Faverolles Thread

[n8ivetxn]

Well it is NOT overcrowding. Their coop is 9 1/2 x 12 with a 7 1/2 foot ceiling. The nest box is external, the feeder is hung from the ceiling and the water is a 3/4" pipe with nipples attached to the wall. Plenty of floor space. They have 19 feet of roost at 4' and 8 feet at 2'. Plus they get out of the coop almost every day for many, many hours. Even if they decide not to go outside to hunt bugs or eat grass, they have a 6' x 50' alley outside the coop to wander around. And they get kitchen scraps and BOSS and scratch. And the attack yesterday was whiIe they were all out eating their pre bedtime scratch. I wasn't paying enough attention to which Fav attacked the other but now I see that Clemence doesn't have her beard picked out so the smoking gun is in her foot. For supposedly being a "bottom of the order" breed, these two are pretty feisty. But it could be stress other than their physical environment. I don't know how chickens think or what goes on when I'm not watching.

In any case, I'll take the suggestions to heart and see if she stops.

Bruce

"the smoking gun is in her foot!" - Bruce, you are a funny guy!

But seriously, I can't for the life of me understand what's going on there.....keep us posted...

 

[n8ivetxn]

Ok, so yesterday I went to the Chehalis Winter Brisk show and met Cloverleaf and elizmartin

- and I got a couple of young roos from Cloverleaf

They are taking up residence in my laundry room at the moment! Pics to come....

So, once again, I can be excited about the coming spring season....

So, while I'm there I was bad-mouthing my PeeWee and how he's not interested in girls, etc... Well, today I was in the barn, looking through the back door I could see Pdub standing back there....Suddenly, he assumes the classic rooster diving position, you know the one, where they draw the wings in and stretch the neck out, they look like Olympic divers and they get that look in their eye - then he races off (in his awkward, PeeWee way).... I followed. He was chasing down a girl and grabbed her by the neck! I couldn't believe it.... That boy is a late bloomer, look it up in the dictionary and his pic is right there! Of course it all ended there when she cursed him out, he let her go

For those who ship birds - do you need an NPIP to ship out of WA? Buyer isn't requesting it, I'm just curious...

 

[ashandvine]

Well it is NOT overcrowding.
For supposedly being a "bottom of the order" breed, these two are pretty feisty. But it could be stress other than their physical environment. I don't know how chickens think or what goes on when I'm not watching.

In any case, I'll take the suggestions to heart and see if she stops.

Bruce

I wasn't suggesting you weren't taking good care. I saw a woman's beautiful barn recently with nice set up full of birds and they were clearly stressed-- picking each other, fights, and of course they were nearly feral because she just wasn't getting in there to handle them much-- not that any of this is you, it just made me realize that birds could stress in beautiful conditions too. A lot of folks believe that all the protein in the feathers and they eat them for that reason but picking and attacks are a little different than lack of protein. It sounds almost like you have an issue with dominance in the flock but (and I know this sounds weird) but maybe there is an instinctive issue at play-- you know, like how cats etc kill their offspring if there is a genetic defect they can detect? And of course there is always the time old female issue of "her beard was bigger than mine!" so one day she just pulls it out, or the 'she looked at me funny' part of being sibs. (hope you are laughing.)
I almost named a Fav today but caught myself. The lightest of them seems to be the most friendly and I bent over to get her and said "come here pumpkin." No no, no names. The cockerel was nearly called Raider or Football the other day. He was right at our feet and shaped like a football from above. It was funny to us anyway.

 

[n8ivetxn]

What? You don't name your birds!

Yeah, I don't either, really. Except for PeeWee. Ok, I needed to call him something besides "the sick chicken" back when he wasn't feeling so good and it was either PW or Peanut (because of his small stature

Maybe you're onto something re a dominance issue.....or could it be external parasites? Maybe Clemence is picking at something?

When I dust it's always a nuisance to dust around their heads and beards, sometimes I don't do as good a job as I should....

 

[bruceha2000]

I wasn't suggesting you weren't taking good care.

It sounds almost like you have an issue with dominance in the flock but (and I know this sounds weird) but maybe there is an instinctive issue at play-- you know, like how cats etc kill their offspring if there is a genetic defect they can detect?

And of course there is always the time old female issue of "her beard was bigger than mine!" so one day she just pulls it out, or the 'she looked at me funny' part of being sibs. (hope you are laughing.)

