Partridge Chantecler pullets

Took some photos while I was out taking shots of the coop and pens.  I am happy with what I kept this year, but many I do have a variety.  I am chasing the elusive 'perfect' bird so have kept a variety that I hatched this year to have a selection to play with.  Really happy with the growth on most of them!  They are some beefy chicks!  lol

I have kept a couple similar to this one.  The ground colour is to light.  The size and the pencilling are good enough not to ignore at the stage I am at with them so she stayed.  This one has thicker lacing than the other and maybe not as good a back and tail.  The other has a good back and tail but is not as big.
I have to say the contrast of the light (dead oak leaf) ground colour with the pencilling is amazing!
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This pullet has better ground colour and probably a little better shape than that first bird.  Her pencilling is finer, but she is showing a bit of shafting.  I have to say I am pretty happy with all the heads on the pullets this year.  The new cockerel did well to help with that I think.
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I am quite excited about this pullet.  She is probably the closest to what I am looking for.  She is quite a bit younger than the others, so a bit timid and bossed a bit.  She may carry her tail a bit to low but it is difficult to really tell that with how low she is in the pecking order.  Her back is a nice length and she doesn't have the 'poof' before her tail that Tara loves so much!       Her ground colour is good, pencilling is good and is still coming in.  She may need a little more 'front' on her.  It is difficult as she is a younger and I am seeing all the thick, beefy girls beside her.  Good head, decent comb, I am looking forward to seeing what she looks like in her 2 year old year.
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Pretty, black Coopers pullet behind her in this photo.
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Hope you enjoyed the photos and my ramblings.  Just thought I would show you where I am up to in the breeding program.  I think I am going to have to break one of my breeding rules this year and use some of the pullets.    I really do like the hens to be a year old so I know they have good vitality and lay well.  Just a compromise you have to make sometimes I suppose.

Very nice! What sort of age are they? They are nice and broad and beautifully patterned. That fifth photo down is just fabulous! Almost like a drawing.

Heda, I would have to look up to give and exact answer, but they would have been hatched in April and the younger pullet May.

That's all I meant. Just mentally comparing them to my spring hatched White Chanteclers. Do you think yours will grow more in height?

That last PChant pullet wants to come live at my house. You don't want to keep her. She is AWFUL. ;-)

I like the steely gaze and lovely plumage of the Cooper, too.

No, the Partridge seem to be shorter and thicker than the Whites. I only had a few Whites a couple of years ago and that is what I found. The Whites seem to take longer to mature, the PChants seem to put the 'beef' on quicker in my experience. Like I say, very limited White exposure.

This is interesting. I had a lady come and buy 3 pullets and a cockerel from the May hatch. He is very immature compared to the other cockerels I have, being later. Just starting to see what he is going to be like, but still smaller and gawky. She was a bit concerned as she had a mature Buckeye rooster and she didn't want the young fellow to get to bet up. I mentioned that he was used to being the bottom of the pecking order, but to keep an eye on them.
She messaged me to say the PChant towers over the mature Buckeye, makes him look like a midget and is beating the crap out of him. Go figure. She has them separate now.

I like that in the Coopers too Authentic.  I really want to try and keep the strong head that the Chant influence has put in there.

Just going to ignore the other remark.  

Heda, I have July hatches of both White and Partridge here. The Partridges are HUGE next to the Whites. I am unsure of the exact hatch date of the Partridges, but the difference is significant, regardless.

coopslave wrote:Just going to ignore the other remark.   

 

Not really surprising that they are so different when the Partridge and White were formulated from different breeds. There are some pretty poor examples of Whites out there though - birds that never get broad at any age. I think perhaps their popularity has been bad for the breed - not enough culling, not enough critical eyes.

I do think that happens sometimes Heda.  They always strike me as having a bit better layer body style than the Partridge do.  The Whites may give more eggs and take longer to get table sized. Would be good to hear from others breeding them as well.

My whites are very unimpressive, next to my partridges. Poor whites.

I got the last birds from a breeder in SK - the most fabulous White Chantecler hens and young rooster - huge and very broad quite different from the birds I've had until then - that made me think that somewhere the breed has come off the rails a bit. But maybe as you say it has been the layer qualities that have been emphasized. The roosters do bulk up nicely eventually, but the hens no where near as soon as your Partridges.

I am really loving those pullets of your, Coopslave. I agree, you need to use them in your breeding pens this year. I know, its nice to use the older hens that have proven themselves, but honestly it would be a real shame not to include such fabulous pullets.

So pretty!

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Yes, you are right Tara, still to fluffy. I have to say the Cock bird I used last year is not bad and one of his young sons I have kept is even better, so hopefully some headway on that soon.
I think some of the trouble is the matriarch hen I have kept all these years. So many good things about her, but she is to fluffy. Just something I will have to deal with slowly.
So many bloody things to work on with these guys, it drives me crazy, but is fun all at the same time!  
I do like that second pullet and I do have another very much like her. They seem smaller than the others a little but I will have to take a closer look and make sure they are just not a little tighter feathered so look smaller.
I love the tree trunks on the last pullet. Really starting to build some bone into them too.

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Your birds are beautiful as always!

Nice partridge Chantecler pullets Coopslave!

I have one of your lovely light partridge chanteclers, and personally, I think they are more striking than the dark. My whites are bigger than the partridges, and the white rooster is delightful. However, the partridge rooster has a bit more attitude. It will be interesting to see how my own little hatch of white chanteclers turns out. They are just over months now. There is so much to learn!

Ok you have to tell me, what is that black bird in your second photo? I keep coming back and looking at her. Must have Ameraucana in her but she is not shaped like one??? I kind of like the looks of her.

Hidden River wrote:Ok you have to tell me, what is that black bird in your second photo? I keep coming back and looking at her. Must have Ameraucana in her but she is not shaped like one??? I kind of like the looks of her.

That my dear Hidden is a VERY big secret. She looks like a black bird, a little like a Black Am, lays a lovely greenish-blue egg, but she has a plethora of hidden recessive genes lurking in her (and her 7 hatch mates) that will be unlocked next year!!!  
If what I think will happen, does happen, I will fill you all in as the chicks grow next season.

Sounds good, I think I have an idea of one of the birds that went into making her. Can't wait to see more.