Salmon Faverolles

[Kanchii]

My young SF is very skiddish as well, unless I'm holding a mealworm. Then she litterally throws herself, beak gaping, at my hand and grabs onto anything she can, which usually ISNT the mealworm. Talk about bad aim, the rest at least make sure they aim at the mealworm before launching. Crazy little thing. But she HATES being picked up, and if she even thinks you are going to try to pick her up, she runs away, and screams when you approach her.

 

[mothergoose]

I raise bantam salmon favorelles, and I absolutly love them. Mine are so sweet. They all run to the door when I come, they stand to be petted and don't mind me picking them up to cuddle. They are my most faithful layers too! They are quiet, lay early, and are bueatiful too. One of the perfect chicken breeds in my opinion!! I might be a little partial though!
Christie

 

[mthrclckr]

Talk about bad aim

OMG, ain't that the truth! I haven't had that many Favs (I only keep bantams, BTW), but they all have the worst aim, and now I don't like to feed them out of my hand

. Ouch!!! I used to hold raisins in my fingers up high and make my RIR and EE jump up to get them. They *always* got the raisin and almost always without touching my fingers at all. With Favs, they're WAAAAY off and NEVER get the food

.

I have two 3 m.o. Favs right now that are descendants of Rose Marie Isgrigg's stock. They are the SWEETEST little things! When I need to go the 30 or so feet from my back door to the pens, I have to walk like I'm doing tai chi so I don't step on them. They won't get away from my feet, and I've stepped on theirs a number of times, now, but they haven't learned... Also, the pullet is such a cuddlebug!!! I'll sit down and she just hops up onto my lap for scritches, as she drapes her neck over my resting arm. Then she faaaalls asleep and would enjoy this for hours if I let her. Neither really cares to be grabbed and picked up, but as long as it's on *their* terms, they are very affectionate. When I crouch down, the cockerel will jump up onto my back and want to roost on my shoulder.

Yesterday, however, the cockerel developed a limp. I think he sprained his leg. So I brought him in and put him on cage rest. When I went out later, suddenly, the pullet was hiding from me! She must have thought I had done something horrible to her brother or something. So this was a first - she's never tried to hide from or avoid me. I ended up putting the cockerel into one of the empty pens outside and his sister came over and wanted to be in the pen with him, so I put her in. So I think different situations can cause birds to act differently. Favs do tend to be picked on so maybe they're not as trusting when they have to endure abuse from other breeds. And I have an older Fav pullet from a different brood that is also friendly, but wasn't handled much as a chick, so she only lets me scratch her beard.

I just LOVE Favs

!!! I'm waiting for eggs from mothergoose (hint-hint-nudge-nudge

)

.

-Naomi​

 

[karmical]

My SFs have terrble aim too!! Maybe it's the beards getting in the way of seeing where the treat is? On the plus side though, they dont' seem to peck as hard as the others either, so if they're off and get my fingers instead it isn't too painful.

I've also noticed at the feeders that they don't really peck at the food, they just kind of open their beaks and do their best to scoop it in. Nothing incredibly "precise" about it in the least.

They are the SOFTEST birds though....I wish mine were more cuddly. At least they're to the point where I can pet them if I crouch down next to them and go VERY slowly.

Does anybody else notice that they make more of a barking noise than a cluck?

 

[mthrclckr]

Quote:
Actually, my dear-departed Bitty Lou sounded more like water fowl than a chicken. And my little cockerel crowed for the first time last Sunday, and my husband said it was "honking," not crowing. Then again, first crows are always funny-sounding. He makes this funny sound which I wouldn't exactly call "barking" but more like a different kind of honking. And the older pullet makes this sound I can't even describe. The younger pullet rarely makes any noise at all, but when she does, I think it's more of a chick-like peeping since she's still pretty young.

