Faverolles Thread

[EvilleGardener]

Oh! And here is our starter roo, Rusty. He does a fine job guarding the coop but he's way too quiet!

 

[LadyCluck77]

I currently have four 9 week old Salmon Faverolles chicks and I am not sure what to do with them, they aren't working very well in my mixed flock.  All my chicks were bought from the same farm and are within a few days old of each other, so I thought there wouldn't be too many issues, I knew that faverolles can be bullied easily.  I was very excited to get the Salmon Faverolles and was ideally hoping for 3 hens and 1 rooster since I think the roosters are absolutely gorgeous!  For the good news, I did get one, in my biased eyes, beautiful pullet and also have one cockerel that I adore!  He has the fluffiest feet and is so handsome!  On the negative side, I also got another cockerel who is very mean and a total troublemaker.  The fourth chick I believe is either a very badly marked pullet or is a faverolles mix.  I'm pretty sure it is a pullet though, and she has the cutest beard...muff?...not sure the correct terminology.

 The main actual issue I am having with the Faverolles is that they basically won't free range outside with the rest of my flock!  Finally last night, I got tired of the Faverolles always staying in the coop and not enjoying the fun of being outside and made them all get out of the coop for a little bit and had them in the fenced in run with the rest of the flock, with the coop door closed.  Unfortunately, the other birds were not very nice to them at all...especially to my favorite cockerel.  I never saw him instigate any trouble but he was constantly getting picked on, often after the mean Faverolle cockerel would go create mischief.  Eventually all the Faverolles ended up huddled together in a corner under the coop looking pretty miserable ... so I took pity on them and let them all back in the coop where they went back to roosting by the windows and just watching the other chicks outside.  Originally I was planning to re-home the mean cockerel and to re-home the badly marked pullet and keep the two nice and pretty ones...but now I am worried if there are only two of them that they will get picked on even more.  Does anyone who has more experience with Faverolles have any ideas?   

I'm no expert, but I can tell you some things that work for my mixed flock. There is always going to be a pecking order, if the top bird is a good leader, there are usually fewer issues. If you truly have a mean bird that is constantly making trouble, it may be best to consider culling it. The next in command then usually takes over and sometimes that helps. If you don't want to cull, you could try a week or so of solitary confinement for the bully. Sometimes that upsets the pecking order enough to bump them down a few pegs. A large dog crate works fine, even setting out some cheap fencing temporarily. Some people keep all of their roosters separate, all the time, and only add them when they want to make babies. Of course, that involves some additional coop construction, so it may not be an option.
Someone also mentioned making some adjustments to the coop/run areas. Make multiple perch areas, used plywood "caves" they can hide in, large fallen tree stumps or logs, and set out one or more pecking blocks- you can buy something like the Purina flock block, or make your own similar block treats to hang or place in the run. Scatter seeds or scratch every morning and then cover it with grass clippings, or fallen leaves. Making lots of interesting things for them to explore, hide in, and nibble at seems to really help occupy them enough so they don't pick on each other.

 

[EvilleGardener]

Which breeds do you have, Ygritte? I find my Barred Rock, top of the pecking order (and a more aggressive breed than my EE, SF and Welsummers), causes the most grief with the SF babies. Sometimes I just let her out on her own or with an older buddy for company so the remaining flock has a little bit of stress-free time. I tried sequestering her for a week to knock her down a few pegs but she was right back at the top, and bullying everyone, within days. I think I may have to re-home her to a friend's farm where she has MANY chickens of different varieties. Some breeds are just more aggressive than others, and while I love BB's big brown eggs I just can't put up with her bullying behavior.

BTW, how many chicks do you have and in how much space? Sometimes I just let a few birds out of the coop or out to free range at a time so they have a little bit of breathing room and a chance to get to comfortable with each other in smaller numbers. I try to change it up from time to time, and never for more than an hour or two. My SF's are becoming more comfortable around the other birds and spend less time huddled in the corners. (When BB is out of the mix, anyway.) They are 12 (girls) and 16 (boys) weeks old now, with the rest of the flock being 20 weeks and 15 months old.

Good luck!

