Egyptian Fayoumis Thread!

[Felix1]

Are their any breeders that ship chicks/eggs or are hatcheries the only sources? If so, any insight on which hatcheries have the best stock?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Beautiful roo...but I gotta say I think mine is more beautiful! Ha ha
Chris

Thanks! When the sunlight hits their hackle feathers, my two cockerels look amazing and the cream-colored feathers sparkle with light- enthralling to see. I wish I could capture a picture of it.

You are devoted to your flock, I see!

Are their any breeders that ship chicks/eggs or are hatcheries the only sources? If so, any insight on which hatcheries have the best stock?

I don't know many sources of Fayoumis...Sand Hill has them too.

I only have them from McMurray. Ideally they would still retain their whole genetics, since the resistance to various ailments is surely a draw for many people (not being outcrossed to other breeds being desirable). So the genetic pool is likely slim if the hatcheries have been keeping them pure, the birds being brought over to the US in the form of eggs so long ago. I don't know if anyone has been importing them or not.

 

[chrispbrown27]

I have decided I am going to try crossing my Fayoumi roo and my silver laced wyandotte hen and see what comes out of it. I know that for those who believe in keeping breeds pure this is a bad thing, but I for my purposes fayoumi hens are not ideal so I don't want any more. But my fayoumi roo is a beautiful bird and my silver laced is a beautiful hen so I want to see what comes out of the two. It may only last through one hatch, but we shall see.
Chris

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have decided I am going to try crossing my Fayoumi roo and my silver laced wyandotte hen and see what comes out of it. I know that for those who believe in keeping breeds pure this is a bad thing, but I for my purposes fayoumi hens are not ideal so I don't want any more. But my fayoumi roo is a beautiful bird and my silver laced is a beautiful hen so I want to see what comes out of the two. It may only last through one hatch, but we shall see.
Chris

Many people take a flock of different breeds and work towards their "perfect chicken" over a period of generations. Certainly makes for an interesting project! And that is how other breeds came to be!

 

[Felix1]

I assume they are easy on the feed, is that correct? Also how do they lay?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I assume they are easy on the feed, is that correct? Also how do they lay?

I hope some other people respond since I am new to Fayoumis, but I do have one pullet laying now. The egg is small - being her pullet eggs- so I hope it increases in size nicely. I thought it was a silkie egg at first- it is bantam-sized.

The breed charts say small egg, so I expect the egg size to increase. She lays about every other day now, which I also expect to increase as she gets her cycle solidified. They are supposed to be pretty good layers of small tinted (off-white) eggs, and that is the color egg I am seeing.

They don't really guzzle the feed like my Orpingtons, but they do eat and when I downsized on some of the cockerels I did notice less feed being consumed by the flock. They love to roam. When I closed up one of the pullets with a broody hen in a dog kennel while the hen got her daily exercise (let her out of her broody hutch for exercise), the Fayoumi hen happened to be in there at the time and started panting with panic at being trapped in the dog kennel. So they are not for confinement. Excellent for free range. Their reaction time is swift, and they literally fly fifty feet at a time if they want, up and over fencing that is 8 feet high. I would consider them a predator resistant breed, since they could fly away from a ground-based predator, up to a tree.

 

[chrispbrown27]

My experience has been different...my fayoumi roo has no problem with being contained. He enjoys his time out of the coop and run but he has never had a panic attack when locked up. He also will not go far from his ladies, none of my birds go too far from the coop. As far as eating goes, Mr. Roo is much smaller than the rest of my birds so he definitely eats less then them, but he eats constantly...just not as much at one time.

 

[Pozees]

Are their any breeders that ship chicks/eggs or are hatcheries the only sources? If so, any insight on which hatcheries have the best stock?

I have a trio, pullets are just about at POL - should be any day now. I got them from Cackle Hatchery, they look pure to me. Once I am able to verify fertility I will be glad to ship you some eggs (assuming you are in the US). I have found they drink less water than other breeds, and benefit greatly from soaked or fermented feed. My theory is that as a desert breed, they are seeking to get most of their moisture from whatever they eat. When I first got the chicks I shared with others, and mine were the only ones on fermented feed. They grew twice as fast as all the others. They do consume less than my others, they are a light bodied breed so I would expect that. Reminiscent of Leghorns in many ways.

 

[Felix1]

Thanks for the offer. I actually have some ordered from Cackle too.

 

[Penny Hen]

I have decided I am going to try crossing my Fayoumi roo and my silver laced wyandotte hen and see what comes out of it. I know that for those who believe in keeping breeds pure this is a bad thing, but I for my purposes fayoumi hens are not ideal so I don't want any more. But my fayoumi roo is a beautiful bird and my silver laced is a beautiful hen so I want to see what comes out of the two. It may only last through one hatch, but we shall see.
Chris

That should be very interesting. The color pattern that the Fayomis' have is their own gene. I would be very interested in how this cross turns out. I was doing some reading on the history of junglefowl that Resolution posted. The Fayomis trace back to the Grey Jungle fowl along with the Mediterranean breeds (like the Leghorn, Minorca, Whitefaced Spanish, etc.) Indeed it is possible that all the other Med breeds own the Fayomis as ancestor. Egypt was a powerful trading nation. Phoenician traders took goods including chickens all the way to England where they traded for tin. The Egyptians were the first people to build incubators. The Pharoah had a HUGE clay oven built with an upper level that the eggs were placed in and a lower level that servants kept fires burning to keep the eggs at temperature. The oven was about 2 stories and around the length of a football field. I will try to find the picture. It is too cool.