Friesian Fowl Q&A Discussion Thread

[Nickeyo]

This is for anyone interested in the breed, or currently owning the breed to shared knowledge and just ask questions. The Friesian Fowl is a wonderful bird to have and unlike many lighter, flighty breeds the Friesian Fowl can become very tame. They come in different colors, with the chamois penciled being most common. there are also silver and gold penciled among others with the latter being least common. Please feel free to share pictures talk and just enjoy this wonderful fowl.

 

[Freisian]

Thought I would give an update picture of my Friesians (Fries hoen) , just realised a lot of these posts are about a very similar breed, the East Friesian gull (,Ostfriesische mowe)both breeds are landrace and pretty hard to tell apart, but you only have the chamois colour (amongst many others) in the Dutch friesians here are my three girls at a greater maturity than first pics, so please be careful when comparing the two breeds as I see medium to large eggs are reported to for the gulls, the friesians lay small eggs, here is a link for the friesians that may be of interest to you https://www.rarepoultrysociety.com/friesian.html

 

[cree57i]

Mine are great fliers and foragers. They get along well with all the other chickens. They lay very well, but the egg size hasn't gotten any larger that large and mine are 2 years old. It was only medium-large last year. When I first got them GFF said they were on the heritage endangered species list. Who knows if this is in fact true. They are quiet and as you noted very pretty. Too bad I'm not local, because I am hatching a bunch of them too!

 

[Freisian]

Mine are the Real characters, bright alert, quiet, follow me around, very inquisitive and will fly onto my knee to have a close up inspectionbut no way are they happy you trying to touch them...lol
They laid all through winter, one went through a drastic moult and only stopped laying for a month!
Hardy healthy great foragers ( normally lost in the bottom of a hedgerow somewhere foraging and very predator alert, BUT small eggs.
They love treats and come flying to me when I call them. Light feeders and above all stunning looking, Highly recommended!

 

[Boomer101]

New hatch of Fresians today 6 out of 6!

 

[Nickeyo]

I've just got a new chamois pencilled friesian rooster to go in with my girls to mix bloodlines

Hopefully going to have lots of little ones next spring. I had two unwanted roosters last year from a hatch but these two ended up being very poor quality in the colour department so i decided I'd use them as a test pair and shut them out the run, they went straight up into the trees and survived for many months with no food or water given by me, they found it all themselves and managed to avoid the fox but they became a nussiance to my penned up Roos so they had to be despatched, but I was very pleased with how well they look after themselves, deffinetly my favourite breed

 

[cree57i]

That is correct - recessive to recessive produces that recessive trait.
That is why I wondered if the silver was recessive.
If a two golds or lemons can produce a silver, then undoubtedly, silver is the recessive gene.
I am curious to know. It is so interesting

I asked my breeder contact in Germany about your great question! Here is the conversation-

I have a question-In Germany does this breed free range with all 3 colors running together? If they do, does gold, lemon and silver all naturally occur within the flock? Almost like a blue, black, splash genetic pattern? Thank you for your help!​

9:16AM​

No you cant breed them like Blue ones. They got gold and silver, silver is rezessiv dominat over gold. So the Results of it are silver chicks with a light gold Touch. So keep if possible every Flock seperated.​

11:46AM​

Very good information! It was rumored that they are a landrace where all colors run together. All I have are gold and Lemon, which is a light yellow. Those should not go together either from what you are saying if I am correct? Thank you. I needed to ask someone who knows!​

I wouldnt do that,Just seperate the colours.

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[cree57i]

This is my Frisian pullet who has no "smudges" in the lemon.




Here are some shots of the rest of the flock.

 

[cree57i]

No, Large fowl.

 

[Susan Dye]

It is difficult to find information about them! I have had them for a couple of years and am happy to share what I know. Ask away!

Thanks so much! How social are they? What has your experience been with them when it comes to egg production? I'm only looking to expand my flock with a couple of more hens and someone local has some Friesians for sale. They are such lovely and interesting looking hens, but I wanted to do my homework before getting serious about them. Which also begs the question, since they are considered rare(?), is it fair to have them if I have no intention of breeding? I live within city limits and roosters are not allowed.

I currently have a small mixed flock, only 5 hens, of pretty easy going girls. They are accepting of other non aggressive hens, but bullies really disrupt everyone's temperament. My girls are more pets than anything else, but I do appreciate getting something back from them, in the form of eggs, considering what I'm spending on them Really appreciate your feedback.