Content
Another very decorative breed of chickens for meat production was once bred in France in the town of Faverolle. To breed the breed, local chickens were used, which were crossed with traditional meat breeds exported from India: brama and cochinquin.
Faverol chickens were registered in France as a breed in the 60s of the 19th century. In 1886, the chickens came to England, where, in the process of selection, their standard was slightly changed, based on the exhibition requirements. The English version of the breed has longer tail feathers than the German or French populations.
Originally bred as a beef breed, by the end of the 19th century, faveroli began to give way to other chicken breeds, and today faveroli can be seen more often at exhibitions than in courtyards.
It should be noted that the breed is undeservedly forgotten. In addition to tasty meat, this chicken can produce large enough eggs. However, private traders who keep chickens not only for production, but also for the soul, are increasingly giving birth to faveroles, in addition to productive characteristics, which also have an original appearance.
Birds walk, like all self-respecting chickens, on three fingers. The extra toe grows on the back of the metatarsus, next to the fourth.
Description, productive characteristics of the faverol chicken breed
Faveroli are massive chickens with rather short legs. Chickens look more stocky than roosters. The breed is heavy, it can reach 3.6 kg. Taking into account the meat direction, these birds have a good egg production: hens lay 4 eggs a week, which will amount to more than 200 pieces per year. Chickens lay best in the first year of life. In the second year, egg production decreases, but the size of the egg increases. The eggshell is light brown.
Chickens are frost-hardy and fly even at temperatures in chicken coop below + 10 ° С, the main thing is that the air temperature in the room is not below zero.
Faverol chickens
Standard faverol with photo
A small head with a powerful light beak. Simple upright comb. The eyes are red-orange, the earrings are poorly defined. In chickens, whiskers go from the eyes to the bottom of the beak, connecting in a frill on the neck. In roosters of the faverole breed, this sign is less pronounced, although it is also present.
The direction of growth of the feathers of this decoration is different from the rest of the neck plumage. The feathers on the sideburns and frills are directed towards the back of the head.
The neck of the faveroli is of medium length with a long mane that falls over the back.
The body format for chickens is a square, for roosters - a standing rectangle. Chickens have a horizontal body position and a wide fleshy chest.
With a fairly massive body, faveroli, like all meat breeds of animals, have thin bones, which allows you to get maximum meat with a minimum of waste.
The loin is dense with a thick feather.
The tail is set vertically, tail feathers are short. The chickens are quite lush.
The high-set feathers are tightly pressed against the body.
The legs are short. Moreover, chickens have shorter metatarsals than roosters, due to which the chicken looks more stocky. Thick plumage on the metatarsus.
The fifth finger, which distinguishes the faveroli, is positioned above the fourth and points upward, while the fourth sticks out horizontally. In addition, the fifth toe has a long claw.
The standard officially recognizes three colors of faveroli: white, salmon and mahogany.
As you can see in the photo, the white color is pure white, after all, it is not. In the mane of chickens, feathers with a black border and a white shaft, in the tail, feathers are pure black.
In salmon, only chicken is beige. The rooster has almost white feathers on its head, mane and loins, black chest, belly and tail, and a red feather on its shoulders. Salmon faverole is the most common color in this breed of chickens.
Among the salmon faveroli, cocks with colored spots on the mane, variegated bellies and frill, with white blotches on the belly and chest, without red feathers on the back and wings are rejected from breeding. Chickens should not have black frill-covered feathers, with a white feather shank and not salmon coloration.
Mahogany chickens are similar to darkened salmon. Roosters have a light auburn feather instead of a light auburn feather on their head, neck and lower back.
The standard description of the breed does not provide for other colors, but different countries may have their own standards for this breed. Therefore, among the faveroli are sometimes found:
Silvery
In silvers, roosters with a black feather in the mane or yellow feathers are discarded.
Blue
Black
Birds have abundant feathers, loose plumage. This feather structure helps them keep warm during the colder months. The skin is thin.
Sexual dimorphism in chickens appears after 2 months. Sideburns and frill begin to grow in cockerels, feathers at the ends of their wings are darker than in chickens.
