Old and Rare Breeds

[Pozees]

My Egyptian Fayoumi chicks are now just shy of three weeks old, and so far I still find them delightful little things. They are bold, vigorous, curious, and one this morning stood straight and tall to get a better look at me when I was changing food and water. I have read the males can start crowing as young as 6 weeks of age and the pullets can start laying as young as 4 months of age. Are Silver Campines and Silver Penciled Hamburgs similar in these traits?

Honestly, I'm surprised by how taken I am with them. I have planned to go forward with Brown Leghorns and Speckled Sussex, and really only got these chicks because my friend had expressed interest in them, so I would like to work with them a year or two and see how we do in terms of trying to improve egg size while maintaining vigor and hardiness, but by the same token if there are breeds accepted by the APA which are similar and need support, I would consider transitioning to one of them in the next few years. Until they have matured and lived through a year here I can't really know how I feel specifically about the EFs, just that so far as youngsters they are truly delightful.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

i had Egyptian Fayoumi's for 4 years... due to my stupidity i lost all of them to a predator attack... i had rooster chicks crow as early as 10 days old... and i had hens that layed there 1st eggs at 4 months and 1 week old... i really like them... my flock was about 6 generations removed from McMurry hatchery...

 

[Pozees]

i had Egyptian Fayoumi's for 4 years... due to my stupidity i lost all of them to a predator attack... i had rooster chicks crow as early as 10 days old... and i had hens that layed there 1st eggs at 4 months and 1 week old... i really like them... my flock was about 6 generations removed from McMurry hatchery...

Oh my, 10 days?! Wow! These are from Cackle Hatchery. Did you see differences in egg size in the hens so it was something you could select for?

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

nope all the eggs where about the same... i marked that little rooster and used him as my main rooster the next year... i let them out of there breeding pen one day to free range and lost 3 roosters and 9 hens to a varmint when i forgot to close there door that night that left me with 1 hen... i looked every where and finally found a rooster drove 3 hours to get him... penned them up in a breeding pen and never got another egg from her... she had always had spurs but she slowly changed into a rooster (tho i doubt she was ever fertile) she would crow and grew hackle and saddle feathers... the sad part is that she was laying up until 2 weeks before i got the rooster... i never found another hen after that... i plan on ordering some one of these days and get a fresh start but got to many birds not enough cage space right now...

Oh my, 10 days?! Wow! These are from Cackle Hatchery. Did you see differences in egg size in the hens so it was something you could select for?

 

[DTchickens]

nope all the eggs where about the same... i marked that little rooster and used him as my main rooster the next year... i let them out of there breeding pen one day to free range and lost 3 roosters and 9 hens to a varmint when i forgot to close there door that night that left me with 1 hen... i looked every where and finally found a rooster drove 3 hours to get him... penned them up in a breeding pen and never got another egg from her... she had always had spurs but she slowly changed into a rooster (tho i doubt she was ever fertile) she would crow and grew hackle and saddle feathers... the sad part is that she was laying up until 2 weeks before i got the rooster... i never found another hen after that... i plan on ordering some one of these days and get a fresh start but got to many birds not enough cage space right now...

I had the Ideal Fayoumi's long ago, I will say I'm not one for flighty birds really but they were neat little birds; I thought of trying them again but doubt I ever will. I like them more than the Campines I've seen, not sure why even though they be similar (guess it could be Campines being henfeathered, which I'm not a real big fan of hennies), I just favor Fayoumi. The British actually have a set standard, someone on here was planning to breed them and there is one who a few years back had already been selecting for type on this forum one may could find if you do a search.

My Ideal hens started laying at about 3 and a half months I believe, though it could be 4. I only had two of them. The little cockerel crowed around 6 weeks I want to say, he was a brave little guy, at 2 months old he thought he could take on most full grown game cocks at that age that I had everywhere on tie. They proved him wrong every time though.

I ended up giving the last hen away probably 5 years or so ago now, but prior to that she hatched quite a few dozens of chicks over the few years I had her. When I gave her away they used her as a laying hen until maybe a few years ago when they got rid of all of their chickens, whether the next person ate her, let her die, or whatever I'm not sure. I was offered her back but with no use other than a lawn ornament I declined, they did spur some conversations though; most people around here had never seen a bird that had the fayoumi color (i.e. Silver Quill). Given my love of gamefowl at that time whilst also liking fairly rare breeds I tried to get some Joe Redmond Grey's to put in place, but never found any deals that followed through or I just never trusted the dealers to have quality birds.

God bless,
Daniel.

 

[Pozees]

I had the Ideal Fayoumi's long ago, I will say I'm not one for flighty birds really but they were neat little birds; I thought of trying them again but doubt I ever will. I like them more than the Campines I've seen, not sure why even though they be similar (guess it could be Campines being henfeathered, which I'm not a real big fan of hennies), I just favor Fayoumi. The British actually have a set standard, someone on here was planning to breed them and there is one who a few years back had already been selecting for type on this forum one may could find if you do a search.

My Ideal hens started laying at about 3 and a half months I believe, though it could be 4. I only had two of them. The little cockerel crowed around 6 weeks I want to say, he was a brave little guy, at 2 months old he thought he could take on most full grown game cocks at that age that I had everywhere on tie. They proved him wrong every time though.

I ended up giving the last hen away probably 5 years or so ago now, but prior to that she hatched quite a few dozens of chicks over the few years I had her. When I gave her away they used her as a laying hen until maybe a few years ago when they got rid of all of their chickens, whether the next person ate her, let her die, or whatever I'm not sure. I was offered her back but with no use other than a lawn ornament I declined, they did spur some conversations though; most people around here had never seen a bird that had the fayoumi color (i.e. Silver Quill). Given my love of gamefowl at that time whilst also liking fairly rare breeds I tried to get some Joe Redmond Grey's to put in place, but never found any deals that followed through or I just never trusted the dealers to have quality birds.

God bless,
Daniel.

Can I take from this that the EF hens you had were prone to broodiness then?

 

[DTchickens]

Can I take from this that the EF hens you had were prone to broodiness then?

Mine were, from my understanding they all are. They were a landrace that wouldn't have survived I don't imagine without the broody nature, unless they would happen to lay their eggs under other feral birds/hens to be surrogate mothers. they aren't the type to go broody all of the time like you hear Buff Orpingtons do, but you could probably get them to raise maybe a clutch or two a year easily in my experience. Maybe more if you didn't let them raise the chicks, just hatch them.

That could actually be another reason I never favored the Campines, they're non-broody aren't they? The Buff Leghorns I use for egg layers are about the only ones I like to be non-broody.

God bless,
Daniel.

 

[Lacy Blues]

My daughter raises Campines. Last year she had about a half dozen of them go broody for her!

 

[saladin]

The Spring Bulletin of the SPPA focused entirely on 'Grading.' I've heard nothing but great things concerning the articles. The Summer Bulletin will focus on the Sussex breed. Now would be a great time to send in dues and become a member.

 

[Rockashelle]

The Spring Bulletin of the SPPA focused entirely on 'Grading.' I've heard nothing but great things concerning the articles. The Summer Bulletin will focus on the Sussex breed. Now would be a great time to send in dues and become a member.

It was wonderful! What great reading and very useful information. Thanks!