I almost named a Fav today but caught myself.

No offense taken or even considered!! I was just commenting I can rule out the possibility of over crowding. Makes it easier actually. Imagine if they were even marginally crowded, what to do?? Make more space for them (as if I have the time for that) and then if it didn't change, work on the diet, boredom or something else? I'm an engineer - the fewer variables in a problem, the better I like it.

Yeah, I'm laughing. I actually thought "maybe she doesn't like beards on girls". What would she think if she had a mirror to look in?

I didn't name my girls .... my daughter did! Well, only ten, she let a friend name one and the girl she watches once a week name one. It took me FOREVER to remember their names and I found out just yesterday that I was spelling one of them wrong. The Favs, being a French breed, were named after the two girls she stayed with in Toulouse while on trips with her Theatre on Ice troupe a few years back.

When my dad found out they were named, he said "Bruce, Bruce, Bruce, you don't name them. Makes it harder to put them in the pot when they stop laying". I said "Dad, it doesn't matter, these girls will be going on the dole when they retire. No animal my daughter knows personally will be eaten." She is a vegetarian and only barely tolerates that the rest of us are not.

Bruce

 

[bruceha2000]

Maybe you're onto something re a dominance issue.....or could it be external parasites? Maybe Clemence is picking at something?

When I dust it's always a nuisance to dust around their heads and beards, sometimes I don't do as good a job as I should....

I don't know, I didn't see anything unusual other than the missing feathers and she isn't going after the 4 non bearded breeds The Cubalayas are about 2/3rds her size so if she wanted to make mean with them, she could. To a point, I am chalking it up to her not liking things to be different. Cleaning up the "hairy girls" so they look like all the others. Except herself of course.

Bruce

 

[mame1616]

My birds still get their beards pecked, and I have a lot of things in the coop and run to keep them occupied. There's certainly enough room. But it almost seems like they are bored, because I see it most when everyone is doing the afternoon siesta/preening thing. One of the non-bearded ones goes by and says, "Hey - look at that!" Next thing you know, they are picking away, and the darn bird being pecked LET'S them! When I yell at them to stop it, the offender gets a "whatever, I'm just trying to help!" look on her face and waddles off. It's like the non-bearded ones think the beards shouldn't be there, or something. I wish there was a blue-coat-type spray or something to keep them from doing it. I thought about slathering the beards with vaseline, but I imagine that would be quite annoying to them. I know it would be to me.

 

[n8ivetxn]

To a point, I am chalking it up to her not liking things to be different. Cleaning up the "hairy girls" so they look like all the others. Except herself of course.

Bruce

So, Clemence is either a hypocrite, or nobody is returning the "favor!"

I really do like the names! I just can't bear to do it myself

 

[n8ivetxn]

My birds still get their beards pecked, and I have a lot of things in the coop and run to keep them occupied. There's certainly enough room. But it almost seems like they are bored, because I see it most when everyone is doing the afternoon siesta/preening thing. One of the non-bearded ones goes by and says, "Hey - look at that!" Next thing you know, they are picking away, and the darn bird being pecked LET'S them! When I yell at them to stop it, the offender gets a "whatever, I'm just trying to help!" look on her face and waddles off. It's like the non-bearded ones think the beards shouldn't be there, or something. I wish there was a blue-coat-type spray or something to keep them from doing it. I thought about slathering the beards with vaseline, but I imagine that would be quite annoying to them. I know it would be to me.

Yeah, I see mine doing that too....during the siesta/preening session. I think it's kinda cute to see them cleaning where the other can't reach

 

[n8ivetxn]

Here are a few pics of the boys I got from Cloverleaf on Saturday at the Chehalis Winter Brisk

(thank you Cloverleaf!

Since they aren't accustomed to being outside I kept them in my unheated laundry room for a couple of days. They had a large piece of carpet with their crate sitting on it....

Yesterday I moved them out to my greenhouse to get their feet dirty for the first time! The greenhouse is a perfect place for them to adjust to outside temps. At night I can set the heater to come on if it gets too cold. They're enjoying their new digs! Running, jumping and flapping their little wings

They've discovered they can eat carrot tops, clover, alfalfa and blueberry leaves - so much to explore! But - the funny thing is, they won't get in the dirt beds, they stay on the brick floor!

So, in a few days they'll move out to their own little tractor coop, where the other birds can see them and get adjusted to their presence