When breeding faveroles for meat, the color does not really matter, so you can also find faveroles of salmon-blue, red-piebald, striped, ermine colors. Birds may be purebred, but will not be admitted to the show.
These signs are:
- the absence of the fifth finger or its non-standard position;
- yellow beak;
- large comb;
- yellow or blue metatarsus;
- the presence of a "hawk clump" on the metatarsals;
- cuffs;
- low-feathered metatarsus;
- lack of characteristic feathers in the head area of chickens;
- a long tail;
- too large "pillows" near the upper tail;
- poorly developed muscles;
- short thin neck;
- metatarsus too short or too long.
Faveroli have a calm character, they quickly become tame. They are sedentary, but love to eat, which is why they are prone to obesity.
Productive characteristics of the breed
Since the faverole breed was created as a meat breed, the main emphasis was placed on the rapid weight gain by chickens. By 4.5 months, the farevol rooster can weigh 3 kg.
Faverole weight according to the standards of breed associations of different countries, kg
| The country | Cock | Chicken | Cockerel | Pulp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | 4,08-4,98 | 3,4 – 4,3 | 3,4-4,53 | 3,17 – 4,08 |
| Australia | 3,6 – 4,5 | 3,0 – 4,0 | ||
| USA | 4,0 | 3,0 | ||
| France | 3,5 – 4,0 | 2,8 – 3,5 |
In addition to the large meat variety of the faverol, a miniature version of this breed was also bred. Miniature cocks of faveroli weigh 1130-1360 g, chickens 907-1133 g. Egg production they have 120 eggs per year. There are for miniature faveroli and indulgence in the number of colors.
Features of the content
Because of its size and weight, the faverolle justifies the saying “chicken is not a bird”. He does not like to fly. But sitting on the ground for chickens, although, perhaps, is a stressful condition. On instincts, chickens try to climb somewhere higher. It makes no sense to make high perches for faveroli, even by arranging a ladder for them. When flying from a great height, heavy chickens can injure their legs. It is better to make perches 30-40 cm high for the faveroli, where they can sleep peacefully at night, but do not hurt themselves when they jump off the bar.
The roost is made so thick that the bird can cover it with its fingers from above. In the upper part, the corners are smoothed so that they do not press on the fingers of the chickens.
A thick layer of straw or sawdust is spread on the floor of the chicken coop.
When building a chicken coop, this point must be taken into account.
Faveroli are not suitable for cage keeping. The minimum they need is an aviary. But experienced chicken keepers say that the aviary is too small for them, since due to the tendency to obesity, this breed must provide the possibility of physical movement, which is actually possible only on free range and some underfeeding, in order to force the bird to try to get its own food on its own.
More agile and insolent chickens of other breeds may begin to beat faveroli.
Breeding
The faveroli begin to rush at six months, provided that the daylight hours are at least 13 hours. Faveroli are not afraid of frost and can be carried even in winter. Chickens of this breed are not very good hens, so eggs are usually collected for incubation. Hatching eggs can only be collected from hens that have reached one year of age. At the same time, eggs are stored for no longer than 2 weeks at a temperature of + 10 °.
The initial stock should be bought from proven nurseries, since purebred chickens of this breed are quite rare today. Good breed birds are supplied by Hungary and Germany, but there are already several Russian purebred lines of faveroli.
Feeding features
Due to too lush plumage, it is undesirable to give wet mash to chickens of this breed. Therefore, when keeping faverols, preference is given to dry compound feed. In the summer, up to a third of finely chopped grass can be present in the diet.
150 - 160 g of compound feed are given per day per head. If the bird grows fat, the rate is cut in half.
In winter, instead of grass, chickens are given germinated grain.
Reviews of the owners of the faverol breed chickens
Conclusion
Faverol is a rather rare breed today and not many can afford to keep it, not even because of rarity, but because of the price of young animals and eggs. The cost of a half-year-old chicken starts at 5,000 rubles. But if you manage to get several such chickens, then you can not only admire the beautiful birds, but also eat meat that tastes like pheasant.
