Uses: Exhibition. Utility: Eggs
Origin: France.
Eggs: 160 – 200 Tinted.
Weight: Cock: 4.08 – 4.98Kg Hen: 3.4 – 4.3Kg
Bantam Cock: 1130 – 1360g, Hen: 907 – 1133g.
Colours: Black, Laced Blue, Buff, Cuckoo, Ermine, Salmon, White (Standardised UK).
Useful to Know: The name Faverolles comes from a village name in France. This means there is always an ‘s’ on the end of the spelling, even if we are talking about a single Faverolles chicken, much like the Marans.
Photo: Salmon Favorolles hen.
Faverolles chickens take their name from a village found to the west of Paris in France. This village is very close to the town of Houdan, from which another breed also takes its name. The make-up of this breed starts with farmyard flocks around Faverolles. Most of these were Houdan and Dorking crosses of some description.
Imported chickens from Asia are thought to have been kept by the wealthy in the surrounding areas. It is thought that the odd cock bird from these Asian fowl (Shanghais, Cochins and Langshans are all candidates) would have been mixed with the farm-yard flocks, which is how the Faverolles got its large size and feathered feet.
The farmers started sending birds to the markets of Paris since they had a rapid growth rate and were a good size. To identify them, the dealers started giving them the name Faverolles; long before there was any conformity in type or plumage colour, they were still crossbreeds but soon became very popular for their meat and slowly started outselling the purebred Houdan.
The Faverolles reached the UK in the 1890s, and by 1900, the British Faverolles club was formed, and a new breed standard was written. In the UK, poultry breeding was mainly for show, the British wanted to see uniform looking birds, and the Faverolles still had a lot of variabilities. The English fanciers were prepared to pay more for birds closer to the standard, so slowly, the farmers became more selective in breeding to satisfy market demands in England.
Deutscher Lachshühner
In Germany, the Faverolles is called the Deutscher Lachshühner. It was split from the French and the British Faverolles as early as 1905 into a separate breed. The Bantam (the first Bantam of the Faverolles Breed) followed in 1925. Unlike the British Faverolles, which traditionally needs double pen mating to produce show quality cocks and hens, the German Faverolles only needs a single pen to breed both sexes to show quality.
The standard for the Deutscher Lachshühner is Large Fowl Cock 3-4Kg Hen 2.5 – 3.25Kg Egg lay must be 160 in the first year minimum (this is tested nationally in Germany for all breeds). Hatching egg weight is 55 g minimum, and eggs are pale yellow-tinted in colour.
Bantam Cock 1200g, Hen 1000g. Egg lay must be 140 in the first year minimum. Hatching egg weight is 40g (this is a maximum/minimum weight, larger eggs from bantams are not wanted as that gives larger fowl. Eggs are a pale cream tinted in colour.
Breeding Hints
The British Faverolles needs double pen mating to produce the best show birds in both sexes.
Photos
Books
The following books are available. Links take you to the Amazon or other sellers’ pages for the books.
- Popular Poultry Breeds – D. Scrivener – P.73
- British Poultry Standards – P.110
- American Standard of Perfection – P.158
Breed Clubs
These are the breed clubs for Faverolles:
- UK: The British Faverolles Society
- US: The Faverolles Fanciers of America
