Crevecoeur chickens: Sweet, bizarre, and rare

Breeds
Written By Bri Wyzard

What kind of chicken keeper are you? Do you want your chickens solely for eggs? Or meat? Or both? Or do you want your chickens as pets and companions?

Crevecoeur chickens are decent layers. They’re not Leghorns, but they will provide about 3 eggs/week. They used to be used as meat birds and are said to have excellent taste, but the American strains tend to be smaller than their meaty French equivalents.

Where Cerevecoeurs really excel is in the pet and companion category. These are sweet, friendly birds with an unusual appearance that’s sure to be a conversation starter.

“As it can also become hand-tame reasonably quickly, it is a good choice for those who want a breed that is a little out of the ordinary.”
— Jeremy Hobson & Celia Lewis, Choosing & Raising Chickens

Have Crevecoeur chickens?

Crevecoeur chicken facts

Alternate spellings: Crévecoeur, Crévecœur, Créve-Coeur, and Crève-Cœur
Category: Pet, eggs & meat
Origin: France
Egg-laying ability: Good
Broodiness: Low-Moderate
Meat production: Good
Cold tolerance: Poor-Mediocre
Heat tolerance: Good
Predator evasion: Mediocre-Good (if crest is not too large)
Foraging ability: Good
Toleration for confinement: Good
Temperament: Calm, friendly
Aggression toward flock members: Low
Noise level: Low-moderate

Origin of Crevecoeur chickens

The name “Crevecoeur” comes from the name of the small town, Crève-Cœur en Auge, located in Normandy, France. “Crève-Cœur” translates to “broken heart.” Gotta love the poetic French!

The breed’s history is cloaked in mystery, but Crevecoeurs are one of the oldest breeds in France with documentation going back to the 18th century. And many poultry historians think that the Crevecoeur breed may date all the way back to antiquity.

The breed may have been developed by mixing French country chickens with crested Polish chickens, but this remains speculative.

The modern Crevecoeur was developed from crossing Crevecoeurs with the English Dorking breed of chicken. This was done in the 19th century to increase the birds’ sizes so they would provide more meat.

The Crevecoeur was once an incredibly popular meat bird in France through at least the early 20th century. The chickens were imported into America in the 19th century, but, as The Livestock Conservancy puts it, the Crevecoeur “at the time was regarded as ‘too tender’ for the climate of eastern and middle states there.”

The Crevecoeur breed is now incredibly rare worldwide and is considered endangered. The birds’ numbers are so low that The Livestock Conservancy has given the breed a status of “Critical.”

Thankfully, some popular American hatcheries have started to carry this breed, so hopefully these numbers will improve as more backyard chicken keepers become familiar with these delightful birds.

“From its days as a first-class utility bird, this breed is now only regarded as an unusual rare breed, preserved by those interested in maintaining old and unique breeds.”
— Frances Bassom, Chicken Breeds and Care

What do Crevecoeur chickens look like?

There is only one variety of Crevecoeur recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA), but breeders have developed a couple of others. Crevecoeurs also come as a bantam (i.e., miniature) breed.  

Crevecoeur feather colors and patterns

The most common variety of Crevecoeur is the Black Crevecoeur, and this is also the only variety recognized by the APA. Below is a video of this beautiful variety:

A couple other varieties of Crevecoeur exist that aren’t recognized by the APA, but are considered standard varieties in some other countries.

These varieties include White Crevecoeurs and Blue Crevecoeurs. You can see these breeds in the two videos below, respectively.

What is notable about the Crevecoeur chicken’s appearance?

Crevecoeurs are noticeably different from most other breeds because of their conspicuous crests and beards. Their crests grow out of knobs of bone on their skulls, and their beards are tri-lobed, which means they’re split into two muffs and a beard. And some chicks may be born without beards.

The birds have small wattles and small earlobes that may be hidden somewhat by their crests and beards. In America, the standard earlobe color is red (set by the APA), whereas in France it’s whitish. American Crevecoeurs are one of the few breeds who lay white eggs but don’t have white earlobes.

Crevecoeurs also have unusual V-combs, also called horn combs or devil’s combs. These combs are small- to medium-sized and located in front of the crest feathers.

They also have small wattles and dark leaden blue shanks and toes.

How big do Crevecoeur chickens get?

Roosters: 8 lbs
Hens: 6.5 lbs
Bantam roosters: 30 oz
Bantam hens: 26 oz

Because Crevecoeurs were originally used as meat birds, they should be large and stocky in build. However, the American strains tend to be smaller than standard as they’ve bred for aesthetic qualities rather than for meat quality.


What do Crevecoeur chicks look like?

The standard Black Crevecoeur chicks are mostly black, but have white patches on their undersides and white tips to their wings. They may also have some white in their feather crests. You can see a video of Black Crevecoeur chicks below:

Crevecoeur chicken growth

For a heritage breed, Crevecoeur chickens are considered fast-maturing birds. However, compared to the modern, non-heritage meat birds, Crevecoeurs are very slow-growing.

