Faverolles Thread

[drumstick diva]

Cloverleaf I think "Serendippity" would be a good name for her

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Cloverleaf I think "Serendippity" would be a good name for her

Thanks for the suggestion, but I decided that Poularde's idea of "Zoe" was the one.

 

[hcammack]

Who knew entomology would be so exciting!

I like it its pretty fun. Harder then I expected. Its entomology and pest management. So I get to find out how to kill all sorts of nasty critters.

 

[ashandvine]

Well, we love bugs at my house! We have them in boxes on the walls Kids like to show them at school even.

So, about Favs... reading a little I think I understand now why they are 'hard' to breed: low genetic pool and no clear type. Its tough for me. I am waiting for these babies to get bigger, and don't plan to cull at all since there are only three here and I am learning about them as a breed. How is a person to know down the road what to do? I haven't been back through this whole thread so I still have to find pictures of combs and toes and all that. These ones all have 5 toes and muffs so far...

I'd really like to suggest that this group follow what the Marans folks did so there can be pictures for people to have as examples at all times. I need to learn the nuances. Visual examples are best.

 

[hcammack]

Well, we love bugs at my house! We have them in boxes on the walls Kids like to show them at school even.

So, about Favs... reading a little I think I understand now why they are 'hard' to breed: low genetic pool and no clear type. Its tough for me. I am waiting for these babies to get bigger, and don't plan to cull at all since there are only three here and I am learning about them as a breed. How is a person to know down the road what to do? I haven't been back through this whole thread so I still have to find pictures of combs and toes and all that. These ones all have 5 toes and muffs so far...

I'd really like to suggest that this group follow what the Marans folks did so there can be pictures for people to have as examples at all times. I need to learn the nuances. Visual examples are best.

Faverolles are hard to breed for many reasons; 5th toe, beard, muff, feathered legs, unique color, unique "trapezoidal" type. The FFOA website has some good resources as well. I would say become a member of our club as well. We send out newsletters and they often have good articles by experienced breeders.http://faverollesfanciers.webs.com/

We do post as many pictures as we can. But honestly there is no "perfect" faverolles out there. Peter has good examples of the breed on his site as does the Faverolles Fanciers site. There are so few people with faverolles and not everyone has time to take pictures. So its difficult to have a picture for a critique all the time. We do do it every once and a while. For example I posted pictures of my new pullets a few pages back. Plus posted pictures of my Cockerels from Peter many pages back. We had a great discussion about them with some good input from Peter and others.

One thing that is club is struggling with is that although there is a new generation of faverolles breeders (Cloverleaf, Me, Keesmom, Sandiklaws, Chickenonthehill, Gypsychick, ect). But the older breeders are disappearing or not present online as much. Leisha is a great resource about bantams. If you know who to contact Ron, Dick, Peter, ect but many of them are not online anymore.

So many of us newer faverolles breeders are not capable of giving you a full breakdown of what to look for in a bird. We are all still learning (as are all bird breeders). But most of us on this thread have been breeding faverolles for less than 5 years. Although there are some very knowledgeable people on this thread we don't have the expertise to do that sort of breakdown.

If anything I would say the Maran's do not have a clear standard and have more problems with people breeding them just because they have pretty eggs and not paying attention to the standard. I would say although there are the "3 european types" there is a clear american type. The best definition I can give you is Peter's interpretation of the standard on our websitehttp://faverollesfanciers.webs.com/standard.htm.

I will try and keep your advice in mind and we can try having some more discussion about faverolles type ect. My birds are not fully developed yet so they cannot serve as primo examples of the breed.

 

[hcammack]

Well, we love bugs at my house! We have them in boxes on the walls Kids like to show them at school even.

Glad to hear your a bug fan they are great! I am going after one in my living room right now. I need to start pinning for my collection this week. The assignment requires 100 specimens in 12 orders and 15 families.

 

[keesmom]

Well, my postmaster and I learned a couple of things from this week's disaster.

I'm not sure how many people he had to go through to get this information, but there is indeed a number we can call ahead of time to make sure there is space on a flight that is not carrying dry ice. No one anywhere locally knew this, they had always assumed they couldn't find out what FEDEX did with them. He has the number now, and we'll definitely be calling it before any other birds are shipped. Whether or not that would have made a difference in this case I don't know.

Also, for live shipments brought in Mondays-Wednesdays FEDEX guarantees on time arrival to the USPS. Anything shipped Thursday-Saturday is not, and will likely get bumped for dry ice.

 

[mame1616]

Well, we love bugs at my house! We have them in boxes on the walls Kids like to show them at school even.

