Faverolles Thread

[Alaskan]

Very cute! (But I can't help..sorry)

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Cosette is getting better!

 

[Fancy Favie]

Fav boys are, and should be, very docile.

I choose to not handle my boys because I do not want them thinking I am one of their flock, to be challenged at a later date. I want to be able to trust my boys, and for them to see me as neither a challenge or a threat to their position as dominant rooster. If I'm not a part of their flock, I am neither of those things. I have not had issues with any of my boys by doing this.
I have had boys in the past in other breeds that were over handled and were NOT nice. I also hatched a LF Fav from someone else's line last year that was nasty despite never being with girls and not being handled. Point is, there are nasty individuals in ANY breed. Yet another reason you should never limit yourself to just one male if you're going to be breeding. "Putting all your eggs in one basket"

 

[elizmartin]

I only have one faverolle. I keep going back and forth on whether I think it's male or female. It seems to be in the middle coloring wise--very dark brown. It is 4 weeks old

Cute, hard to say but am inclined to think, boy.

 

[Alaskan]

I am glad Cossette is doing better (I totally missed where she was doing poorly, silly me). She is so pretty!


Stromberg says that they sell show quality birds, including Faverolles.

Have any of you'll ordered from them?

I was wondering what quality they had, either with their regular line of chickens of their show quality line.

I loved the fact, that even though their show quality chicks are pretty expansive (for a hatchery), they had no pictures

 

[taterdee]

Cute, hard to say but am inclined to think, boy.

Thanks. That's kind of what I was thinking. I wouldn't be disappointed because fav roosters are beautiful!

 

[Fancy Favie]

1) You mentioned wearing red, using red container etc. all of which can cause a roo to appear mean when he goes nuts because of a color trigger
2) Excessive handling of ANY animal that doesn't like to be handled can cause a strike first policy. This is especially true of reptiles, and chickens are not too far from them (in fact it was recently discovered that chickens are modern descendants of T-Rex!), personally I only handle birds that are going to be shown so I can see what the true temperament is like. Picking up a roo and carrying him around in a NEUTRAL fashion can sometimes work, but go the distance with it; in other words have nice treats to offer him the second he gets put down, hold him with his feet on the ground in a calm manner and wait for his body to relax before releasing him and do not give treats until this has happened. This creates in his mind a held-carried-put down-treats behavior chain, which *should* improve your relationship.
3) Any roo worth his salt will have some potential for being feisty, it is a balancing act as a breeder, breed too far towards docility and you get weak birds with no gumption or go-get-em', For example, I just culled a hen from my flock for being too passive, she would allow any roo to mount her and would squat if any roo got within 5 feet of her. Ordinarily I would not cull a hen for this, but she was thrashed in the feather department and had been bred so much she was way past the point of merely loosing condition, she was getting to the point were removing was the only thing that would save her from wasting away. In the other direction, I had a roo that I kept because he successfully ran off a fox when he was 10 months old. His chicks display a very good vigor, and while he sometimes would resist handling for worming and whatnot (to the point of mild warning bites) he never would try to jump at a person. Also, anyone who is "feisty" gets watched and then a 3 strikes you are out goes into effect- for genuine aggression.
4) Keep a journal. You will never figure out the problem by guessing. EVERY TIME he has an issue w/ you write it down (big calendar works great for this) note the time of day, feed and water status, did you get between him and a favorite hen (some roos toss all the rules when it comes to a favorite in peak breeding season) ask yourself these types of questions and try to be observant and CALM.
5) Judge by what he produces as well as how he seems, sometimes it has to do with stuff you had no idea happened. For instance, he might be convinced you are going to shut him in a door or something- who knows what goes through their bird brains. If his offspring have no issues, then use him carefully, watch the brooder- not to talk to them and make friends but to observe. Are they mock fighting under 4 weeks? Are they crowding out small fry birds? Do they go nuts if you put in a grape tomato? Take notes and band them so you can watch potential issues as they grow out.
6) Take a page out of the professional dog trainers book (that's me since 1986 BTW), take the time to watch the group and take notes; who is boss? Who is second banana? Who is sneaky... etc. The results might surprise you, and you will learn TONS about your flock' unique dynamic... you also might discover a problem you had no idea you had. If you know you have issues, figure out management techniques to get around it while training- DO NOT try to train in a hurry without preparation, or while doing chores. Feeding and watering in the dark for the next day with a head lamp so your hands are free will totally eliminate the problem. Perhaps giving each other a breather and addressing the issue separate from routine will help fix it. Also, remember animals do not speak English or like eye contact, being NEUTRAL and CALM often will fix problems regardless of species we humans are having difficulties with.

