I have wanted this breed for years. Ever since I went to a lady's house to buy a mixed doz fertile eggs and saw her one singular millie fluer d'uccle hen. She only had the one but I had never seen one before, and considering I live in a very small poultry community it really sparked my interest.
I searched for ages locally for a breeder, no one really knew what they were or had crosses (generally with silkies or pekins) so I took to buying online. Finially found a few breeders and got some eggs sent up to hatch. Hatched nearly the lot and got all hens but 3, which is great for me since I have so many chickens as it is and live in suburbia. When they started crowing, it was so quiet and kind of comical. They haven't gotten much louder and I seriously can't hear them with the house all closed up; my bobwhite quails calling is waaaaay louder. Videos on Youtube.com of this breed show that they can indeed get quite....shrill and loud, but mine are pretty good. Must just depend on the individual bird, however this is just my own point of veiw and experience.
The chicks are adorable when they first hatch. They are like fat faced little penguins and they only keep getting cuter. I found that within 2 weeks you could single out the obvious boys however one of them took a little longer to show that he was male, as his comb was a little slower to develop than the other two (and he's the best boy out of the three). I got a huge variety of colours just from one breeder alone, with a couple being peculiar mixed colours: quail x milliefluer being the main mix I've noticed, which is basically a quail coloured d'uccle with a few white spots all over.
I love watching them walk on the grass because they look like they are wearing huge swimming flippers when they are walking, or that they are worried they'll step in poop. They always stick with their own little group which I think is safer considering how small they are. I have not lost one yet by a hawk but I have defiantly seen them being swooped at by them, and they usually huddle up and head for the closest cover while the bigger poultry scare the hawk(s) away. My new puppy would also pick on them particularily because they were small and slow, but I sorted that out pretty quick by moving the dog to another area where she couldn't get the d'uccles. My bigger breeds will pick on them if they can, but they seem to not really mind. As an owner of poultry, I just have learned to feed at different stations so everyone gets a chance of a feed, rather than dumping food all in the one spot for the greedy chickens to hog out.
They are so easy to tame as well, and with their cute, funny appearence I can see how along with pekins, that they would be great for kids. I didn't handle mine at all until 4 months old and it took just a few mealworms to gain their trust. Now they circle my feet like little fluffy sharks. I also like that they will forage all day. I feed my birds a big pot of mash in the morning to which my birds will demolish quite quickly, and always have pellets in a dispenser that they can access at anytime. However the d'uccles will have some mash, pick at the pellets and just hang out in the garden for the rest of the day. Defiantly love their bugs. The roosters seem to be most exceptionally friendly in my lot, which is a nice change from some of the grumpy roos I've owned in the past.
One problem I have come across with the breed however is the fluffy legs. I've had feathered shanked birds before with faverolles, marans, silkies and pekins, however the Belgians are just the next level up. These legs are like wings they drag across the ground. I am yet to decide if i should try showing mine, but they seem to break their feathery quills from just regular free ranging so it might be a risky move since I am new to the show scene and have only entered Leghorns seriously before. They would definatly make one feel quite accomplished if they won however, as they seem to be quite high maintenance if one wants to perform at the top. Regardless, the fluffy legs is what drew me to the breed anyway, I love them.
Visitors love them. Usually they laugh at them, and question why the hell I want to keep a tiny chicken, but most people love them. I don't care much for the eggs, so I'm not judging them upon that aspect. I just wanted them purely for looks. If I wanted smaller egg machines, I would be reveiwing hamburgs. Though laying is pretty decent, I just let them hatch their own eggs, which they are incredibly good at. Top broodies, they just can't help themselves.
I searched for ages locally for a breeder, no one really knew what they were or had crosses (generally with silkies or pekins) so I took to buying online. Finially found a few breeders and got some eggs sent up to hatch. Hatched nearly the lot and got all hens but 3, which is great for me since I have so many chickens as it is and live in suburbia. When they started crowing, it was so quiet and kind of comical. They haven't gotten much louder and I seriously can't hear them with the house all closed up; my bobwhite quails calling is waaaaay louder. Videos on Youtube.com of this breed show that they can indeed get quite....shrill and loud, but mine are pretty good. Must just depend on the individual bird, however this is just my own point of veiw and experience.
The chicks are adorable when they first hatch. They are like fat faced little penguins and they only keep getting cuter. I found that within 2 weeks you could single out the obvious boys however one of them took a little longer to show that he was male, as his comb was a little slower to develop than the other two (and he's the best boy out of the three). I got a huge variety of colours just from one breeder alone, with a couple being peculiar mixed colours: quail x milliefluer being the main mix I've noticed, which is basically a quail coloured d'uccle with a few white spots all over.
I love watching them walk on the grass because they look like they are wearing huge swimming flippers when they are walking, or that they are worried they'll step in poop. They always stick with their own little group which I think is safer considering how small they are. I have not lost one yet by a hawk but I have defiantly seen them being swooped at by them, and they usually huddle up and head for the closest cover while the bigger poultry scare the hawk(s) away. My new puppy would also pick on them particularily because they were small and slow, but I sorted that out pretty quick by moving the dog to another area where she couldn't get the d'uccles. My bigger breeds will pick on them if they can, but they seem to not really mind. As an owner of poultry, I just have learned to feed at different stations so everyone gets a chance of a feed, rather than dumping food all in the one spot for the greedy chickens to hog out.
They are so easy to tame as well, and with their cute, funny appearence I can see how along with pekins, that they would be great for kids. I didn't handle mine at all until 4 months old and it took just a few mealworms to gain their trust. Now they circle my feet like little fluffy sharks. I also like that they will forage all day. I feed my birds a big pot of mash in the morning to which my birds will demolish quite quickly, and always have pellets in a dispenser that they can access at anytime. However the d'uccles will have some mash, pick at the pellets and just hang out in the garden for the rest of the day. Defiantly love their bugs. The roosters seem to be most exceptionally friendly in my lot, which is a nice change from some of the grumpy roos I've owned in the past.
One problem I have come across with the breed however is the fluffy legs. I've had feathered shanked birds before with faverolles, marans, silkies and pekins, however the Belgians are just the next level up. These legs are like wings they drag across the ground. I am yet to decide if i should try showing mine, but they seem to break their feathery quills from just regular free ranging so it might be a risky move since I am new to the show scene and have only entered Leghorns seriously before. They would definatly make one feel quite accomplished if they won however, as they seem to be quite high maintenance if one wants to perform at the top. Regardless, the fluffy legs is what drew me to the breed anyway, I love them.
Visitors love them. Usually they laugh at them, and question why the hell I want to keep a tiny chicken, but most people love them. I don't care much for the eggs, so I'm not judging them upon that aspect. I just wanted them purely for looks. If I wanted smaller egg machines, I would be reveiwing hamburgs. Though laying is pretty decent, I just let them hatch their own eggs, which they are incredibly good at. Top broodies, they just can't help themselves.