His parents are a Mille fleur and Black Mottled & both of the parents are half porcelain which is where he gets the lavender color gene. The lavender gene is a simple recessive gene that turns red or buff to cream, and black to light blue or lavender. His brother didn't get as much of the lavender gene and is therefore black with red leakage.

     A view of his wing.

And this is the Porcelain hen, one who stood out from the rest of my Porcelain chicks that I hatched last year. She has more blue and brighter, more defined color than my other porcelains. She is 1/4 Mille Fleur and 3/4 Porcelain. By crossing my Mille Fleurs with the Porcelains I was able to get better feather quality and color with my porcelains, this is where the hen got the brighter color.

So far these birds have been shaping up well and I'm very pleased with how they've turned out. We plan on breeding them soon. My guess is the chicks will look like the father. I have done a Porcelain Self Blue cross before and got Self Blue chicks from the pairing, however the lavender color carries a lethal gene and when I did this cross only one chick lived. Since both of these birds carry Mille genetics there is probably less of a chance of the lethal gene happening.

We're ( Granny Baa & myself )pretty excited to see chicks from this pair and expecting some exciting blues !  ~By Bugs.

Washington Feather Fanciers Winter Brisk 2014

 This last week we went to the Winter Brisk (put on by the Washington Feather Fanciers ) to enter, sell, and look at poultry.The weather outside was cold but nice and warm inside the barn with lots of sounds of different poultry. This was an impressive Bourbon Red turkey displaying for us.

 This little Modern game bantam looked like he was walking on stilts.

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 There were lots of different kinds of poultry there this year and some that I have never seen, including these frizzled Belgian D'anvers  .

 I entered some birds as well, although I  didn't manage to get photos of them at the show. ( I took some pictures afterwards.) Overall my birds did good. They got Reserve of Breed , Reserve of Variety and some firsts, pretty good considering there was a lot of good competition this year.

 One of the Mille Fleur pullets I entered.

 Her dad Copper.

 My Black Mottled hen . I managed to sell almost all my chicks at the show, and also picked up a new bird from the breeder with the winning Porcelains to add a new bloodline to my birds.  Overall my birds did good. I sold 12 birds ,got a new one and met some other good breeders, and I look forward to going next year !

D'uccle Breeding Program Update

 Since the last update Ive been busy selecting the chicks I'm going to keep, overall I'm looking for good combs,beards,feet,color and good body shape, so far these chicks have grown into very nice birds.  Above is my 3 color cross which I will be using to try and breed a chocolate colored Mille Fleur.

 This is one of the Mille Fleur roosters that I have chosen to keep for the future Mille breeding pen, he is good in most areas of the breed, with thickly feathered feet , thick beard, good comb and decent color.

 This Mille hen has been shaping up to look a lot like her mom Cookie Dough ,  although her foot feathering isn't as thick as I like she has good shape and a thick beard, I will pair her with a rooster that has thickly feathered feet.

 This is one of a few Porcelain chicks that hatched this year, she has a lot more blue than any of my Porcelain chicks, we will be breeding her to the Self blue Mottled below, what the color will be I'm not sure but my guess is a Self Blue Mottled with some cream lacing?.

 This is a comparison of 3rd and 4th generation Porcelains that shows the feather quality difference, the one on the left is a pure bred Porcelain with typical feather quality, the one on the right is 3/4 Porcelain 1/4 Mille Fleur with a lot of improvement in feather quality.

And this is the Self Blue surprise chick that I didn't expect, which we will be breeding to the porcelain hen above.

Belgian D'Uccle Breeding Program ( surprising results ! )

 Since the start of this year I have been planning how to pair up this years breeding pen for the coming of a new generation of chicks. I started in about February by culling  & selling any unwanted birds , getting it down to one rooster and seven hens. I knew there were going to be some crossing of colors and I thought I knew what the outcome would be but I was sure wrong when this rooster threw some amazing surprises !

 Above is a fraction of the chicks hatched. Most of the chicks that first hatched turned out as I thought, but the blue mottled in the middle threw me off .  If you remember, the mottled porcelain cross hen from my post Black Mottled D'Uccle * breeding project, she is the parent of the blue chick above. I knew she carried the dilute gene but it shouldn't have shown till another generation. This left me thinking maybe the dilute genetics in her were very strong and it wasn't until later I  solved the mystery.

