Faverolles Thread - Page 1008

My 2 French Marans broodies hatched 7 chicks last Fri/Sat. Two of them were SF    One looks like it has a bruised foot, purple colored. It gets around ok, when it needs to, but then finds a resting place....it eats good too. I watched it for a couple of hours yesterday.....I'm nervous....

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarryEyzz 

My Amy, is a hatchery SF. She is about 9/10 weeks  When the other gals are running around the garden, many times she will just sit in a corner and watch them.  Is this a common trait with SF?  She seems sooo mellow compared to the rest.

They are more mellow in general....looking at the group you have listed, watch them when you feed to see that she comes to eat and no-one tries to bully or hog her out. They can be easily intimidated when not the dominant group.  eliz

Quote:

Originally Posted by elizmartin 

They are more mellow in general....looking at the group you have listed, watch them when you feed to see that she comes to eat and no-one tries to bully or hog her out. They can be easily intimidated when not the dominant group.  eliz

THANK YOU for the info. 

I do keep an eye on that and seems she holds her own when eating or interacting.  It just seems sometimes she isn't a "team player" when they are all running around going crazy in the yard.  LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by bird-brain 

 

So you think the chick is a roo in the making??????? NOOOOOOOOO!  I have another one just like it and possibly a third!  This is unbelievable.  The breeder sold me 5 SF's 4 pullets and one roo.  It's all in another thread of mine but the chick in the pic started sneezing a few hours after I picked them up and everyone of them has been ill.  One died and one is still touch and go and now I find out he also probably sexed them wrong?!   I can't believe this.

Have you spoken about this to the person you received them from?????  Often if you had specifically mentioned wanting girls and the breeder picked them out, maybe they would be willing to make some adjustment.....sickness is a hard thing to define....I think the weird weather up & down we are having is taking a toll on some birds...Im having to work harder keeping area's cleaner and dryer....often disinfecting when & where i normally wouldn't have to.   eliz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tinychicks 

bird-brain. I think you do have boys, yes. Maybe the breeder can take them back?

 I am never never going to take another fav pullet with black on their wings...ugh.

I am so sorry they got sicks!

Just about 100% of pullets will have black in their wings.  Which is why I won't call them male or female 100% until their shoulder feathers start to come in.  BUT even then, I have a very light colored male that I swore was a pullet until almost 8 weeks, when the black feathers started coming in.  Now at 12 weeks, HE looks much more "normal" for a cockerel.  I can't wait to see how he finishes out.

Remember folks, the boys change a TON before maturity, and will look VERY very different as youngsters than what they will look like as adults.  I really can't stress this enough.  

I have to admit I was surprised at all the changes my boys went through.  They started like this...

Then this...

And finally end up like this...

Quote:

Originally Posted by poularde 

I have to admit I was surprised at all the changes my boys went through.  They started like this...

 

 

Then this...

 

 

And finally end up like this...

 

And they're still young, so still not done changing...

I hope at least one of my boys turns out nice, I need to get more familiar with the SOP and looking at actual birds - so I know what I have and when I have a boy worth holding onto.

My avatar is the Rooster I use for showmanship and his toe is crooked just like that! He's from Cackle Hatchery! He is great for showmanship especially when I tell the judge that his name is Fabio!
 

Okay, In no particular order...

 60 roos????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I would run screaming to the hills....

I guess it tells my age that I thought of the Ratt song as soon as I saw the thread title. LOL

And to clarify, because I really want everyone to understand that I am not bashing this breeder out of hand;  I have parrots.  12 of them to be exact ranging from 2 species of lovebird and a slew of color mutations to varying green cheek color mutations to Blue Crowns and none of them are sexually dimorphic.  You don't know for certain unless one lays an egg (and that is usually nearly 2 years in the fastest maturing species) or you DNA the bird.  If you cage two same sex birds together, one will often start acting like the opposite sex so you cant even be like "if it builds a nest it is female".  I know this about MY birds so I am NEVER EVER EVER going to tell a buyer that I can with 100% certainty sex the types of birds that I have. (yes some species are dimorphic but none of mine are).  If I had bought eggs or straight run I would not be complaining I promise you.

I was looking for good winter laying, docile, unique birds.  I chose the SF's because this guy told me he sexes his birds at 4-5 days old and that it was very easy to do.  He lead me to believe they could be sexed with 100% accuracy.   Roosters can be tough to get rid of unless someone is looking to breed and these are not of a quality that I would want them bred. Plus there is the question about the respiratory infection and I really can't send the birds out anywhere.

Yes illness is a funny thing and the up and down temps we have had can make it tough to regulate for your birds.  Even with the best of intentions, anything can pick up a bug of some kind.  My issue is not that a chick became ill.  My issue is that when I called to say, "hey I've got one little guy that I noticed was sneezing and had a yellow nasal discharge about 5 hours after we got home", he did not offer to replace it or refund for it or coach me through what to do about it.  I got the impression he didn't want to talk about it.  I do breed some of my animals and sell offspring.  I would just never do business that way myself.  But it is time that I  about the whole breeder thing.

The upside is that the chicks are cute and they seem to love  me which is plenty reward for trying to be a good fidma.  I would in the future like to find some good quality SF's so that I don't have to order eggs every year.  I'll make something work with multiple roos somehow, I always figure a way to make weird stuff work.  :)  If they grow up to be anything like they are as chicks, I am very glad we chose this breed.