Month: March 2017

Houdan

Posted on by Cindy Johnson

Houdan

 

 

Houdan

Originating from the village of Houdan France, the Houdan has five toes, a beard, muffs, and a weird butterfly shaped comb with crests and feather bearding hiding the small earlobes and butterfly comb.   They are glossy green black with white mottled patches.    They appeared in the 1860’s and 70’s in the U.S., in Briton in the 1850’s.   The birds came from the Crevecceur, the Polish, and the Dorking.  The Houdans have five toes instead of the usual four toes, evidence of the Dorking bloodline.  

There are two main varieties, white and black with white spotting.    While they were bred for dual purpose laying and as meat birds they are mostly an ornamental breed these days.    They retain their good genetics, mature quickly, and lay a good number of eggs per year, so they are still used in backyard flocks.  

Roosters will weight over six pounds, hens around five pounds.  There are bantam varieties as well.  The hens lay white eggs.

 

 

 

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Hamburg/Hamburgh

Posted on by Cindy Johnson

Hamburg/Hamburgh

 

Hamburg/Hamburgh

Originating in the Netherlands around the 14th century,  the Hamburg chicken  is small but very good layers, up to 220 small eggs per year.  They mature quickly and have excellent feed to egg conversion ratio.  There are around ten varietes of Hamburgs including the silver spangled and gold spangled types.  They tend to be nervous birds and while ornamental in nature they are good foragers.   the silver and golden spangled variety. The Hamburg display a high tendency to be nervous around people. Though ornamental in nature, the Hamburg is an efficient forager.

Colors can be black with a greenish sheen, penciled colors with white ear lobes,  silver spangled, golden penciled, silver penciled, golden spangled, black,  and white.   They mature

Rooster will weight around five pounds, hens around four pounds.  There are also bantam varieties.  The hens lay white eggs.

 

 

 

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Frizzle

Posted on by Cindy Johnson

Frizzle

 

 

Frizzle
The Frizzle is of Asian descent and is a purely exhibition breed, actually more of a variation of a breed than a breed on its own. It is docile, and can be hardy and suitable for free range or poorly mobile and require confinement.   Some varieties are not  good layers, others are excellent layers. The plumage of the Frizzle gives the breed its name as it curls tightly backwards towards the head.

There is actually  a gene responsible for the frizzled feathers and it shows up in several breeds.

Their are bantam and larger varieties.  Blue, black, buff, or white are the normal colors. 

Bantam type roosters weigh about a pound and a half, hens about one and a quarter pounds.   Standard frizzle roosters will weight as much as seven pounds and hens five pounds.  The hens lay light brown eggs.

As the gene is responsible for the frizzled feathers you really can’t lay out exact characteristics as the frizzled feathers is the only real determining factor.  Generally the actual breed of the bird will have more to do with the characteristics of the individual bird.

 

 

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Faverolles

Posted on by Cindy Johnson

Faverolles

 

Faverolles

 Faverolles were developed in North Central France in the 1860’s as ornamental birds.

Faverolles are friendly birds and very god layers.  There are two varieties, Ermine and Salmon colored.  They are a heavy breed of bird, have feathered feet, beards, muffs, leg feathering, and five toes per foot.   They do well in coops or free range, they even do well in battery cages as they are excellent layers and tolerate confinement.  Mostly kept as ornamental birds they were bred for dual purpose use and have good laying abilities and good meat carcasses.  The hens lay well in winter and put out medium sized pinkish or light brown eggs. 

The roosters are fairly quiet and the birds are known for being very docile to the point where they will get bullied in mixed flocks.   They make good pets for this very reason.      As a dual purpose breed they lay well and produce meat birds efficiently.  .

There are several varieties, black, laced, blue, buff, cuckoo (bluish white barred, or irregular light and dark barred), salmon, and ermine.

Roosters will weight eight pounds, hens seven pounds.  The hens lay light brown eggs, around 240 eggs per year.

 

 

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Dorking

Posted on by Cindy Johnson

Dorking

Dorking

Originating in Britain the Dorking is a very unusual chicken.  Some say the bird dates back to the time of the Roman invasion of Britain.  The bird is a good meat bird and layer and it is one of the few breeds that have five toes instead of the normal four toes.    They have stocky bodies, short legs, are good mothers, but due to large combs they require winter shelter. 

