Faverolles Thread

[keesmom]

Hatchery Favs often don't look quite like they are supposed to. They are also often at the bottom of the pecking order in a mixed flock. I wouldn't be surprised if one of your other pullets has pulled her beard out.

 

[appps]

Morning Appps, Although I don't have a great deal of experience with favs, this summer I lost a young polish to the heat wave we had in NY. I think it was 6 or 7 days over 90F . I was adding ice to their water stations every few hours and they had lots of shade. My husband is a vet so he posted it and sent tissue samples to the lab he deals with. Everything came back clean. I do have a young Fav and he and the polish were the same age. Hope this helps. He said that birds can just drop dead with temps that high for extended periods of time.

Hmm that's a bit of a worry. 90 is probably our average temp. Our heatwave days we hit 113 and set some hottest day on record.
I know another person with favs who lost birds in that heat.
It concerns me that our bantams who made it through last year didn't seem to notice our warm winter day but the favs were already sitting with mouths open.

 

[keesmom]

Mine don't like the heat. Neither do I. I've never lost a bird to hot temperatures though we never get weather as hot as yours. 99 was the highest this summer so far.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Hello all, I saw this thread a couple of days ago and finally decided I needed to set the record straight.  My name is Susan Akins, I live in Estacada, Oregon.  Cloverwood Farms is a family farm name that I took over when my dad passed away in 1986 - I have been using it since then.  I am proud of the name and have raised some quality animals under it.  I currently raise Soay Sheep.  I have also raised polish and dutch rabbits and exotic birds (finches and parrots). 

I bought my first Faverolles 3 years ago (fell in love with them from the first day)  from a hatchery and quickly learned that what I had was not show worthy and decided that I would start trying to improve my flock so that I could start attending poultry shows.  So far I've only shown at the local county fair just to get some experience showing, since I don't yet know what I'm doing.... 

I do not personally know Jeanine or Cloverleaf Farms, although I have heard of her and do know she is the president of the Faverolles club and well respected.  Of course I noticed the name similarity however did not really think much of it.  I have been wanting to talk to her about Faverolles since she does have really nice birds and I need some expert advise on the breed (and hopefully get some birds from her).  Jeanine did contact me through Facebook and I explained my farm name to her.  She seemed to understand and I plan on talking to her in person next month at a local poultry swap. 

Truthfully, after reading the posts about this I have felt sad, discouraged and upset.  I was so excited about these chickens and now it seems not worth the effort.  I would never try to pass myself off as someone else or try to sell my birds as theirs.  That is not who I am and wanted the people on this forum to know that.

Respectfully,

Susan Akins
Cloverwood Farms
Estacada, Oregon

 

Susan, I'm sorry, it's my bad for not talking to you first, I came here because I needed someone to tell me what I should do, and wasn't getting anywhere asking for advice from other people, because they truly don't "get it" with the Fav aspect of things. And I was trying to keep my gut-reaction in check.
This was also a way for me to make sure that people knew there were two "Clover-something's" in Oregon, with Favs.
Please don't be discouraged, that was certainly not my intent, nor the intent of anyone else, I am sure.

 

[appps]

Ahhhh. See I didn't listen to my old boss. His favourite saying was "never assume. It makes an *** of U and ME".

Glad to hear it is something simple re the name. Sadly all to often its not quite so these days so we do tend to assume the worst. Hopefully it hasn't soured you to the breed but it still is going to be a source of confusion however the name double up occurred.

 

[lesslea317]

My faverolles are only 6 weeks old but they have consistently been in 90-105 degrees for the past month with no problem. Of course they have access to and utilize the shade, but they still forage in and out of the hot sun.

 

[lilypad]

Hello all, I saw this thread a couple of days ago and finally decided I needed to set the record straight. My name is Susan Akins, I live in Estacada, Oregon. Cloverwood Farms is a family farm name that I took over when my dad passed away in 1986 - I have been using it since then. I am proud of the name and have raised some quality animals under it. I currently raise Soay Sheep. I have also raised polish and dutch rabbits and exotic birds (finches and parrots).

I bought my first Faverolles 3 years ago (fell in love with them from the first day) from a hatchery and quickly learned that what I had was not show worthy and decided that I would start trying to improve my flock so that I could start attending poultry shows. So far I've only shown at the local county fair just to get some experience showing, since I don't yet know what I'm doing....

I do not personally know Jeanine or Cloverleaf Farms, although I have heard of her and do know she is the president of the Faverolles club and well respected. Of course I noticed the name similarity however did not really think much of it. I have been wanting to talk to her about Faverolles since she does have really nice birds and I need some expert advise on the breed (and hopefully get some birds from her). Jeanine did contact me through Facebook and I explained my farm name to her. She seemed to understand and I plan on talking to her in person next month at a local poultry swap.

Truthfully, after reading the posts about this I have felt sad, discouraged and upset. I was so excited about these chickens and now it seems not worth the effort. I would never try to pass myself off as someone else or try to sell my birds as theirs. That is not who I am and wanted the people on this forum to know that.

Respectfully,

Susan Akins
Cloverwood Farms
Estacada, Oregon

Hi there Susan

I'm glad you've popped on here to set us all straight. I don't think anyone meant to upset you, sadly these days there are so many fishy individuals about that its normal for us to think the worst before we know the situation.
And I apologize if I've said anything that hurt you - I certainly didn't mean too. I was under the impression you had just named your farm, which is why it seemed a little odd, but now it's perfectly understandable.

Don't feel disheartened or discouraged, I think we got the wrong end of the stick.

Don't be a stranger either - this is a great place to help and advice and I'd love to hear how things go with your Faverolles

xx

 

[lungewhipqueen]

Those toes are excellent

That makes me so happy! I understand that the toes are the breed hallmark and good toes are a must. I've never shown a bird... ever... I know nothing about it. But I have one cockerel named Angus that I keep watching. He's a broad little beast, his color seems more consistent than my other young boys... you know, darker, less mottling and unruly-ish. lol! It's really hard to see how many points his comb has since it's still so small. I just know I catch myself staring at him and examining everything about him on a regular basis and I have about 70 birds. (only 5 Faverolles though. For now) He's sure making me consider trying my hand at a poultry show or two. I'm sure it's a bit early to be getting excited about him since he's only about 9 weeks old but it's fun to watch his progress!

Of my other two cockerels, Ed has sad toes. On his right leg the toes are touching. I don't know if they're actually attached to each other, but there's no separation between them. Otherwise he's a cutie and he's very sweet. The other boy (as of yet unnamed) has lovely toes but looks so narrow across the back compared to Angus.

I've really been enjoying reading along about everyone's birds and looking at all the pictures. Conversation seems to be the most fun way to learn about something new.

 

[appps]

Are good toes a must? I was looking at our scoring and there are just 5 points allocated to toes which seemed no more or less than any other thing such as colour etc?

 

[lungewhipqueen]

Are good toes a must? I was looking at our scoring and there are just 5 points allocated to toes which seemed no more or less than any other thing such as colour etc?

As I said, I know nothing about showing and have everything to learn!

I just noticed that there seemed to be much more detail given about what toes should look like verses any other characteristic. Perhaps I should shush and spend more time reading? lol!