Hope this helps
Sandi

1) You mentioned wearing red, using red container etc. all of which can cause a roo to appear mean when he goes nuts because of a color trigger
2) Excessive handling of ANY animal that doesn't like to be handled can cause a strike first policy. This is especially true of reptiles, and chickens are not too far from them (in fact it was recently discovered that chickens are modern descendants of T-Rex!), personally I only handle birds that are going to be shown so I can see what the true temperament is like. Picking up a roo and carrying him around in a NEUTRAL fashion can sometimes work, but go the distance with it; in other words have nice treats to offer him the second he gets put down, hold him with his feet on the ground in a calm manner and wait for his body to relax before releasing him and do not give treats until this has happened. This creates in his mind a held-carried-put down-treats behavior chain, which *should* improve your relationship.
3) Any roo worth his salt will have some potential for being feisty, it is a balancing act as a breeder, breed too far towards docility and you get weak birds with no gumption or go-get-em', For example, I just culled a hen from my flock for being too passive, she would allow any roo to mount her and would squat if any roo got within 5 feet of her. Ordinarily I would not cull a hen for this, but she was thrashed in the feather department and had been bred so much she was way past the point of merely loosing condition, she was getting to the point were removing was the only thing that would save her from wasting away. In the other direction, I had a roo that I kept because he successfully ran off a fox when he was 10 months old. His chicks display a very good vigor, and while he sometimes would resist handling for worming and whatnot (to the point of mild warning bites) he never would try to jump at a person. Also, anyone who is "feisty" gets watched and then a 3 strikes you are out goes into effect- for genuine aggression.
4) Keep a journal. You will never figure out the problem by guessing. EVERY TIME he has an issue w/ you write it down (big calendar works great for this) note the time of day, feed and water status, did you get between him and a favorite hen (some roos toss all the rules when it comes to a favorite in peak breeding season) ask yourself these types of questions and try to be observant and CALM.
5) Judge by what he produces as well as how he seems, sometimes it has to do with stuff you had no idea happened. For instance, he might be convinced you are going to shut him in a door or something- who knows what goes through their bird brains. If his offspring have no issues, then use him carefully, watch the brooder- not to talk to them and make friends but to observe. Are they mock fighting under 4 weeks? Are they crowding out small fry birds? Do they go nuts if you put in a grape tomato? Take notes and band them so you can watch potential issues as they grow out.
6) Take a page out of the professional dog trainers book (that's me since 1986 BTW), take the time to watch the group and take notes; who is boss? Who is second banana? Who is sneaky... etc. The results might surprise you, and you will learn TONS about your flock' unique dynamic... you also might discover a problem you had no idea you had. If you know you have issues, figure out management techniques to get around it while training- DO NOT try to train in a hurry without preparation, or while doing chores. Feeding and watering in the dark for the next day with a head lamp so your hands are free will totally eliminate the problem. Perhaps giving each other a breather and addressing the issue separate from routine will help fix it. Also, remember animals do not speak English or like eye contact, being NEUTRAL and CALM often will fix problems regardless of species we humans are having difficulties with.

Hope this helps
Sandi

very nice Sandi

 

[elizmartin]

Thanks SandiKlaws for the thoughts, I have had a bit of trouble with Hawks and Eagles this year....Friday came home to tons of feathers from a favorite cross barn roo....glad to find it only missing its tail feathers but 3 hens missing. white, that color never does well here. Lost my secondary Barny roo last week. Everyone but the turkeys are in lock down. Has been safe for a long time til recently. Also removed a rat family that had moved in, so am considering these also besides testosterone.

regarding temperment....My hatchery Samon roo son has the best....but the other three, smart and protective. The brothers are close to each other and share the group. The Mahogany Roo is peaceful and watchful of his girls too, sort of normal behavior.

Now the blacks, i like them but i would like them to be more demonstrative. They are more like ragdoll cats....The chicks are easily intimidated and so far don't even stand up for themselves with the Salmon chicks the same age so are lagging behind....another trait to think about.

Any thoughts out there how to change that? Id rather keep to the color but had thought maybe crossing back to one of the big Salmon boys and then crossing back saving blacks to see if they became more self assured.

Appreciate any help here....Thanks in advance, eliz

 

[NovaAman]

My poop head Florus was on the verge of becoming dog food not so long ago. Not because of people aggression, but because he was standing out side the coop door and gangster raping the girls as they tried to pass. He even went after a 8 week pullet. He got locked up after I kicked his a** off of her and made sure she was ok. I gave him one last chance though. He's seriously settled down now. Just had to get over the spring raging hormones. That and he was only 9-10 months old. He is a year now, and good to his hens, doesn't pester the littles, and only tries to kick the crap out of my marans roo. His tail is a mess from Rod Stewart keeping him in his place. (the only one Rod Stewart doesn't mess with is Fritz the jerk. They are like a tag team, even though fritz is a serema) But.... He was THIS close to being extinct.

This weekend both my exuberantly bearded boys found new homes. One went to a man and his family who pulled in my driveway, told me they had 65 pullets and one cockerel, but the cockerel wasn't doing his duty and bringing eggs. I asked how old were the pullets. 2 months he said. I told him that he's got at the least 2 more months to 3 months before he gets eggs, and the boy wasn't mature enough to do his duty either. That the boy wouldn't be interested until the girls got close to laying age and/or started laying. So he asked if my boy would get them laying... I told him no. The hens weren't mature enough, that the were still babies, little kids really. Oh he says. Then I told him he didn't need roosters to get eggs. He was shocked. Nope, you do not need a roo. The hens will lay eggs with out having a rooster. You won't get chicks with out a rooster. So, he took a faverolles boy and 3 dozen eggs.

The other boy went to Sillychicken to add new blood to her lines. He was one very mad cockerel yesterday. I have a bite to prove it. The hour and a half car ride, the escape in a large park that was strange, being hunted down and caught by several people, well that put him in a very poor state of mind yesterday. Poor boy. His red headed brother is lonely now. He's only got the mutt boys to keep company, and they are destined for dinner in about 6 weeks...

 

[ashandvine]

Cute, hard to say but am inclined to think, boy.

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