Chicken Breed Focus - Fayoumi

[sumi]

The Fayoumis are a very old breed, originating in Egypt. They were named for the Faiyum Governorate southwest of Cairo and west of the Nile. Fayoumis are a hardy breed and particularly well suited to hot climates. The breed, through poultry genetics research and anecdotal reports, is thought to be especially resistant to viral and bacterial infections. They are also very good foragers, and if left to their own devices on a free range basis they can fend for themselves in a nearly feral manner. Fayoumi hens are good layers of small, off-white eggs. They are not given to broodiness as pullets, but can be when they reach two or three years of age. The breed is fast to mature, with hens laying by four and half months, and cockerels crowing at five or six weeks.


Details:

Detail Value
Breed Purpose Ornamental
Comb Single
Broodiness Seldom
Climate Tolerance Heat
Egg Productivity Low
Egg Size Small
Egg Color White
Breed Temperament Flighty
Breed Colors/Varieties They come in one variety - silver and black penciled
Breed Size Large Fowl





Both pics by @boorock

BYC Breed Reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/fayoumis

BYC Breed Discussions:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/544351/egyptian-fayoumis-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/398910/fayoumis/0_30

Do you own Fayoumis? Are you a Fayoumi breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well, I'm not a breeder or anything, and I'm sure my girl was not the greatest in quality, but I did have just one Fayoumi and I absolutely adored her! I got her along with a variety of other white eggers from Meyer Hatchery because I wanted to try a few of the white egg breeds and see whose personalities I liked out of them. She was the sassiest, mouthiest little hen I'd ever known, but she was such a sweetheart when she knew her friends weren't looking and her tough-girl reputation wouldn't be tarnished. That bird would climb up my arms to my shoulder or snuggle up with me hugging her, but if she thought for a second that the other birds might see her or that I was going to take her picture, she would book it out of there! She was so adventurous and fun, although it got her in trouble quite a few times! Actually, that's how I lost her--she flew over the 6-foot fence into the dog yard, and that was it. :/ But I adored that bird so much and if the opportunity arises I'd be glad to get more of them--they just probably would have a nice wing trimming or something to prevent the same from happening again. I will say, from my experience, I wouldn't want to raise them in a situation where they would have to remain in confinement or in a small back yard. These birds are adventurers, and they don't take fences as anything more than a mere suggestion of their boundaries! I could definitely believe they can survive out there on their own without intervention!


Marama the mighty. She was probably the smallest hen in the flock, excluding the Sebright bantams, but boy was she full of attitude!

Sassy, sassy, sassy!

And MOUTHY, too!

Don't forget the dramatic eye shadow, for flair.

She knew she could get away with anything. This is her giving me attitude while standing in one of the flower pots.

She was exceptionally heat tolerant, but the cold never slowed her down for a second, either.

Some evidence of her sweet side, although by the look on her face she was quite indignant about me taking her picture at that very moment.

The little dinosaur as a baby, just as full of attitude as she was later in life:

 

[feather13]

Thanks for creating this thread! We got two EFs on a whim from McMurray Hatchery and they are now both 19 week old pullets. These are probably my least favorite breed. They are flighty, dinosaur-level LOUD, skittish, and mean (to people and to other chickens). They scream like crazy if I dare to touch them and peck treats out of my hands as though their beaks were weapons. If I'm in the yard and I get a creepy feeling, I know that if I turn around one of those "skinny legends" (what my daughters call them) will be eyeballing me.

Two days ago, one of them flew over a 6 ft fence and dropped down 10 ft into the neighbor's yard. I almost just pretended like I didn't know that and let her go off to live her cranky life. But I caved into pressure from my daughters, risked breaking my leg and getting shot at by the neighbor, and climbed down to retrieve her. Of course, she'd come nowhere near me, but I was able to scare her up onto the ladder and she popped back into the yard.

There's no way I'd get this breed again, but because I generally like aggressive, angry, independent and fierce girls, we will probably end up keeping them. The only upside of this breed imho is that they are absolutely beautiful and probably pretty alert and might let others know if there's a predator in the yard (the prehistoric sound they emit from their beaks would crack any animal's eardrum). Or they might just save themselves and watch with their malevolent beady eyes while a raccoon picks off one of their sweet, unsuspecting, non-EF sisters.

 

[maralpz2006]

. .

. . These are mine i love them , but they fight and they are mean with other ckickens

 

[PraiseGod]

 

[Cult-of-Trajan]

Very very interesting breed. Currently we have 1 adult hen - egg production is better than I expected - she’s laying about 5.5 eggs per week. We have 1 chick that we just received and have 2 more on order in April. The first one (Hattie, short for the female pharaoh Hatchepsut) is so interesting we decided to go for more. Not a lap chicken for sure but very funny noises, flies like an actual bird, and doesn’t take any **** from anyone.

 

[FaerieChicken]

This is Curly, she is the progeny of Wooly Booly hatched Jan 1st 2016 Still have her, and yes she is flighty, although we have held her since a chick and still do try to hold her.







Here is Wooly Booly, he was taken by coyotes in Dec 2015, however, it was a battle for him and 2 other of my top roosters I had at the time. Sure do miss him though.

 

[Cjsgnn]

This is perhaps why I never went serious to put them on my order list...having to live in the suburbs where home dwelling are quite close to each other.

Here is a clip!

 

[microchick]

-10 degrees here last night. Wind chills at -30 two nights ago.

EFs are doing great. One of my three hens was chasing a mouse around the coop today. I haven't let them out in almost a week and the coop has been getting cold enough to freeze water so it's COLD!

Another plus for EFs is that they are kick butt mousers. Mine are fierce. They will run one down and beat it to death before gulping it down. They especially are tough on baby mice.

The last time I made eggs for breakfast I told my husband they were Fayoumi eggs. He took a bite, said 'mmmmmm tastes like mouse!'.

 

[microchick]

My youngest Fayoumi, hatched this past summer and thank you Lord, a pullet was being pursued by My rooster today. He caught her and you could have heard the fact that he caught her in the next county.

Tut and his girls. The two little roos in the background are some of my Amish bantam cross boys acting as lieutenants.

I caught a hen today who had gotten in with my bachelors and had immediately realized the horrible lapse in judgement. She was still screaming like she was being murdered when I rescued her from a fate worse than death, mainly getting caught by 7 over hormoned young cockerels. And kept screaming until I talked to her and made quiet little clucking sounds.

I don't think it's possible to sneak up on these birds!