A dual purpose breed that produces plenty of eggs and a good meat carcass, dorkings are one of the few breeds with red earlobes that also produce a white shelled egg.  There are five varieties;  white, silver-grey, red, dark,, and cuckoo.  The roosters weight around two and a half pounds, the hens around two pounds.

 

 

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Guineas

Posted on by Cindy Johnson

Guineas

 

 

Guineas

Guineas originated from West Africa where htey were domesticated from wild fowl.  The most common varieties are Pearl and White but both birds will interbreed with the other.   Most birds are under four pounds, small boned, so they have a high carcass weight that produces a lot of meat for the size of the bird. 

The meat has a game flavor to it so there is a market for the meat from large hotels and top restaurants.   The eggs are small as one would expect from a small bid and the hens are known for hiding their nests.  The male birds, called cocks, tend to fight amongst themselves but generally won’t bother chickens.

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Guineas are wonderful watchdogs especially at night where they will scream if they are disturbed and they retain enough wild instinct that they are good lookouts against hawks. 

Along with the small egg comes small chicks and the Guinea hens are poor mothers.  The hens will start laying in April and May but won’t become broody till much later in the summer.   A hen will lay between 36 and 60 eggs per season

Male Guineas have slightly larger heads and the females aren’t as vocal as the males.  Once mated the pair will remain a pair.

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Guineas

They are very hardy creatures and will forage most of their own food and are excellent at finding ticks.  As long as the weather is warm they will feed themselves if they have plenty of area to free range.   In colder weather and at the beginning of summer where there might not be as many bugs and other forage you can supplement their foraging with any sort of chicken feed.

Most hatcheries will have  a few varieties of Guinea fowl or you can purchase keets and grown birds from locals

 
 

In rural areas Guineas can simply be set loose to roam as they have enough wild instinct to roost and survive on their own.    You can coop them at night but unlike chickens which quickly learn where home is a Guinea might take 8 to 10 weeks to become accustomed to sleeping in a coop.  Providing feed each night is a good method of ensuring they continue to return to the coop.  Releasing half of the birds in the first few weeks is helpful as they have a very strong flocking instinct.     Guineas are known for harrasing chickens, especially roosters.   They seem to enjoy startling hens and knock hens off the roost at night.  

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Guineas are excellent flyers that can roost in trees at night and if you don’t coop them and feed them at night they will become wild.  The hens are vulnerable while nesting and they are such bad mothers that a lot of the keets will be left behind as the mother forages.  You are better off catching the keets and penning them up till they are big enough to keep up with their mother.

During cold weather Guineas will use a barn or other shelter if one is available.   Males will have larger wattles and heads than the hens but the surest method is to listen to their squawks.  Females will have a two syllable call and a one syllable chatter type sound but the male can only make the single chatter type sound, like chaa chaa chaa.  The female call is more like a raspy  ree onsch, ree onsch, ree onsch

 

 

 
 

Keets will begin to breed in the spring after they are hatched.   The eggs are brown and quite small, about half the size of a normal chicken egg.  The hens are good at setting but poor mothers once the keets have hatched.  The eggs can be incubated  but the length of time is a bit different than chicken eggs. Once hatched the keets are fairly delicate and must be kept at a constant 95 degrees F until they are completely feathered out.    They tend to drown in water dishes so add rocks or use shallow pans.    ..

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C
Guinea keets are very active young birds.  They are rather delicate though.  That is why the mother often loses a lot of them if allowed to raise them herself.  I brood mine in a simple chicken brooder box.  I have raised them with chickens from birth.  Some people would probably disagree with that so use your own judgment.  You do need to make sure that the keets will not drown in the water.  They are smaller than chicks and can more easily.  I have heard that you should put rocks or marbles in the bottom of the water container so it is not deep enough for them to drown.  rooster0209 said Another important fact! Keets must stay 95F until they are fully feathered or they die.
Thank you rooster0209 for your information!

