It belongs to the crested chicken group, is muffed and bearded, has an unusual leaf-shaped comb, and has five toes on each foot rather than the usual four.

[4]: 128 [5] The Houdan combines a number of distinctive features, which in the nineteenth century gave rise to speculation about the breeds that might have contributed to its development;[6]: 11  the Crèvecœur, Dorking and Polish have been mentioned as possible "ancestors".

[8]: 122 The most common colour variety, and the only one recognised in the United Kingdom, is mottled (or caillouté, "pebbled" in France), a pattern of black with white spotting.

In the past there was a lighter variation of the mottled pattern; in the 1800s, it may have been more similar to the splashy mixture of white and black which today is called exchequer.

[4]: 131 [13] A bantam Houdan was created in Britain shortly after the end of the Second World War,[10] and developed further in Germany and in France.