Baby Chicks: Mottled Houdan

Great personality love these girls!

2 of the chicks I ordered were mottled houdans. One arrived deceased. The other, Puffy, is my children's favorite chicken, and extremely tolerant of them. She likes to ride in the wagon and sit in your lap. She lays small white eggs on occasion, outside the nesting box.

Our mottled houdan is our absolute favorite hen! She is exceptionally sweet and gets along with all the chickens. She also comes running up to us every time she sees us and will pull on our pant leg if we are paying attention to another chicken. She hasn't started laying yet that we know of, but we just love her & she is definitely more like a pet & sneaks inside if we leave the door cracked. She will get on our lap if we sit down and waits at our feet to be picked up. Sometimes she even perches on our shoulder if she can get to it. When we had another chicken that was hurt she just cuddled with her, while some of the other chickens were mean.

We chose these as a substation on hatch day. I am so glad I did! Our two (Turnip and Estelle) are hands down crowd favorites. Turnip is my husband’s best friend! People are constantly asking me what breed they are. Beautiful and very friendly. I call them our redneck parrots! I will always have Houdans from now on!!

Our little Flo loves snuggling and will always strech out her neck if you pet it. She is so friendly and docile and she loves being picked up and pet

She loves being held from day one. She is so gentle. My son is blind and he holds her all the time. Plus my Helen does not look like that picture! She way more beautiful and i'm told she should have been called cruella Deville beause of her hair! Great personality and smart! So smart!!!

I was so looking forward to getting our mottled houdans because of how sweet they are supposed to be & right away I noticed one was a lot smaller than the other & that one had pasted up so I cleared it multiple times a day & she just didn’t seem like she was doing as well. Then we noticed the bigger one had scissor beak, which got more pronounced as the weeks went on & it was hard to look at her since it looked painful. We would give her wet feed so maybe she could get some nourishment. But she just stopped eating and was getting walked on by the other chicks. We came in in the morning and she had died. The other one seems to be doing okay.

On a whim I changed our order a couple months out and one of the breeds available was a mottled Houdan, so I thought, why not? My oh my was that the best random order change I have ever made. Our Houdan is the nicest, most adorably vocal, loving bird we have. I hardly have any pictures of her doing anything besides curled up on my lap cooing and purring at me or sleeping. I know each individual chicken has a different personality but after this experience I don’t know if I can ever be without a mottled Houdan in my flock. She is gorgeous and her 5th toes are just so cute! She is 22 weeks now, on the cusp of laying because it is winter so I can’t vouch for her laying, but she earns her keep in cuddles and love so I don’t really care how well she lays. She is just the best!

This is the first time I have ever purchased from a hatchery. In the past I’ve only gone to the best breeders in the country to purchase my Silkies and Polish. I have always wanted a Mottled Houdan. One day this summer I just went for it. I only purchased 3 as I wanted to see what I thought of their personalities. The breeds I already own are very friendly. Well, I might even say they could be my new favorite! They are so nosey. They are always under my feet or under my swing. Their chirping sounds like gentle honks. They’re so funny. We all absolutely love them and to be honest I think the picture they have on this site does not do them justice. A+++

I got two in August 31, 2020 and wow much prettier than photo shows. Mine are 50/50 black and white, have green eyes and pink feet. Such a friendly duo Razel and Dazel took to flying up on shoulder or arm when we go in coop. Really love the way these birds grew and can see. Have lovely two toned top feathers but doesn't block their eyes. Ending up one of my favorites. Thank you.

I got two from MPC and I love them both. I named both of them Amie (French for friend) because they are so friendly and I could not tell them apart for several weeks. Their color pattern looks nothing like the picture above. Mine have much more white and look way cooler in my opinion.

Not sure why there are not more reviews on houdan ... but our little Talulah is as friendly and social as they come. Talulah came to us in an order with 14 other chicks, including silkies, marans, Easter Eggers, Polish,welsummer and a couple others, but she ilia’s the best personality. Every evening she seeks me out for snuggles and does not go in the coop until everyone else is in and it is getting dark. She isn’t laying yet, so I can’t speak to that, but if you want a pet, this breed is wonderful.

I love my Houdans. They are the sweetest chickens. I have gotten them elsewhere previously, but I am glad to see they are now here. I will get some next time I make an order.