 

[elizmartin]

SF cockerels do take a long time to mature….I know we hope for the obvious features of coloration, 5 toes in the right angles, comb points body build,etc. but temperment is very important too when choosing one to keep.
With the interest that has been in poultry over the last few years, many traits of some birds have not always held true.
With intimidated birds hiding places are good as mentioned but even better is penning bullies away for awhile so the new ones can gain confidence changing the pecking order. Good Luck

 

[YgritteChick]

Which breeds do you have, Ygritte? I find my Barred Rock, top of the pecking order (and a more aggressive breed than my EE, SF and Welsummers), causes the most grief with the SF babies. Sometimes I just let her out on her own or with an older buddy for company so the remaining flock has a little bit of stress-free time. I tried sequestering her for a week to knock her down a few pegs but she was right back at the top, and bullying everyone, within days. I think I may have to re-home her to a friend's farm where she has MANY chickens of different varieties. Some breeds are just more aggressive than others, and while I love BB's big brown eggs I just can't put up with her bullying behavior.

BTW, how many chicks do you have and in how much space? Sometimes I just let a few birds out of the coop or out to free range at a time so they have a little bit of breathing room and a chance to get to comfortable with each other in smaller numbers. I try to change it up from time to time, and never for more than an hour or two. My SF's are becoming more comfortable around the other birds and spend less time huddled in the corners. (When BB is out of the mix, anyway.) They are 12 (girls) and 16 (boys) weeks old now, with the rest of the flock being 20 weeks and 15 months old.

Good luck!

Besides my 4 Faverolles, I have 3 Australorps, 4 Easter Eggers, one Buff Laced Polish, and one mystery bird that seems to be a Lemon Cuckoo Orpington. I tried to pick breeds that would hopefully get along together. Soon that number will go down once I decide what to do with the extra cockerels. They are all within a few days old of each other and have been raised together. They have a coop with plenty of space and they also have a fenced in run that is big enough that they haven't even explored all of it yet. There is also areas for them to free range, like gardens after they have been mostly harvested, but the chicks only go out there with supervision and the Faverolles are not interested in that at all so far.

 

[YgritteChick]

I'm no expert, but I can tell you some things that work for my mixed flock. There is always going to be a pecking order, if the top bird is a good leader, there are usually fewer issues. If you truly have a mean bird that is constantly making trouble, it may be best to consider culling it. The next in command then usually takes over and sometimes that helps. If you don't want to cull, you could try a week or so of solitary confinement for the bully. Sometimes that upsets the pecking order enough to bump them down a few pegs. A large dog crate works fine, even setting out some cheap fencing temporarily. Some people keep all of their roosters separate, all the time, and only add them when they want to make babies. Of course, that involves some additional coop construction, so it may not be an option.
Someone also mentioned making some adjustments to the coop/run areas. Make multiple perch areas, used plywood "caves" they can hide in, large fallen tree stumps or logs, and set out one or more pecking blocks- you can buy something like the Purina flock block, or make your own similar block treats to hang or place in the run. Scatter seeds or scratch every morning and then cover it with grass clippings, or fallen leaves. Making lots of interesting things for them to explore, hide in, and nibble at seems to really help occupy them enough so they don't pick on each other.

Thank you for responding! I will try to make more "activities" for lack of a better word, for the chicks to enjoy and see if that lessens the bullying. And hopefully once I remove some of the cockerels from the flock things will also settle down. I didn't think I would have so many aggression issues with the cockerels so soon, I will try to be better prepared next time I have maturing chicks!

 

[YgritteChick]

SF cockerels do take a long time to mature….I know we hope for the obvious features of coloration, 5 toes in the right angles, comb points body build,etc. but temperment is very important too when choosing one to keep.
With the interest that has been in poultry over the last few years, many traits of some birds have not always held true.
With intimidated birds hiding places are good as mentioned but even better is penning bullies away for awhile so the new ones can gain confidence changing the pecking order. Good Luck

Thank you very much!

 

[EvilleGardener]

Besides my 4 Faverolles, I have 3 Australorps, 4 Easter Eggers, one Buff Laced Polish, and one mystery bird that seems to be a Lemon Cuckoo Orpington.  I tried to pick breeds that would hopefully get along together.  Soon that number will go down once I decide what to do with the extra cockerels.  They are all within a few days old of each other and have been raised together.  They have a coop with plenty of space and they also have a fenced in run that is big enough that they haven't even explored all of it yet.  There is also areas for them to free range, like gardens after they have been mostly harvested, but the chicks only go out there with supervision and the Faverolles are not interested in that at all so far.    

 

[EvilleGardener]

Seems like a good mix and a great setup! I guess the general opinion is to separate the trouble makers then? I like the idea of multiple roosts, stumps and hiding places, too.

 

[EvilleGardener]

Dang! I'm not very good at forum posting! How did my quote and reply get split? I'm going to go hide my head in shame now.