D'uccles
D'uccles are one of the belgian bantam breeds, along with d'anvers and booted bantams. They are known for being friendly little chickens. They have beards, muffs, vulture hocks, and feathered feet. D'uccles are true bantams, meaning they only come in bantam and there is no large fowl version of them. The mille fleur variety was recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1914. They also come in lavender, porcelain, mottled, golden neck, blue mille fleur, and others. I hope to raise the blue mille fleur and golden neck varieties in addition to the mille fleur I have currently. I have so far found them to be sweet calm little chickens. They are great with kids, small enough for little ones to handle and have a wonderful disposition making them a good choice for those in 4H or interested in showmanship. The roosters, as with any chicken, and especially seems to be the case with bantams, can be a bit feisty.
I hope to be offering eggs for sale from them by late winter, early spring. I will also be looking for golden necked d'uccles in the spring to add to my breeding program.
I hope to be offering eggs for sale from them by late winter, early spring. I will also be looking for golden necked d'uccles in the spring to add to my breeding program.
Serama
Seramas are another bantam breed. They were developed in Malaysia. They are friendly little chickens, and come in every color under the sun. They are the smallest chicken breed. Mine have proven to be wonderful layers of tiny little eggs. Super friendly, they come running to you. Their small size makes them another good choice for kids, they are very easy for them to handle. They mature quickly in my experience, with most of the pullets starting to lay by 4-5 months of age, the little roosters are also able to fertilize the eggs by that age too. Being so small, they can start hatching at about 19 days instead of 21 days like most breeds of chickens. Serama come in smooth, frizzle, and silkie feathering. I have frizzle and smooth. The only downfall to these teeny birds for me is their lack of cold hardiness. I plan on keeping my frizzles in a heated area, and breeding towards more cold tolerant birds with the rest.