| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| spicycauldron |
Salmon FaverollesWe're getting two adult Salmon Faverolle hens in lay this morning, from a local breeder who's previously impressed us not only with her care for the birds she keeps but also because she's very friendly and approachable - something important that many breeders forget or don't care about. I've made some enquiries in the past to real huffies and gruffies! But anyhow...I was wondering if anyone here had experience of keeping these rather strange-looking but very beautiful hens, and had any Faverolle-specific tips? I'm told they go broody easily, which is fine, as we may want to have babies reared next year, and lay white eggs. |
||
| bodger |
The chicks are very slow to grow and mature. They don't lay too many eggs and because of their feathering need to be kept in clean and very dry coditions. Mud and Faverolles don't get on. I know a number of Faverolle breeders if you have any queries. | ||
| Calli |
As Bodger said re the mud and their feathered legs.
You are getting the poultry bug!!! Chicks in the spring too 
link to pics of Faverolles |
||
| hedgewitch |
Get to the really important bit, Spicy Cauldren, what are you going to call them? 
They are lovely -- showgirls spring to mind with all that feathering? Gipsy (Rose Lee), Tallulah... |
||
| judith |
They always sound like buffet food to me - something made with puff pastry and a creamy sauce! | ||
| Chez |
My sister keeps them - she seems to get quite a lot of eggs from them. I believe that they were originally bred as a dual-purpose utility birds - certainly the cockerels are HUGE. And, in her case, very bad-tempered. You hear the old boy's footsteps coming up behind you like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park and all of a sudden he's got a death grip on your bottom and you're having to beat him off with the feed bucket  .
I second the wet feet thing - it does make them miserable. Apparently the ladies' all-encompassing beards make them liable to panic attacks when they lose sight of the rest of the flock. What's not to like  .
|
||
| spicycauldron |
Sorry for lateness of reply, I'm typing one-handed after having a biopsy Friday afternoon on my arm. So I need to be brief as it's a bugger to tap-tap like this!
We ended up going home not with the Faverolles but three Light Sussex girls on breeder's recommendation. But she's providing us with Faverolles eggs in Spring as my partner announced he wanted us to raise chicks! I didn't need to encourage, or enthuse, or ask... He volunteered, and has admitted he's now a chook addict!
|
||
| Calli |
Ahem...photographs please 
I think the Light Sussex are an excellent choice - my first foray into the poultry world 
So...come spring will it be the broody or the incubator and heat lamp route! oh and if you think you are into chickens now....just wait until you see the first egg pipping and how the chicks have such a will to survive...... *Time to reconvene the Poultry Anonymous help group methinks* |
||
| Chez |
You'll probably get more eggs from the LS. But let's face it here; it's not *about* the eggs any longer, is it?  . I keep them - they lay well and they cross well with the barnevelders for meat; but I have to admit that I just can't get fond of them. I don't know why - perhaps I just have a thing about white chickens being boring.
Jolly good news on the hatching front. I will try to take some pics of my faverolle babies before they go to my sister on Thursday, so you can see what half-grown ones look like. They have the beards from hatching .
|
||
| bodger |
I keep Light Sussex 
What you need now is a good gamecock ! Like this one of mine.
Seriously, I reckon these two breeds crossed will produce some reasonable meat birds and good broodys. Here are my POL LS at play. 
|
||
| Chez |
Did you take your cock to Oswestry this year, Bodger? Didn't you get on rather well with him last year? | ||
| bodger |
I actually judged the show at Oswestry this year, so it would have been cheating.
|
||
| Chez |
Just taking advantage of the situation, I'd have thought
|
||
| bodger |
Me take advantage ? I'd still pick the wrong one.
|
||
| Calli |
Not too sure about the cross......
Lovely to see all the LS and Marrans out and about Do you still have the gamecocks out on leashes? You could end up with crosses
|
||
| Chez |
I'd also just like to take a moment to display my Chicken House Organisation Envy at your set-up, Bodger .
|
||
| Calli |
Seconded
|