Faverolles Thread

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
she IS!! She's my favorite!! She's the teeny tiny blue one. She even laid an egg in the shipping box on her way here!!

 

[buffbeauty]

Ha. Love it!!

 

[dandydoodle]

WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Splash Faverolle pullet layed her first egg today!!!!!

First Faverolle egg ever!!!!!!

I am soooooo excited

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

 

[Grumpypantsmomma]

Quote:

 

[SD_Paulo]

Congrats! You must be a proud Gandma

 

[dandydoodle]

Thanks everyone, I am soooooo excited!!!!!!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Just wanted to remind those of you that are Fav club members that you only have 3 more days to submit nominations!!!

 

[muesky]

Hi Everyone!

Been lurking and thought I would introduce myself and get everyone's feed back on a breeding program I am starting this next spring.

First off my name is Rebecca as you can tell from my profile I am from Oklahoma. I have a diverse flock mainly of ameraucanas (blue, white, blacks) and cochin (giant and bantam). The flock also consists of a couple of favorelle pullets, a pair of pied peafowl, one lone turkey hen, a recently aquired pair of sumatras and a couple of mutt chickens. Yes, all my birds have names and are spoiled to the core.

My three favorite types of chickens are cochins, ameraucanas and favorelles. The favorelles are a combination of the best things I love about cochin and ameraucanas, with the addition of extra toes, except they do not lay a blue or green colored egg. The perfect bird as far as I am concerned. The problem I have found with the favorelles is they are not very hardy birds, they don't lay well and the mortality rate with chicks seems much higher then any breed of bird I have ever raised. I have talked to people who raise them in France and they are all surprised when I tell them that because over there they are like RIR are here and are considered the easiest of birds to raise. Honestly I believe it is because we are working with too small of a gene pool.

So the breeding program is to cross the cochins with the ameraucanas then breed their off-spring to favorelles.My flock is pretty much free-range so a couple of my mutts are the result of a cross between an ameraucana and a cochin. I have had some surprising results which have been the best of both breeds. Bearded, feathered feet and the hens always lay a blue or green colored egg. The difference is the comb is sometimes like the comb and leg coloring is unpredictable and no extra toes. I had a blue rooster that had the comb and yellow legs of a cochin the heavy beard of an ameraucana, the only thing is he did not have extra toes, other then that he look just like a bantam blue favorelle rooster. I also have a blue hen that has a pea comb, beard and the willow colored legs of an ameraucana but has the short stumpy legs and body of a cochin. She also lays a pale blue egg. All the ameraucana/cochin x's have the sweet, docile personalities of favorelle.

The goal for my breeding program is to develop two lines. Both lines will have the feathered legs, 5 toes, bearded, lay a blue or green colored egg, have the docility of a cochin and the more up-right carriage of an ameraucana. The difference is one line will be breed for the willow colored legs and pea comb and the other will be breed for the cochin comb (which is closer to the favorelle's comb) and yellow legs. Since I have a very diverse bloodline of cochins and ameraucanas where no more then three birds out of 15 are related. At this point the plan is to breed for type first and then color and/patterns. One goal I have is to breed a bird that looks like a solid white favorelle with willow legs. Would that not be a gorgeous bird? I figure if I breed my white ameraucanas to my white cochins. Then take the off-spring that have the willow legs and breed them to my favorelles (still looking for a couple or 3 males). Take those off-spring that have the extra toes and breed them back to a non-related ameraucana/cochin white/white with the wanted traits, etc, etc, I will get the bird I want and still keep the bloodlines strong and eventually standardize the traits. Also would like to do this in a splash, black and blue, but that is long term goal, type first.

The point of my program is not to replace the favorelle but make a whole new type of bird with all the best traits, I love. So what does everyone think about this project. Crazy I know, it just that I know what I like and want to make a bird that emulates all the things I love about chickens.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Hi Rebecca!

That's the cool thing about all the varieties and breeds of chickens, you can pretty much do whatever you want to get them to be whatever you like best!

With the issues you've had with your Favs, I have to ask - did they come from a hatchery?