Are you getting Crevecoeur chicks?

Share your photos, week by week!

Crevecoeur chickens and egg laying

Egg color: White
Egg size: Medium-large
Age of lay: 6+ months
Eggs/week: 3
Eggs/year: 150+

Some strains of Crevecoeur hens may take longer to lay than the average chicken. Some Crevecoeur keepers have said their birds have taken 7-10 months.

Crevecoeur birds, however, do lay better than the average layer breed in two regards.

First, Crevecoeur hens lay eggs well into the winter.

And, second, Crevecoeur hens tend to lay into old age. One chicken keeper said her hens were still laying at a decent rate in their seventh and eighth years of life. She said, “…then they age gracefully from egg producers into backyard pets.”

So these birds are slow to get started, but they make up for it in winter laying and duration of laying.

Broodiness: Do Crevecoeur hens want to hatch their eggs?

Sources are mixed on Crevecoeur broodiness, so it likely depends on the strain you get. American strains don’t seem to go broody very often, whereas European strains tend to go broody at the beginning of summer.

Meat production of Crevecoeur chickens

Crevecoeur chickens were once incredibly popular meat chickens in France. They never really took off in England or America as these countries prefer light-legged meat birds. Crevecoeurs have legs that are a dark leaden blue.

The Livestock Conservancy says this about Crevecoeur meat:

“The breed was developed principally for the quality of its flesh. Crèvecoeur chickens have small, fine bones and the proportion of meat to offal can be quite high. The skin on this breed is white. And the meat is noted for being fine, short, and very white in the breasts and the leg meat can be quite dark and almost duck-like in color. They also fatten readily…”

Crevecoeurs are supposed to have a market weight of 4-6 lbs. However, the American strains tend to be smaller since they were bred principally to be show birds, rather than for meat. 

Crevecoeur chickens: A fairly hardy breed

How do Crevecoeur chickens do in the heat?

Crevecoeur chicks do fine in the heat. They are incredibly hardy birds in dry climates.

How do Crevecoeur chickens do in the cold?

If it weren’t for the Crevecoeurs’ beards and crests, this would be an incredibly hardy breed all around. However, their beards and crests can get wet in the winter and then freeze.

I found one comment in a forum from a Crevecoeur breeder who said of her birds, “…it’s not unusual to see them out in the snow or rain, digging around. In subfreezing weather, they occasionally develop icicles on their beards… You will usually notice this because the Crevecoeur keeps flipping his/her head to see past the icicles!”

This chicken keeper then included a picture of one of her birds who had her muffs and beard totally covered in icicles.

Please think twice before getting this breed if you live in a cold climate. Letting your birds’ face feathers freeze into icicles is not a humane way to raise chickens. Frozen face feathers makes your birds not only very uncomfortable, but also highly susceptible to frostbite.

There are so many other birds that thrive in winter conditions. If you want an unusual crested breed but you live in a cold climate, consider Appenzeller Spitzhaubens or Brabanters. For more information on these breeds, check out my articles:

And if you feel that you absolutely must keep Crevecoeurs in your sub-zero temperatures, at least put a Sweeter Heater above their roosting bars so that they can thaw out and prevent frostbite.

You can find small Sweeter Heaters here on Amazon, medium Sweeter Heaters here, and large Sweeter Heaters here.

Although you will hear anecdotes from people about how their Crevecoeurs are cold-hardy, these people are not differentiating between survival and quality of life. Yes, they are cold-hardy in that many of them will survive cold and inclement weather. But they are much less cold-hardy as far as their quality of life is concerned.

Crevecoeur chickens vs. predators

Many Crevecoeur chickens have crests that don’t impact their vision. These chickens are very good at evading predators. Crevecoeurs are very alert and fast chickens, as well as excellent fliers. Additionally, Crevecoeur roosters are excellent lookouts and guardians.

However, I have seen some strains of Crevecoeur with crests, muffs, and beards so large that the birds can’t see past them very well. These birds have been bred for the show in mind, rather than their own survival. These chickens won’t be good at predator evasion simply because they just can’t see well enough.

If you plan to keep your Crevecoeurs in an area with predators, make sure you talk to your breeder or hatchery before buying. Make sure they’ve bred their birds to have crests and beards that don’t impede their vision. Alternatively, you can trim their crests or tape them back.

You can see how-to video examples of both trimming and taping in my article on Silkie chickens. 

Crevecoeur chickens and foraging

Crevecoeur chickens are decent foragers. They have been known to quickly scratch up and destroy gardens, so watch out for that.

One chicken keeper described her Crevecoeur rooster as “a feathered black rototiller.” Crevecoeurs excel at working compost piles.