The older pullet is past the 7-month mark and hasn't laid an egg, yet. I'm wondering what sort of sounds she'll make when she does lay. Noise-wise, these guys are definitely "different"

. But mine don't make much noise, anyway. My one EE bantam hen is always making such a racket with her "whining" all the time, it almost feels like we only have one bird. (I just re-homed all of my extra birds, including three roosters, last weekend - now I only have four.)

Bitty Lou had such pouffy cheeks, I think it's very likely that her vision was obstructed. The only time she could really see would have been after having sticky food that would mat her facial fluff down, away from her eyes. She was quite a vision after her first watermelon... But you know, even my birds with less-pouffy cheeks seem to have trouble with aim. Maybe they're just that way. I even toyed with the idea of trimming Bitty Lou's pouffy cheek feathers, but since she was an indoor chicken, she wasn't in any danger of not seeing predators or anything.

-Naomi

 

[Sharisr32]

Quote:
I have to agree based on on these posts I have HatTrick Stock Blue Salmon Favs and Birds from Rose Islagg . I wouldn't trade them for any other breed even silkies. They have all placed when shown and I hope to add to them from Mothergooses eggs sometime soon - It must be the breeding lines aren't including character and personality like Nikki and Rose do. it is a shame breeding is more then a single thing. This really is a nice gentle breed. One I recommend all the time for youth poultry especailly beginners - The standards do very well also .

 

[karmical]

[The older pullet is past the 7-month mark and hasn't laid an egg, yet.]


Mine are just 17 weeks and I'm wondering when I'll start to see eggs. One of my SFs is VERY small. She's not a bantam though. Hoping her body knows enough not to lay big-chicken size eggs!

[honking...]


That's a much better word for it than barking. It IS like honking. And sometimes they just say, "Ooooooooooo" kinda chirpy and higher-pitched. Just in general, some of the sounds they make can be incredibly entertaining! If I could make a profession out of just sitting with and observing chicken behavior, it'd be a dream job!

 

[mthrclckr]

OMG - my older pullet is a descendant of Nikki's stock! I had no idea that she bred anything other than silkies until I got my first bantam Fav hatching eggs from a first-time seller. However, I think other lines were eventually mixed in before I got my eggs, so it's unlikely that my pullet is a "pure" HatTrick. In appearance, she's very much "pet quality" and I'd never show her. However, she is a real character and has the cutest chicken butt ever. Like I said, she wasn't handled much as a chick. But I had some other breeds in that clutch of eggs that got the same lack of handling, and they were spazzy! The Favs and silkie in that group were extremely laid-back, while the bantam BLRWs would jump out of their skin every time I approached their brooder/pen.

Yeah, if you're going for a certain personality, you should find a breeder that considers temperament in their breeding programs. For me, "friendly" ranks right up there with "healthy." Right now, I'm trying to stick to Isgrigg stock since they've already won me over.

-Naomi

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I have to say, that although my Faverolles this year are the flightiest chickens I've ever had, they are fantastic at free ranging. They really watch what's going on and listen to the wild birds' alarm calls or my dogs' alarm barks. They stay undercover a lot. They don't look anxious all the time, but they don't like to be exposed, unless I'm walking with them. They love to be under trees, bushes and patio furniture.

They're actually calmer and more friendly now that they're free ranging. They're also mellower with each other when not confined. I think all the exercise has helped them. They have a couple of acres to roam and they cover all of it. If they see you, they'll come running over right away, just to see you. They have turned into "project chickens" and like to inspect my husband's tools and materials when he is working outside. They love to have us sit on the patio with them. They look in the doors and windows. They also peck on the door if we're inside. They'd come in if we'd let them!

Any of them can be picked up. They don't enjoy it, but they let you do it and tolerate it, although there is a lot of twitching and complaining. They still startle easily, but I know they trust us. If they get frightened of something, they run over to us for protection. So, even though they've been quite a bit different than I was used to, I think things have turned out all right.

 

[mothergoose]

Naomi,
I saw the hint! I promise, I will fix you up with some eggs soon!

You too, Shari.

The more salmon faverolles fanciers, the better!!!
Christie