Pros: Sweet, gentle, NOT aggressive, small, beautiful, and the list goes on and on!
Cons: NOTHING!
I have 5 D'uccles hens, and 3 cockerels of various colors. These birds are the best!! They fly onto the feed tray in the morning, eat out of my hand, the roosters are not aggressive AT ALL, and they come in many lovely colors. I really can't say enough good things about this breed!
Cons: too docile to hold their own with aggressive breeds
I really LOVE d'Uccles!!!!!!! My favorite color is Golden Neck. We have had Golden Neck, Mille Fleur, Black Mottled, Self Blue, and Porcelain. All have the same sweet personality in my experience.
I first had some d'Uccles last year I think...or the year before. I sold them thinking that I would go back to large fowl, and ended up missing them so much that now we have ordered more from Welp Hatchery (where we bought them the first time). We are only ordering Mille Fleur, Golden Neck, and Porcelain this time.
They are so very docile. Even the roosters were not aggressive. They never seemed to want to free range with the other birds- they wanted to get to the feeders instead! That''s when I learned they were happier in a bantam-only pen. This might not be an issue with others, but at the time I had some very aggressive hens and they had a hard time getting to the feeders whenever they wanted.
So, they enjoy staying close to home (even after they filled their crops at the feeders), and can fly like a helicopter- straight up and hover!!! What is so interesting is that even though they could fly right over our fences, they didn't go far. They didn't want to come up to the house and mess up my bark nugget flowerbeds like the large fowl did when they got out.
I love to see them hopping along, raising their feet so high as they walk or run! They are just adorable and love interacting with humans. My children held them on their laps and they grew to enjoy that cuddle time, unlike some other breeds.
My favorite thing about them is that I wanted a breed where I didn't have to send away the roosters. I don't like to send away an animal that I have promised a home to by buying chicks. I know that I might need a rooster pen eventually, but these guys really don't eat much.
D'Uccles (I pronounce it "duh-ooh-cull" with the emphasis on oooh.) are so wonderful and are very pet-like. They are more like having a cat or dog. I tell my DH that it doesn't matter how many eggs we get or what size the eggs are (we have Orpingtons for eggs), because they have won my heart.
UPDATE: I have 5 d'Uccle roos now and one of them has done the wing dance for me. I am watching to see if I will have to get rid of him...I am giving him some time to see if he will show more aggression- then he is out of here. The other 4 roos are just so sweet.
Update again: I am getting rid of my roosters. 3 out of 5 have turned aggressive on me. Granted, they are only 10 inches high and they do try to make friends with me after they kick me. But I am not looking forward to dealing with spurs when they come in.
I have had the pleasure of owning a small flock of Belgian d'Uccle for about one year.
Only a single rooster survived up til now, but along the way I purchased 4 more,
plus 2 Porcelain colored. (All the rest are Mille Fleurs)
My flock have always grown up loving people, and I love them for every reason that
I could love them for. However, the hens don't make very good layers, so for
production, these don't quite cut it.
While this chicken is changing it's feathers it looks pretty weird... baby chiks are adorable ( as usuall ), and when it's grown up, well, just look at the feat.. It looks like a great chicken to have.
I am just wanting to recommend Nathan Howe, in Wesley Chapel, FL as a breeder for these lovely birds - I just went to his place and purchased 2 very young pullets - very healthy, active, friendly - and of course, beautiful. He has 2 roosters - 1 of which won top prize at the FL State Fair this year - and is stunning, as well as 4 laying hens - all of which look to be excellent examples of the breed. He has many chicks right now in varying ages, and is needing to find good homes for them. Pullets and cockerels.
He was a pleasure doing business with - his price was (in my estimation) very fair at $10.00 per pullet, as they are show quality, and his facility looked to be clean, neat, and thoughtfully laid out for the bird's comfort and safety.
If you are looking for some of these birds, please consider contacting Nathan asap! I'm sure once the word gets, out, they will be hard to come by.
