The Belgian d’Uccle in Belgium

Written by Jeroen Muys, Belgium, in November, 2005

History – It is known that for several centuries there have been bantams with foot-feathers. Strangely these birds mostly showed three colours, brown, black and white, which are the basic colours of the present-day variety of Millefleur.

At the end of the 19th century these birds were bred in a certain direction in some European countries. In the Netherlands they were called the “Sabelpootkrielen”, in Germany they had the “Federfüßige Zwerghühner” and in the UK these birds became “Booted Bantams”. Those three breeds showed several resemblances concerning shape, but each breed had its own typical characteristics. A few years later a bearded form of these breeds originated.

At the beginning of the 20th century Michel van Gelder, a rich person from Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, dreamed of a Belgian d’Anvers with foot-feathers and with a single comb. It’s self-evident the shape of the new breed “Le Barbu d’Uccle” didn’t show much resemblance to the shape of the foregoing breeds. Michel van Gelder bred about 1000 youngsters each year, so he could realise his dream in a very short time. In 1905 this breed was shown for the first time.

The first varieties were Millefleurs and Porcelaine. In 1906 there were also shown some White, Black and Cuckoo birds.

Seeing that most neighbouring countries had their own similar breeds, it’s clear the Belgian d’Uccle was not very popular outside Belgium. It was never as popular as its brother the Belgian d’Anvers in our own country. After both World Wars the quality and quantity wasn’t very good until around 1950. It was almost impossible to use Belgian d’Uccle from other countries, whereby very strict selection was necessary to bring back the very typical shape. Around 1970 we could find Millefleur, Porcelaine, White and Black Mottled birds in Belgium. There are also sources which say there were some Blue Belgian d’Uccle, but they have disappeared .

In the nineties this breed gained popularity in our country. Beside the traditional varieties Millefleur and Porcelaine, we also saw Black, White, Black Mottled and Quail at shows. However, over the last few years the popularity and number of birds at shows seems to have diminished. Mostly we only see some Millefleur birds shown. Fortunately there are some breeders like Bolle, family Muys, Smets and Willeghems who create, recreate or breed rare varieties. I think of the varieties Blue, Blue Quail, Blue Mottled, Silver Quail, Blue Silver Quail, Buff Mottled, Silver Millefleur, Blue Millefleur. etc. Birds of these varieties frequently also show a nice shape!

Shape and appearance - The most important thing about the Belgian d’Uccle is their shape. When the desired shape is not present, a bird may have beautiful colours and other details, but it should never be awarded a First Prize.

The d’Uccle posses a quite proud carriage. They show themselves from their best side just like the Belgian d’Anvers. They throw their heads well back, in such a manner that their breast is thrust forward. Looking from the side, the back slopes a little and seems shorter than that of birds with a more horizontal posture. Their wings have carried on the vulture hocks and slope downwards. The wings of the males slope more towards the ground than the females. Typical of the breed is that they are very low. The shanks and thighs are short. The front and outside of the shanks must covered with feathers. The foot feathers turn outwards horizontally. The ends are curved slightly backwards. Importantly, the outer toe and the outside of the middle toe are covered with feathers.

The tail of the males is carried rather high, and the sickles are sword-shaped. The higher the tail, the shorter the bird seems to be. Most Belgian males carry their tail at an angle of seventy-five to eighty-five degrees above the horizontal. The main tail feathers are carried quite open. The side hangers and tail coverts do not hide the main tail feathers. Close attention must be paid that the tail is not allowed to become too high, as that is what we call "squirrel-tail" and is a major fault.

The quite short tail of the females is carried sloping upwards towards the end, and is slightly spread. The latest Belgian standard proposes a tail carried at an angle of forty-five degrees above the horizontal. A tail carried too low, however, makes the birds appear very long, and that also gives a poor image.

Like the Belgian d’Anvers, a typical characteristic of a Belgian d’Uccle is that the front part with the breast, head, mane etc. shows us almost two thirds of the whole bird, while the back part with the tail shows us only about one third.

Without exception, the d'Uccle have to be rather small, yet they are also required to appear broad, especially on the breast and shoulders. The males posses full and convexly shaped hackles. The mane of the females forms a ruffle behind the neck, and is more developed than the males. In contrast to the males, the female hackle diminishes in thickness towards the bottom of the neck. Both males and females show neck feathers which turn backwards. Close to the largest manes you can see the turning movements of the feathers, and behind the neck you can see the feathers coming together. The hackles of the males cover their back, the mane becoming fuller with age, that is to say the volume of the hackles becomes larger. This is sometimes called a "bull-neck".

The d’Uccle must have a full tri-lobed beard, which gives the desired owl-headed appearance in the females. The whiskers are feathers, which turn horizontally backwards from both sides of the beak. In front, the feathers grow vertically downwards. Under the whiskers are found the ears and red ear-lobes. Wattles can only be present in rudimentary form, but the best birds will have none. The rather large head is broad, short and strong, with large and lively eyes. The d'Uccle possess a single comb which is small. It’s desirable the comb has five regularly formed spikes. The blade is little developed and follows the line of the neck.

Nature - Most books state that the d'Uccle are lively, but in compared to the d’Anvers they are less energetic. It’s self-evident the youngsters are more lively than older birds. That’s also a reason why it’s easier to obtain better results at shows with older birds than with young birds. The females of this breed become easily broody and are very good mothers to their youngsters.

Finally - It’s wonderful to know there is at the moment a big interest in the Belgian d’Uccle in some other countries than their country of origin. I think especially of Australia, America and the UK. A few years ago there was also a relatively big interest for this breed in the Netherlands, but it seems that the Dutch breeders have lost a bit of their enthusiasm for d’Uccle. My friend Christian Miniot has done a wonderful job in France; he has created and recreated many varieties and helped a lot of new breeders. His site is still one of the nicest sites for Belgians. I know there are also some d’Uccle in Germany and some enthusiastic breeders like Jörn Clevin will try to make the Belgian d’Uccle a little more popular in Denmark etc.

It’s just a little bit sad there aren’t many breeders anymore in Belgium, otherwise I have the feeling the Belgian birds are still closest to the original descriptions of shape, which was close to that of the Belgian d’Anvers. In spite of that I am very happy several people from other countries from time to time send me pictures of nice birds and year after year these birds become a step closer to the drawings of the Belgian artist Rene Delin!

I hope this article is of value. I thank my friend Irene Hannan of Australia for turning this into more readable English. With my best wishes ..... Jeroen Muys.

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