Best Salmon Favorelle for breeding

[cassie0980]

My husband and I would like to get into breeding Salmon Favorelles, but I would like some opinions on which cockerel to keep for that purpose. These were all from the same person, but they are drastically different. Here are the contestants:

Bachelor Number 1 - Edward has a very nice temperament and is very gentle with the other chickens (he happens to be my favorite), however, he only has four toes on each foot. Would that be bred back into the offspring? He is also 1 week older than the other two.

Bachelor Number 2 - Not nearly as nice as Bachelor Number 1, but still very gentle. I think he has the most manly characteristics, and most agreeable looks. He, however, has yellow legs (Favorelles should have slate colored legs, right?)

Bachelor Number 3 - Five toes, slate legs, decent temperment. He doesn't have the masculine look of Bachelor Number 2, or the friendliness of Bachelor Number 1, but were talking breeders here so a little sacrifice may be necessary.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Leg color is a ____ to breed out later, so you don't want to go wrong right off the bat.

Our of your three, I would keep number three since he doesn't have anything obviously off. He has five toes, he has correct leg color, which I believe is called white actually not slate, I think slate/willow/olive is the leg color for EE's and other breeds but I could be wrong on that!

I love number two's coloring in contrast with number one and three, but his legs are off!

I wouldn't even consider using number 1 since he only has 4 toes and something about his color I don't like, he looks too Birchen-like to me!


But you also have to ask yourself what your plans are for these guys in the grand scheme of things.
If you're looking for exhibition quality birds then you want to go with the most correct to the standard and then stictly cull offspring for several generations that don't match the standard until you get in the ballpark of where you need to be.
If you're looking to breed for fun and backyard egg layers than you can be a little more slack and temperment should come into play in the Roos you use in your breeding program...

We're starting out with raising Salmons ourselves, I

them.
Where are your from, a private person or a hatchery?

Sometimes you need to start breeding with hatchery birds when you simply cannot find the quality you are looking for locally. It stinks but hey you gotta do whatcha gotta do!

ETA- Pick hens with proper toe spacing to go with Roo number 3, since his toe spacing is poor. Why oh why does number 2 have to have yellow legs! Got to love how that works huh?!

Edited again!


SCRATCH everything I said. I am changing my mind. I have looked at the pics again and while your number two has yellow legs, he has a ton going for him...
You're number 3 has the proper leg color but lacks a beard and muffs and feathered legs as well as the proper toe spacing....
You're number 2 has good toe spacing, feathered legs, a beard and muffs, etc. When you weigh it out, the leg color might be hard to deal with but you'll have more issues to worry about in leg feathering and whatnot with number three that you won't have nearly as bad with number 2 if you put him with the right hens.
The first reply I had glanced kinda quickly at the pics and wasn't paying close attention to leg feathers and things... KEEP NUMBER 2 and maybe number 3 as a back up in case a predetor wipes out number 2 or something... You never know.
I would then keep a Roo chick from number 2 that has proper leg color and re-home or cull number 3.

 

[EweSheep]

I used to raise Faverolles and I would not use any of the roosters. Sorry! They all look like hatchery bred birds.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

I agree they look like Hatchery birds and poor ones at best(no offense OP), but some people have to start somewhere Ewesheep.
Take me for example, I adore SF but NO ONE has them locally, they are a rare breed here and unusal most other places I think.
My option was starting with hatchery birds and severely culling for a couple of years to get where I need to be, or spending a great amount on multiple batches of eggs to put in my cruddy LG bator with which I have poor hatches and take the risk of losing eggs in shipping, etc.
I went with hatchery chicks.

I would love to see pics of your pullet chicks OP...

My Estes Hatchery Salmon Faverolles look alot nicer than those just being completely honest, their coloring is more correct and everything. If you got them from a hatchery I would love to know which one so I don't buy from it! And maybe you should get some Estes chicks next year!

 

[cassie0980]

They were shipped eggs from a private breeder, and I must admit I'm less than pleased. I tried to tell her something was up with her stock, but I don't think she believed me. I was thinking I'd just start my own breeding program and eventually end up with something decent. They are very hard to find out here. Thanks for the input!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I don’t want to start WWW III but…there are good things about each…either starting with hatchery birds or not…and I speak from experience here…

Starting with hatchery birds allows you to purchase sexed birds. This reduces the need to cull or attempt to sell the extra roosters or those that are too poor to breed…if you were to purchase hatchery birds, I’d order 25 ST RUN and hope you end up with a useable trio. Find a “partner” to go with you on the deal that only wants birds for eggs or looks. You keep the best quality ones and give the other person the PQ.

On the flip side, if you do that alone, that may run you $100+ for 25 decent birds and then you have to raise them up to near maturity before deciding which ones to keep & culling the rest. Of course, incorrect leg color, wrong # of toes, etc is pretty easy to see a young age. One of the nice things about SF’s is that they are easy to sex earlier than most breeds—unless of course, you have PQ pullets with black in their wing tips.

With eggs…you may not get a good hatch rate, you have no control over the gender ratio, you have the time & money of not only the eggs, but incubation as well as brooding the chicks until they feather out to be able to tell what you’re actually getting. There are very few SF breeders I’ve been able to find whose birds are not descendents of hatchery stock anyway. And some people on eBay claim to have “SQ” birds when in fact, they are some of the poorest SF’s I’ve ever seen. They look more like EE’s than Favs.

I’ve found that if you’re going to go through all of the time, trouble & expense of raising birds to the standard (or close to it), you are better off to just purchase an exceptional pair off eggbid or through a notable, online breeder. The SF Club has a breeder’s list and it’s like $10-$15 to join. It may cost you $200 or so…but then you know what you have. Some even come with show records…in fact, there is a nice pair of SF’s on eggbid right now…

Thanks,

~Heather

 

[EweSheep]

If you live in RI, Dick Boulanger lives in MA and there are several Faverolle breeders near you. They are not too expensive either and some would be more than happy to give you a cockeral for free for your girls. That would be better than the ones you have right now. I do agree its a start but Faverolles have been around alot longer than the Spitzhaubens I have even they were from a hatchery but I had to cull very hard and use cockerals from reputable Spitz breeders. It is very rare to get pullets out of the SQ lines since most of them do not want to sell them.

If you want to raise PQ Faverolles, then by all means go for it. Not everyone wants the best Faverolles for their backyards.

Their legs supposed to be pinkish white like the Orpingtons, five toes, no excessive webbings, and proper colors are the way to go. The yellow legs are dominant and you would have a harder time weeding out of the future generations. I see wattles which it is a NO NO in Faverolles. As for black Faverolles, they must have slate or blue legs, nothing else.

If I had to pick your boys, I would keep the number two because he has better toes, muffs and stance of a Faverolles. however i wish he didnt have the yellow legs and too much dark featherings all over him.

Enjoy them as I sure did!

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:

 

[cassie0980]

Should have mentioned that they're only 7 weeks (does that change your opinions at all?) I tried to get some decent pictures of the hen, but she isn't very cooperative. Hope these help.

 

[pinkchick]

IMO.....................and it's just my humble opinion.

I wouldn't breed any of the roo's and it looks as though 2 of your girls do not have any muffs starting and their muffs should be very prominant by now.
#2 roo does have some of the better characteristics but his leg color bothers me.

#3 pullet looks the best to me and it appears that she may be getting some muffs.

Never the less........Faverolles are awesome birds.