Fayoumis

This was my first year owning these birds, they are extremely good at foraging in the wild. I got mine from a hatchery but they act like they were taken right out of the wilds of egypt. They act a lot more like other wild pheasant family members and they do not like to be handled, mine freak out like they are being killed when I catch them. They also always stick together, I see them climbing up trees and scratching around in the woods all the time, they never need a rooster's supervision. They are like a whole different species and I highly recommend them, I have not found another hatchery breed that was similar to them. If you want to keep your birds in a run then don't get this breed, they like to roam. They will also fly out of any run without a cover.

Very energetic as chicks and also as young adults. They're real little go-getters. I almost lost one to failure to thrive when I first got them. She spent the night in my shirt after a honey and egg yolk dinner, so up till now Delilah's more friendly than Cleopatra. They're little chatterboxes and quite opinionated. My run is covered so I don't worry too much about them escaping, but am concerned about letting them free-range with the other birds when it's time. Overall, I am quite happy with them though.

My Cleo was close with me until the new chicks came and I protected them from her. Now she tolerates me. She'll eat from my hand but will peck if reached for or if I collect eggs under her. No more flying to my shoulder everyday.
She is tough as nails and high ranking in the pecking order despite her size. I was surprised by her cold hardiness. Her wattles and comb got quite blue but didn't suffer frostbite like some of my other hens.
She is a good layer gets along well enough with the bigger hens although she tends to pick on the bantams.
I am impressed with her laying and egg size compared with her size/weight. She is a compact little thing that really packs a punch. The personality is distrustful, they prefer chickens to people. Smart birds though.

Whiteout (or Velociraptor, as we call her, since she bears an uncanny resemblance to one) is a colourful, bright hen. She is friendly, since she was socialized as a chick, and is the first one to run out of the coop on days when they get to free range. She is also first to the treats. She loves to fly, but since our hens have a covered run, it isn't a problem. She will fly onto the fence post of the horse pen. One thing for sure, she is a very quirky individual. I find that Fayoumis are wonderful free range chickens, since they are alert and can fly well. Their markings could also disoriented predators, due to the close barring of their feathers that sometimes make me jump when I see her run out of my perifrial vision. She lays well for a breed that is not a heavy egg producer. The color of them is beautiful creamy, off-white. The only complaint I have is that her egg song sounds like a someone who is scratching a chalkboard while simultaneously being murdered, but that could just be her. Whiteout is very, very loud!

I've had chickens for well over ten years of my life but I've only had Fayoumi pullets for six months. From day one, they did NOT like being handled. I was aware that they weren't too friendly, so I don't mind it too much. They are pretty snappy looking, black and white and sleek, and I'm a fan of big, sorta-floppy single combs which two of my three hens have. They like flying up to high places and when you look at them you can tell they are thinking about something. I don't know what they're thinking about but it's not just "food water food preen feathers time to lay an egg water food dustbath food not interested mr. rooster food food" like most hens seem to think.

Of my three, we have two with blue legs and one with green legs (you never know with hatcheries). Green legs, aka Pharah, was the first of the flock to start laying eggs. She's also the noisiest, most annoying hen we've ever had. Some days I really do want to return her to the hatchery because she does the usual whining call that hens make when they want something, but she just wants to be let out of the pen (makes sense; fayoumi are said not to tolerate confinement well), but then there's this long, monosyllabic cry that at first made us run to the window to make sure one of the chickens wasn't being attacked. Nope, just Pharah. She has not stopped doing it. In fact, we realized, she's learning how to crow. We've had crowing hens in the past and she's definitely getting better at it, too. I'm all for feminist hens who defy gender roles but it's so annoying, every day, a dozen times a day. Speaking of chicken gender roles, I've seen her try to peck the alpha rooster as if he were a lower-ranking hen. Not even challenging him, just assuming she out-ranked him. The other Fayoumis are similar but not so brazen.