Will guineas hatch their own eggs?
Yes.  They are supposed to be fairly good setters but poor mothers

 

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Ducks

Posted on by Cindy Johnson

 

 

 

Ducks

Nearly all domesticated ducks descended from the wild Mallard or Muscovy ducks.  Ducks came out o Asia originally but have been bred for all climates and uses. . 

Most varieties of ducks will easily interbreed with other varieties of ducks so if you are wanting to keep a strain purebred you have to keep the varieties separate during the breeding season. 

Here are some common breeds of ducks:
Black Swedish is a calm bird that will weight between 5 and 6 pounds, will lay around 120 to 180 eggs per year and are fair mothers if you want to have the ducks hatch their own eggs.

Black Runner is a nervous bird that will weigh between 3 and 4 pounds, lays between 100 and 180 eggs per year, and is a poor to fair mother.

Blue Runners are nervous birds that will weight between 3 and 4 pounds, lay 100 to 180 eggs per year, and are poor mothers.

Blue Swedish are calm birds, weigh between 5 and 6 pounds, lay between 120 and 180 eggs per year, and are fair mothers.

Buffs are calm birds, weight between 5 and 6 pounds, will lay between 130 and 180 eggs per year, and are fair mothers.

Cayugas are calm birds, weigh between 5 and 6 pounds, will lay between 130 and 180 eggs per year, and are fair mothers.

Chocolate Runners are nervous birds, weight between 3 and 4 pounds, lay around 100 to 180 eggs per year, and are poor to fair mothers.

Fawns and White Runners are nervous birds, weigh between 3 and 4 pounds, lay around 100 to 180 eggs per year, and are poor mothers..

Jumbo Pekins are calm birds, weight between 9 and 14 pounds, lay between 140 and 175 eggs per year, and are poor mothers.

 

 

 

Golden 300 Hybrid Layer is a calm bird, weighs between 4 and 6 pounds, lays between 200 and 290 eggs per year and are fair mothers.
Grimaud Hybrid Pekins are calm birds, between 8 and 12 pounds, lay around 150 to 200 eggs per year, and are poor mothers.
Khaki Campbells are nervous birds, weight between 3 and 5 pounds, lay around 160 to 200 eggs per year, and are good mothers.

Mallards are calm birds, weight between 2 and 3 pounds, lay between 60 and 120 eggs per year, and are very good mothers.

Pekins are calm birds, weight between 7 and 13 pounds, lay between 140 to 220 eggs per year and are poor mothers

Rouens are calm birds, weigh between 5 and 8 pounds, lay between 140 and 180 eggs per year, and are good mothers.

Welsh Harlequins are very calm birds, weight between 4 and 6 pounds, lay between 100 and 150 eggs per year, and are good mothers.

White Cresteds are nervous birds, weigh between 6 and 7 pounds, lay between 100 and 130 eggs per year, and are poor to fair mothers.

White Layers are calm birds, between 4 and 6 pounds, lay around 200 to 290 eggs per year, and are good mothers.

 

 

 

Pekins are the most popular ducks for meat production.  The best breeding stock comes from France as these are the fastest growing variety.  They do well on pasture as they are naturally hardy and have good disease resistance.. 

Khaki Campbells are exceptional egg layers along with the Golden 300 and White Layer.

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Rhode Island Red

Posted on by Cindy Johnson

An American icon in the chicken breeders world, the Rhode Island Red

Rhode Island Reds are one of the most popular and best known breeds of standard chickens because they are such a versatile breed.  Originally they were bred for laying and for meat but since the 1940’s breeders have been focusing on the egg laying traits.

 

 

 

The red and black feathers and the red comb mark the iconic symbol of American farming, the Rhode Island Red.   The breed originally came out of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the 1880’s as a productive and well tempered brown egg laying bird. 

It is considered the best layer of all of the dual purpose breeds and can lay two to three hundred eggs per year.   The bird has Malay, Shanghai, Java, and Brown Leghorn blood in it.

There are two main types, the single comb variety and the rose combed variety.

The original breeders wanted a bird that was a good layer and also make a good meat bird but since the mid 1940’s breeders have focused on egg production and the bird has become smaller, less broody, and lighter colored.  The old strains can still be found and are larger, more broody, and darker red.