Coffee With The Chicken Ladies Breed Spotlight: Houdans

The quirky and beautiful Houdan is the kind of bird that the Chicken Ladies love. From their exuberant crest to their striking mottled feathers, you don’t have to be Cruella DeVil to appreciate how gorgeous these black and white chickens are. And their personalities? Très bon! Parfait!!

Houdan Heritage Chickens | Basic Breed Information

The Houdan is a dual purpose French Heritage breed that is best known for their appearance. They have large, Polish-style crests and beards, and five toes. They’re a calm and gentle breed, great for families, and they’re good layers. Houdans are currently listed in the Threatened category of the Livestock Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List. These fancy birds need some help!

Houdan Heritage Chickens | Size and Appearance 

Houdans are standard sized birds, with hens averaging about 6lbs., and roosters reach about 8lbs. The Mottled Houdan is black with white spangles, while the White Houdan is completely white. Both varieties have a full crest and beard, and a small V shaped comb. Early on, this breed apparently had leaf shaped or butterfly shaped combs, but this was pretty well bred out of them by 1900. They also have the vaulted skull and wide nostrils seen in older, crested Continental breeds. As chicks, their crest is quite visible. Houdans have white earlobes and small wattles, mostly covered by their beards. Both color varieties have white legs, but there may be mottled black spots on the Mottled Houdan’s legs.

Houdan Heritage Chickens | Foundation Breeds

As is the case with many of our favorite Heritage breeds, Houdans were “improved,” (usually to increase size and/or significant physical features,) during the 1800s, notably in the village of Houdan in Normandy, France. Like the Faverolles, they were bred and raised as a dual purpose bird for the London and Paris markets. However, there are written records here and there that suggest that this breed is far older. Most poultry historians credit Dorkings and either Crevecouer or Polish as their foundation breeds. The 5th toe would almost certainly be a gift from the Dorking, itself a very old breed, and we know that the Crevecouer is a historic breed as well. We have no real way of knowing what those first strains of Houdans looked like, so it’s hard to guess how much they were altered over the centuries.

Houdan Heritage Chickens | History

Houdans were first imported into England – where they were sometimes known as the Normandy Fowl – in the 1850s. Many British chicken keepers of the era believed the Houdan was one of the best French chickens available. They remained popular in the UK until the early 20th century, both as practical farm birds and as show chickens.

Houdans showed up in the US in the 1860s. The black and white mottled Houdans were accepted into the Continental Class in the first printing of the American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection in 1874. An American breeder began developing a white strain of Houdan by crossing mottled Houdans and White Polish, and that color variety was accepted by the APA in 1914. Like so many other Heritage breeds, Houdans in Europe and North America were replaced by industrial layers and fell out of favor after the first and second world wars, eventually becoming endangered.

Houdan Heritage Chickens | Laying and Hatching

Hens are very good layers of large white eggs. Numbers vary, but we found records indicating that they will lay anywhere from 150-200+ eggs per year. According to the Livestock Conservancy, Houdan roosters are quite the lovers and require a large flock of hens. Hens are non-setters so if you want to breed you’ll need an incubator or broody hen.

Houdan Heritage Chickens | Ideal Living Conditions

Houdans prefer their environment to be dry and sunny, but not overly hot. They will need plenty of shade in the heat of summer. They don’t do well in very cold and ice/snow, and ice in their crests can cause frostbite. Keep an eye on the beard and crest by performing periodic mite checks. They’re not ideal for unsupervised free ranging because of their large crests that can obscure their view of predators. You’ll want to check your birds to make sure they aren’t feather blind and can see to eat and keep themselves safe from attack by flock-mates as well as predators. Crest trimming may be necessary.

They are good homestead birds, but not ideal if you just let your chickens out every morning and expect them to thrive. Houdans need a bit more care than that! 4H kids looking for project birds may do well with gentle Houdans. They are excellent chickens for beauty and companionship, for eggs, and as additions to a laid back flock.