The other two can be pretty loud and complainy too, but it's not as bad. And one of them, Ace, we actually called "friendly one" before we could tell her apart from the other. She will fly up onto your arm or shoulder, and she will actually sit and perch on your arm if you let her, or try to eat the lint from my sweatshirt. It's super cute, but she'll jump down if you try to touch her. So, they're not a lost cause.

But boy are they noisy. If you have any sort of local ordinance about hens-but-no-roosters, do not get these hens because you will be responsible for the ordinance being changed to no chickens at all. If you want cuddly, well, maybe you have a 33% chance of a sort-of-cuddly one. If you want to keep them in a pen, be ready for noise. But if you want to have cool-looking hens running and flying around your yard, these would be fantastic.

I currently have one that I got as a mystery chick from Murray McMurray Hatchery he is very skittish but since I haven't had the time to really handle him very much like I would like too so I think that has a lot to do with why he is so frightened. Mine used to roost very high in our maple tree every night. He was so high up we couldn't reach him with a ladder! He is also very loud! Mine crows at 1-2AM each day! But non the less he is a great bird and I wouldn't trade him for anything! Difficult to find this breed too.

In my experience, Fayoumis are very predator resistant, especially with hawks. They are the first to notice one, sound the alarm, and take cover. They always seem to notice a threat first and alert the fat and lazy hens. The cost of this alertness is that they are somewhat nervous, a change in the coop or run tends to stress them immensely (as do newcomers to the flock) and they don't care to interact with people much. Not bad birds by any means, but I think people looking for 'pets' might be disappointed. As an alarm system for the flock, they are great.

Have a few hens. Roosters don't over breed these guys. They are fast and flighty. They are wild and don't like to be caught even after regular handling and they will peck and scratch you hard. Make a horrendous racket when you try to catch them. They are small and lay smaller eggs, personally I don't mind a bit having smaller eggs as I don't eat much.

They are reliable layers and lay well, Predator PROOF!!! Low maintenance.

Right bird for the right person. Good free rangers. Not good for back yards or being penned up or as pets.

Owners must not mind smaller eggs and wild tempered birds that must free range. If you can put up with that or have a large predator problem this is the bird for you!

I got my first and only fayoumis last year. She is very very small, but now lays eggs daily. I'm not sure how the egg actually comes out of her - it is as big as she is. MY EF, Booker, had an interesting life. As a chick, she was bit in the neck by a rabbit i adopted (the rabbit i had is so sweet and loves the chicks, but this new rabbit was different). At one point, I also stepped on her head. That's right. She got loose in our basement and after 30 mins of chasing her, I finally cornered her and went to grab her. With that step, she tried to double back and got under my boot. Horrible day. She pulled through, though! She is a great fighter - and, just like with everything else, she is very very stubborn. She has a BFF, Sheldon, that she won't let out of her sight. She is a great friend to Sheldon and it is very sweet to watch the two of them together, especially since sheldon is a Cuckoo Marans and about 4 times the size of booker. Booker is so fun to watch flit about the yard and forage. Big downside is I still can't catch her to save her life. She runs sooooooo fast and jumps on everything from trees to the garage roof. I have trained her to jump on my back, though, so, when in doubt, i'll bend over and snap and she'll hop right up.
Biggest most awful downfall is she is a spoiled brat. When in the run, she will make the most horrendous terrible pterodactyl noises. Just horrible. I feel bad for the neighbors and am embarrassed how awful she is. I try to let them out as much as possible to avoid this, but there's only so much i can do. I am pretty sure that Booker and Sheldon are writing a book together - the two of them NEVER shut up. it is constant constant chatter. they have so much fun, but sometimes it gets too much.
Booker is very beautiful. Her coloring is great, her eyes are stunning, and her tail is really something else. If you live in a small area with close neighbors, I would not recommend an EF. If you can't free range regularly, I would not recommend an EF. She's a beautiful addition and so fun to watch, but I'm not sure I would get her kind again...

