Brown Chicks

[ClareD]

I bought seven chicks from a variety straight run batch at my local feed store. I am wondering if they may be Iowa Blues. Someone also suggested maybe Partridge Rocks. They are small compared to the other chicks. A lovely brown color on head and back, belly is gray/tan, legs are light brown. They have chipmunkish bars or spots on their back in black and white. Thanks in advance for your opinions.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

They look a lot like Egyptian Fayoumi chicks!
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGD/Fayu/BRKFayoumi.html
scroll to bottom for chick pics

 

[ClareD]

Oh wow! They look just like that! Thank you ChickensAreSweet!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Oh wow! They look just like that! Thank you ChickensAreSweet!

You are welcome- I am not sure they are Fayoumis, but they look just like mine I have right now. I have 5 of them (chicks) and 25 more coming tomorrow or the next day. They are amazing birds. They lived without human management in Egypt in the Fayoum Depression (in marshes, former lake land) in Egypt near the Nile River (the former capital of Egypt was Fayoum) for 1000 years before the Greco-Roman period (see link below).

They will be excellent fliers. I bought some heavy knotted netting to go over my pen so they don't fly away. One guy in Texas said they actually took off and LEFT. They are so amazing in that I have read that (with the exception of adolescent cockerels) there can be twice as many roos as hens in the pen and they get along and just are like one happy family. They apparently treat the hens well and help rear the young. My dream is not to have to get rid of the boys. Fayoumis crow by 5 to 6 weeks of age and lay eggs by 4 to 4 1/2 months, being precocious.

They are not aggressive to other chickens or to each other (the roosters) from what I have read. (The above information is from my reading only, not experience- I have spent hours pouring over the internet trying to find information about them.)

Here by Resolution (Forage Cakes/Ultrakibble owner and very knowledgeable about Fayoumis):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/316739/egyptian-fayoumis-info
see post #7

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/281062/fayoumi-bigawi-qarafa-and-old-egyptian

Apparently they can catch flies in mid-air and are very talkative. Their conversation is said to sound like humans talking from a distance. (I forget where I read that or I would give the link.) I did read from Iowa State U. that they might peck your kneecaps and have a mean streak but I have not been able to find a single Fayoumi owner saying anything negative about the temperment, only that they were very nice birds. I am determined to keep these birds and believe I have finally found the breed I would like to help preserve.

I have noticed in my 5 chicks that they are very docile and whilst my Leghorn chicks are busy kickboxing others in the shed right now the Fayoumis are mild-mannered and calm.

They are said to possibly (although some websites say this is possibly not so true as is claimed) be resistant to avian flu, bacterial and viral diseases, coccidiosis, avian leukosis, and marek's disease.