We were pleasantly suprised when we found that, when we bought our straight-run from a farm store, we lucked up with this awesome and beautiful breed. We have 1 male and 2 females (Mille Fluer-bearded). The females are very submisive to our larger chickens and the male has pride. He and another bantam in the coop have been working on setting a pecking order...but overall they have personality without being too aggressive.
Pros: Adorable Charlie Chaplain Walk, kid friendly, beautiful
Cons: chases and will peck our small family dog, can fly over most fences, a bit too loud for small urban yards
My entire family really loved these gorgeous little chickens. We had 2, they have lots of personality and mine were a bit too brave. They would chase our little white dog up to the back door or peck him if they were out at the same time. They also got louder as they grew, making lots of noise to me when I would come out side. They would let my kids pick them up and pet them. They were very accepting of other birds and made a black Langshan their adopted sister, they were constantly by each others side. They will fly over certain fences and made it hard to keep them off my deck and out of certain areas of the garden. But they are a wonderful chicken to have as pets.
Pros: They are very sweet and very easy to take care of.
Cons: Once you get a couple you want more and more!
I love my D'uccle's they are great pets and great egg layers even though there eggs are a little tiny they do make great breakfast eggs, hard boil eggs, and egg salads. They are so very sweet and have great personality's. In all my d'uccle's I can tell each one who is who. Great chickens! MUST HAVE!!!!!!!!
Pros: calm, quiet, friendly, great layers, beautiful
Cons: tiny eggs
I bought a flock of 6 pullets and a cockerel last August. They were 3 months old. At 5 1/2 months my girls all started laying, They have been very consistent layers! They are calm, quiet, friendly birds, and my roosters are never aggressive! I love these birds, and can't imagine ever being without them!
Oh, I LOVE my Mille Fleur d'Uccles! We have one hen and one cock. We had another hen but a raven came out of nowhere and snatched her up out of the yard last year. =(
Both the hen and the cock are relatively easy to catch and struggle only initially when held. The cock doesn't crow excessively like our Golden Sebright cock but when he does, it's a less strident sound. As far as aggressiveness goes, he only postures once or twice a month. The rest of the time, he couldn't care less if a human comes near him. My friend once said he looks like he's wearing fancy shoes; those feathered feet are so cute! They do make it a little difficult for the d'Uccles to get around in tall grass or the snow, though.
Our hen is my favorite of all our birds. She's just so sweet and unassuming. She lays small, white, very tasty eggs when she's not being broody and when she is broody it doesn't take too much work to break her of it. Maybe just a week or so of pulling her out of the nest and putting her outside. We have invested this year in Dorkings to breed (for meat and eggs) and I plan on using my little d'Uccle to brood eggs if a Dorking girl decides she's not up to the task.
Cons: small eggs, broody, long time to feather and egg maturity
My Mille Fleur D'uccle are by far my favorite birds. So beautiful, so sweet, they even have a lovely little chirping way of "talking" to you. No squawking from these beauties, just sweet little trills. My 2 hens are surprisingly good layers too. I get 5 or more eggs per week per bird. The Mille Fleur eggs are the only ones I claim taste better than others. Their eggs are creamier and tastier than the eggs of my other breeds. My only problem with this breed is trying not to get more!
I have one of this breed. Her name is Sprout. She is no bigger than a puff of air but don't tell her that she thinks she's a big girl. To give you an example of her size, she once tried to sit on some eggs. She could barely cover two full size eggs. I always smile when I see her. She very rarely lays an egg. I am not sure if this is a trait for this breed or not. But eggs or no eggs, she is a keeper.
I had 8 Millie Fluers, and they were one of my most favorite bantams. Yosemite Sam, our rooster, was so cute the way he would strut around--the feathers on his feet made him look like he was wearing chaps lol. Very good parents all around--more people need to own these birds
In my opinion, this is one of the best bantam breeds I've ever come across. My little roo was the sweetest, and made it through a bad case of Cocci which he came with from the breeder. These birds have personality, will walk with the big chickens, and cuddle up on your shoulder with no issue. And don't forget gorgeous!