 Above was the next  group to hatch ,  above, there are a porcelain and a self blue mottled ( under the hen). These two colors should not have shown till another generation. I got to thinking about the roosters' parents at the time he was hatched and my breeding pen only had Mille Fleur's which meant his dad was Crimson and most likely the hen above, so there shouldn't have been any dilute genes in play. But one of the days in summer  a few months before the chicks hatched I had most of the bantams out to free range which left the possibility of different colors to mix . Copper ( the rooster above ) had a shape completely different than his siblings and parents, but had a similar shape to Glacier my Porcelain cockerel which leaves me to think Glacier is his dad and would explain a lot.

 This is one of a few chicks that came out looking like this with two pinstripes and a dot on the head. I think it will be fun to see if it will turn out like a regular Mille or somewhat different. So far 25 chicks have hatched with more coming. All colors hatched are Mille Fleur's with Porcelain genetics, a Self blue mottled, a Blue mottled, and Porcelains with Mille genetics. My main goal is to get better shape in my birds as far as now and  I've seen a lot of improvement in the last 4 generations with better foot feathering and better beards , thicker body type and posture. I'm pleased with the results.

Above are my two second generation pure Porcelain chicks with a Barred Rock Americana Cross for my new laying flock. To read how the Porcelain to Mille genetics work see my post D'Uccle Color Genetics *. I will update how the chicks are coming along soon along with some photos of their family tree.  By Bugs .

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.

New Shed

I thought I would do a post on what I've been doing this week and what's been happening. Above is the shed I finished  to store my supplies and feed.

Above is a photo of the turkeys I just moved outside. They are now fully feathered .

Here are the Porcelain roosters that hatched in January and are already the same size as their mom.

Above are my porcelain hens that hatched in January. Their names are China ,Mist Flower and their mom is Silver Bell.

I've also got a few hens that are incubating eggs Silver Mist's eggs are due the 28th of April and the black hen's eggs are due to hatch any time now.

Below are the two Mille Fleur's my other hen hatched out.

Bugs Draws Bantam Chickens

Bugs loves to study about and draw his chickens. Here is a Bantam Bearded Booted Mlle Fleur.

Bearded Porcelain Booted Bantam

One of the best ways to study any bird is to really observe everything about it, and drawing the bird helps you see and remember the details. Anyone desiring to raise poultry for practical reasons, for pleasure, or for showing ,should study their birds. Of course, enjoying and appreciating their beauty and personalities only makes this pursuit all the more fun! I know my grandson ,Bugs, loves his chickens and his drawings tell me his interest in poultry will most likely be life-long. I hope so !

Bantam Chicks Growing Quickly

Bug's chicks are growing quickly. He has been observing and studying them to see just how well they are growing and also how well they are measuring up to their breed standard. This is one of his favorites.

We are not quite sure what variety this bantam chick is . Soon, very soon, we believe our suspicions will be confirmed, but we're not yet ready to proclaim him ( chick on the left) because his mottled spots are not "mottled" enough to make Oreo as wonderful in type as we hope he is.

Oreo

The hen we believe to be the same variety as Oreo.

Mlle Fleur chicks.

Granny Baa's bantam black Cochins. I ( Granny) am growing very fond of these chicks, they alone are mine. Their personalities are very different from the rest of the chicks. These little black chicks are very friendly and docile. Not the least bit flighty, they amble over to me as I feed and water the chicks. They are also shaped like little black roly-poly balls. Watching them just makes me happy. I am very glad I added these chicks to the order of Mlle Fleurs, Porcelains, and de'Uccles.

Raising chicks is so much fun, and so interesting. The benefits of having chickens, both bantam and standard size are many, but pure entertainment ranks high on the list.These chicks chase each other, play with each other, and are also an on-going learning experience.If you are a bit stressed out, just grab a cup of coffee or tea and go on out to the chicken pen to sit a spell and watch the chickens.You cannot help but leave them with a smile and a chuckle...and maybe a little better perspective on your day. At least enough to help you wake up and begin anew another day, after all, your chickens count on you to come back and spend a little time with them. ( O.K. They need you to feed and water them, but that works for you , doesn't it ? )