So, about Favs... reading a little I think I understand now why they are 'hard' to breed: low genetic pool and no clear type. Its tough for me. I am waiting for these babies to get bigger, and don't plan to cull at all since there are only three here and I am learning about them as a breed. How is a person to know down the road what to do? I haven't been back through this whole thread so I still have to find pictures of combs and toes and all that. These ones all have 5 toes and muffs so far...

I'd really like to suggest that this group follow what the Marans folks did so there can be pictures for people to have as examples at all times. I need to learn the nuances. Visual examples are best.

I might agree with the small genetic pool, but there is definitely a clear type - it's achieving it that is the issue. While I do not have a breeding program going due to lack of space, I have had chickens for a number of years and I have learned one thing from talking to breeders of many different breeds - you never stop learning, and the perfect bird does not exist. Guys who have been breeding the same breed for thirty years are still learning how to achieve that perfect bird. You learn about what to do down the road through experience, and finding out everything you can from everyone you can. That's how I spend my time until I gain a bit of land to allow for some more pens - I read and listen. After all this time I feel I can look at a Faverolles and say -yes, that's a good example, or no, it's a poor example. (At least half the time, anyway - which is why I'll never be a judge)

There IS a standard that we all strive to reach. Peter's is a good one. I'll see if I can scan my Standard of Perfection and post it on here. You can try googling "Faverolles" and looking at the images that come up - there's a lot. With having them you'll learn how they sound, stand, walk, run, etc. There's no book that can match that. It's really hard when there are no Faverolles near you to compare. I had to drive twelve hours to see any others!

The problem with not culling - we had this discussion just a short while back. It took so long to reach the stage that the breed is at now - breeding less than the best specimens only sets the whole breed back, as those genes will make their way back into the small gene pool, and erases all the progress that has been made. I think that has happened with a lot of breeds, especially those "breeds of the month." People breed them to make money or to make a name for themselves without giving much thought to the future of the breed, and poor genes enter the pool. A few years later people are saying - I remember when that breed was a lot bigger, or broader in the chest, or had much better toes. The better thing to do is to wait for those great birds to come along and breed them, not the ones you happen to have already because it's convenient. (I don't mean you, I mean in general)

As far as pictures, there are fourteen albums of photos over on the FFA web site: http://faverollesfanciers.webs.com/apps/photos/

Welcome to Faverolles! One of the toughest breeds out there - but the most wonderful to be around.

 

[mame1616]

Well, my postmaster and I learned a couple of things from this week's disaster.

I'm not sure how many people he had to go through to get this information, but there is indeed a number we can call ahead of time to make sure there is space on a flight that is not carrying dry ice. No one anywhere locally knew this, they had always assumed they couldn't find out what FEDEX did with them. He has the number now, and we'll definitely be calling it before any other birds are shipped. Whether or not that would have made a difference in this case I don't know.

Also, for live shipments brought in Mondays-Wednesdays FEDEX guarantees on time arrival to the USPS. Anything shipped Thursday-Saturday is not, and will likely get bumped for dry ice.

What is with the dry ice? They need to ship that much of it? There's that much stuff to keep cold?

 

[ashandvine]

i didn't mean to poke a nest, I was just saying that after looking at Peter Merlin's site It was clear to me how hard breeding for one type could be when he has pics of three up there and then I looked at some of the pictures and they were all a little different... I kept hearing how hard they were and may not breed them at all but was glad to have a moment to understand that there are reasons behind the 'ooh they are tough' saying. I am a very visual learner. As for the Marans, there is a very clear standard on them and its rigorous. I love the girls I have and they are pretty good for type. One girls has a fault I know about and neither is at pol so I can say nothing about that BUT I will say they are aggressive foragers and friendly and broad and I even think they are pretty. (for some of us that matters) I don't need anyone to cater to me when it comes to this thread. I will ask as I know to (isn't that always the catch.)The trio I have are from Dr Bramwell's stock and are likely to be pretty good but I am eager to send in pictures and get feedback. I think I will learn a lot more that way. After having seen that awful SF at the fair a week ago I know there is plenty of poor quality out there and I don't need to help that along. If I am lucky enough to get a breeding trio then I won't cull because I believe I can start where I am. Not everyone does that but it has to do sometimes. I did see the pics of your girls Henry and they are what I am used to seeing color wise and general type at least. Hence my disappointment in the one at the fair. It really was ugly. Oh, did I tell you that my favs like bugs too??? Fed them grubs yesterday and after the first observation and then scream because it was moving when they pecked it the babies gobbled those buggers up!
Henry... I have plenty of bugs here you can pin. Been collecting for a while. lol