Crevecoeur chickens: Can they handle confinement?

Crevecoeur chickens do handle confinement well, but they prefer to have free range.

Many chicken keepers have remarked that their confined Crevecoeur chickens appear content.

One chicken keeper told a story of how she had to lock up all 28 of her Crevecoeurs in a 6x6 space for a few weeks because their large barn was flooded. She said they all got along beautifully and that “their main complaint, voiced as the sun went down, was that the roosts weren’t high enough.”

Many chicken keepers have commented that their Crevecoeurs crave high roosts and some will even prefer to roost in the trees (not a good idea if you have predators or bad weather).

Others who have confined their Crevecoeurs have called them escape artists.

And because these birds are such good fliers, you will very likely need to cover your run if you are keeping them confined. They have been known to scale high fences. And really, if you get inclement weather at all, a covered run is a good choice for these chickens in order to protect their muffs, beards, and crests.

If you’re able to free range your Crevecoeurs, they will be most happy this way. They are an incredibly energetic and adventurous breed and love to have space to explore.

Crevecoeur chicken temperament: Just what kind of birds are they?

Some Crevecoeur chickens can be flighty, but most American strains seem to be very calm.

One chicken keeper said that out of the more than a dozen breeds she’d kept, “The Crevecoeurs are the most easy-going of all.”

Crevecoeurs are frequently described as active, but peaceful and docile. They can be sweet and most of them love people. More than one chicken keeper has referred to them as “shadows.”

Below is a woman interacting with her Blue and Black Crevecoeurs. She says they like attention.

However, if you have Crevecoeurs with crests and beards that impede their vision, these birds tend to be a bit flightier. They are easily startled because they can’t see and so they are more on edge. If you have birds like these, you may want to consider trimming their crest feathers.

Also, remember that the more time you spend with your birds as young chicks, the more docile they will be as adults.

How are Crevecoeur chickens around children?

These chickens are either gentle and sweet or they’re nervous and flighty. They don’t have aggressive tendencies.

If you want your chickens to be gentle and good with children, first, check with your breeder or hatchery before buying and ask what their birds’ typical temperaments are. Second, spend lots of time with your birds as chicks.

Are Crevecoeur roosters aggressive to people?

Although you can end up with an aggressive rooster from any breed, Crevecoeur roosters tend to have friendly dispositions. Many stories abound about sweet Crevecoeur roosters.

One chicken keeper said of hers, “…the boys are just addictively charming.”

How well do Crevecoeur chickens get along with other chickens?

Crevecoeur chickens are generally not aggressive to other chickens. Even the roosters tend to be sweet.

One chicken keeper said, “You don’t ever hear much squabbling in the Crevecoeur pens.”

However, Crevecoeurs can get bullied by other breeds of chickens. They will, therefore, live best with other gentle breeds.

Some chicken keepers have said that it helps to have a Crevecoeur rooster if you are going to mix your Crevecoeur hens with other breeds. These roosters often help break up fighting between hens.

Crevecoeur chickens: Are they noisy?

Crevecoeur chickens can be very talkative, but they’re not known to be loud.

Crevecoeur roosters, like all roosters, do tend to crow a lot. Below is a video of a Crevecoeur rooster crowing—so cute!

Crevecoeur chicken health problems and life expectancy

If your Crevecoeurs have massive crests, they will be more prone to eye infections.

If your chickens are having a hard time seeing through their face feathers, consider trimming the feathers. Similarly, if your Crevecoeurs are getting their face feathers dirty, consider trimming them to protect the eyes. Taping is also an option.

For how-to videos on trimming and taping chicken crests, see my article on Silkie chickens.

You may want to consider using nipple waterers for your Crevecoeurs, rather than bowl-type waterers. Nipple waterers prevent crest and beard feathers from getting wet, which is incredibly important in cold temperatures. I recommend this nipple waterer on Amazon—it’s perfect for keeping the water from freezing. 

Crevecouers that are well cared for can live to be 5-8 years or older.

Breeds you may want instead of Crevecoeurs

If you like the looks of Crevecoeurs, you may want to consider other crested breeds.

Another very similar breed is the Polish chicken. They come in all different colors and patterns, and, unlike Crevecoeurs, they are incredibly common and easy to find.

If you want a crested chicken that’s cold hardy, consider the Appenzeller Spitzhauben. These birds, however, are flightier than Crevecoeurs and don’t tolerate confinement well.

Another breed that’s both crested and bearded that’s incredibly cold hardy, can handle confinement, and has a calm temperament is the Brabanter.

And if you want a crested breed that produces a large number of eggs, you may not find any better than the Houdan chicken. These chickens are also good for homesteaders because, on top of being excellent egg producers, they also have flavorful meat.

And, of course, there are the precious, sweet-natured Silkie chickens.

For more information on these breeds, check out my articles:

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Bri Wyzard
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