I received a Fayoumi chick as my exotic and have really enjoyed watching him grow. Slight in stature but big on personality. Henry, (rooster) has very accepting of 'others' in his run....he's housed with 3 turkeys, 4 hens (that he 'stole' from another rooster), and a pheasant. He squeals like a little girl when you touch him but will allow you to hold/pet him once picked up. He's like a roadrunner, dashing everywhere which is pretty entertaining. He really doesn't have a purpose on my farm, other than the entertainment value but his personality is so much fun....I've kept him. He makes for a good "watch dog" and screams when something is in the yard that isn't supposed to be.

I wouldn't get another one but they sure are flashy and fun...just really doesn't serve much purpose other than my enjoyment

I had a beautiful flock of Fayoumis at one time. I loved watching them and wanted to keep them forever! However, the roosters became too noisy as they grew up. They would crow almost constantly when I was outside. They crowed so much that I became embarrassed and felt sorry for our neighbors.

The egg size is small. The pullet eggs we were getting were bantam sized. I am sure they would have become larger as time went on.

The hens started to wander far away, into the woods. They flew over my 8 foot high fence and loved to explore. I didn't mind this at first when it was just a couple of them, but when more and more of them started to wander, I didn't like it.

I kept one hen who has an injured leg (I think from squeezing through the fencing) and plan to keep her since she doesn't fly out of the pen. I do love their personalities! Her name is Annette.

This breed would be excellent for those who free range their chickens and would like a predator-resistant chicken. I didn't lose a single one from predation, despite their wanderings and our frequent hawk and owl visits, which is a miracle!

I only have a Rooster which was given to me along with 11 hens of various breeds. He is protective of the flock, coming to check on the hens when my dogs get too close or even when we pick them up...but he does not attack us. He also does a great job making sure the girls get plenty of treats. When he finds a juicy bug or other treat, he immobilizes it and then calls the hens over to get it, instead of eating it himself. I've not had any other Rooster before, so I don't know if that is typical, but I am impressed with that. He is gentle with the hens while mating, and he wastes no time letting our Leghorn cockerel know who is boss.

Overall, I totally love this Rooster and the more I learn of the breed, the more I'd like to keep a few. The only drawback for me is that I have read they lay a small egg. But for a free-range flock, this seems to be the way to go when predators are a potential hazard. I have considered letting some eggs hatch out to see what pops out of them and whether they end up as good layers who can fend for themselves. Maybe one day in the future you'll see some pics of Fayoumis x Barred Rock (or Australorp, or EE)...time will tell...

They mature quickly so you will have eggs sooner. They like to sleep places other than their coop tho, so fenced run with top is important if you don't want them roosting in the trees. Good thing is their survival instinct is still really good so they may make it when other chickens won't.

I have 2. Super, super fast and agile. Bit flighty. Like the breed.

Nice

This year I had 5 Egyptian Fayoumis. This breed is petite in size however not as small as bantams. My hens laid small white eggs daily. I noticed the hens were particularly flighty - often they escaped over the 6ft chain link fencing. The hens are very noisy with their squawking in the yard! Rooster was typical of most males with his crowing however, he was gentle with the hens which I appreciated.

I bought two from the domestic fowl trust as my first chickens. Now I only have their daughters and my other birds which they inspired me to breed or buy. Sadly they were both taken by the fox. Recently bought another hen house hoping for some more and a higher fence!

In East Texas, we don't have to worry about the cold weather as much as the heat, so I was trying to find a more heat tolerant breed and came upon the Egyptian Fayoumis, mine are still chicks under heat, so I'll update their progress as they grow.They seem to be hardy and strong, haven't lost one yet!

My little Fayoumi is a very cute little bird, and a great layer. She's free range with 11 other chickens and she holds her own. My only complaint is that when I walk near her, she runs away. VERY flightly.

They remind me of some henny fowl I had once. I didnt know much about them. Ive read they are early maturer.....I was lucky to get them to lay and then when they did they never got broody till round 2 years and not once did i get biddies. The roo was aggressive to other roos but it seemed only when in his area. I do like them will someone plz give me more info on these fowl