Fayoumis Crosses

[LilRedRoo]

Way to go Mama Skylark! If she goes broody in the future you definitely have a solid brood hen for future clutches. Awesome thread by the way. I am very interested in seeing how she and the other Fayoumi crosses turn out, especially when it comes time to egg laying.

 

[davemonkey]

Skylark at 5 weeks and 2 days. I know, I know...the comb is really big for a pullet at 5 weeks. But for a Fayoumis, this would be nothing. A cockerel would have full blown comb and waddle at this age and would be trying to crow (in some cases). So, I am sticking to my guns that she's really a "she".

Her comb is really interesting though...kinda like a mix between a single and a pea (which makes sense given the breeds involved).

 

[davemonkey]

And here are the babies at 1 week 4 days:

 

[davemonkey]

Update time again. Skylark (now 6 weeks old) is still a girl as far as I am concerned, but a couple of the chicks I thought were girls are sure acting like boys right now. One of my "girls" is cock-fighting with a Fayoumis x Barred Rock cockerel, and they are just 2.5 weeks old!!!

I'll start with a group pic and you can decide for yourself if you can tell girls from boys. My best guess is that there are only 4 girls out of the 18 chicks that hatched, but time will tell. You will also be able to see our wee-little-runt. She is only half the size of the others...even smaller than the Bantam cross! Check out that "roo" in the foreground of the first pic though! He's a Fayoumis x BR. All the Fayoumis/BR crosses have the barring pattern and light spot on their head...which suggests to me they are all boys.

 

[davemonkey]

Even though this thread is geared to Fayoumis crosses, I do want to show these 2 just for reference, and the following post will be all Fayoumis x's.


This is "Sunset", a RIR x Production Red Sex Link. I had this one pegged as a boy from the start, but now I am not so sure. It's one of the largest of the chicks, and probably the heaviest. It also happens to be the most gently and doesn't scream at you when you hold it. The others are just a bunch of wild a**** that don't like being held and would just as soon eat nails as be near us.



This is a leghorn, full breed. I am 99% certain this is a cockerel. His comb was this size several days ago before any of the others began to show any signs of a comb at all. When he's running around, it gets bright pink. (Oh, don't go by hand-size as a guide. The top pic is my daughter's hand, the bottom is mine.)

 

[davemonkey]

Now for the Fayoumis.


Fayoumis x Australorp. I'm not 100% sure on the breed, but this is the only one with a white wing tip, and the only other birds I've had that had white tip here were Australorps. We had 3 Australorp hens, and 2 pullets during the time if the experiment. This is the only chick that I believe to be Fayoumis x Australorp. The other black chick hatched from a blue egg (EE) and I've kept my eye on that one. *Notice the mis-colored tip of the middle toe? The middle toe on both feet have this. That makes it easy to spot this one.



This is the most feisty of the chicks...the one cock-fighting with my favorite "girl" every day now. He's a Fayoumis x BR, and there are 6 of these...all looking like their BR moms.



Another Fayoumis x BR. This one has the largest comb of the EF/BR crosses. I can't tell if the marks on his back are BR barring, or Fayoumis spotting. Barring on the wings is obvious whne you spread them out, but I did not get a photo of them.





TWINS! Fayoumis x EE. Really, I wonder if Skylark and this chick had the same mother. The chick looks exactly like Skylark did at this age, but has more feathers (we are feeding a higher protein ration this time). Compare to Post #15 when Skylark was 3 weeks old.
This chick is the one I thought for sure was a girl until it started fighting with the BR cross. (The runt in the group picture in the post above is also a Fayoumis x EE. We had a total of 3 of this cross that hatched.)

 

[davemonkey]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo! No, it can't be!! My all-star 6-week-old brood "hen", that adopted an entire clutch of chicks when "she" was just 4 weeks old and has been teaching them to forage and fend..."she's", "she's"...CROWING!!!!!!!! Ugh.

I don't know whether to cry, or to be excited that I have such a good natured cockerel that has stepped up to the plate in a time of need. Pullets can crow sometimes, right? RIGHT? RIGHT?!

 

[Veer67]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo! No, it can't be!! My all-star 6-week-old brood "hen", that adopted an entire clutch of chicks when "she" was just 4 weeks old and has been teaching them to forage and fend..."she's", "she's"...CROWING!!!!!!!! Ugh.

I don't know whether to cry, or to be excited that I have such a good natured cockerel that has stepped up to the plate in a time of need. Pullets can crow sometimes, right? RIGHT? RIGHT?!

Pullets can crow, but sorry, your Skylark has a comb that looks too red and big for her age.

 

[Veer67]

Even though this thread is geared to Fayoumis crosses, I do want to show these 2 just for reference, and the following post will be all Fayoumis x's.


This is "Sunset", a RIR x Production Red Sex Link. I had this one pegged as a boy from the start, but now I am not so sure. It's one of the largest of the chicks, and probably the heaviest. It also happens to be the most gently and doesn't scream at you when you hold it. The others are just a bunch of wild a**** that don't like being held and would just as soon eat nails as be near us.
Pullet for now.


This is a leghorn, full breed. I am 99% certain this is a cockerel. His comb was this size several days ago before any of the others began to show any signs of a comb at all. When he's running around, it gets bright pink. (Oh, don't go by hand-size as a guide. The top pic is my daughter's hand, the bottom is mine.)
Even though Leghorns are said to have large combs, this chick is definitely a rooster. My Leghorns didn't get a more pinkish/reddish combs until they were about 10 weeks old.

 

[Veer67]

Now for the Fayoumis.


Fayoumis x Australorp. I'm not 100% sure on the breed, but this is the only one with a white wing tip, and the only other birds I've had that had white tip here were Australorps. We had 3 Australorp hens, and 2 pullets during the time if the experiment. This is the only chick that I believe to be Fayoumis x Australorp. The other black chick hatched from a blue egg (EE) and I've kept my eye on that one. *Notice the mis-colored tip of the middle toe? The middle toe on both feet have this. That makes it easy to spot this one.
Pullet still.


This is the most feisty of the chicks...the one cock-fighting with my favorite "girl" every day now. He's a Fayoumis x BR, and there are 6 of these...all looking like their BR moms.
Leaning towards rooster.


Another Fayoumis x BR. This one has the largest comb of the EF/BR crosses. I can't tell if the marks on his back are BR barring, or Fayoumis spotting. Barring on the wings is obvious whne you spread them out, but I did not get a photo of them.
Rooster.




TWINS! Fayoumis x EE. Really, I wonder if Skylark and this chick had the same mother. The chick looks exactly like Skylark did at this age, but has more feathers (we are feeding a higher protein ration this time). Compare to Post #15 when Skylark was 3 weeks old.
This chick is the one I thought for sure was a girl until it started fighting with the BR cross. (The runt in the group picture in the post above is also a Fayoumis x EE. We had a total of 3 of this cross that hatched.)
Chick on the left is a pullet.