Considering Faverolles chickens? The 22 things you must know first
Adorable, active, hilarious, and overwhelmingly sweet, Faverolles chickens are an excellent breed for people who like to spend time with their flock. These chickens thrive on human attention, are expert cuddlers, and one of the best breeds for kids.
Faverolles chickens will also give you plenty of delicious, creamy-colored eggs, even in the cold winter months. Traditionally, they’ve been used as meat birds as well, although today they’re more often kept as pets.
It’s easy to fall in love with Faverolles chickens, not just because of their excessively sweet nature, but also because of their adorable features. With their giant muffs and beards, their feathered legs and feet, and their quirky extra toes, these birds are just too cute.
But before you get your own Faverolles chickens, there are many things about these birds you need to know. These chickens do have some quirks and require some extra care. In this article, I cover everything you need to know to decide if these are the right birds for you.
You’ll learn:
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What are Faverolles chickens?
Faverolles chicken facts
Category: Pet, eggs, & meat
Origin: France
Egg-laying ability: Good
Meat production: Moderate-good
Cold tolerance: Poor-exceptional (require dry conditions)
Heat tolerance: Poor-moderate
Predator evasion: Poor-moderate
Foraging ability: Poor-moderate
Toleration for confinement: Moderate-good
Temperament: Docile
Aggression toward flock members: Low
Noise level: High
How do you pronounce “Faverolles?”
“Faverolles” is always spelled with an “s” at the end, both in the singular and the plural. And the “s” is always silent.
So, in both the singular and the plural, you pronounce “Faverolles” as “Fa-ver-ol.” The “a” is short, as in “apple” and the “o” is long as in “open.” Some Americans pronounce the “a” long instead, as in the word “favor.”
You’ll find in the U.S. that many people will spell the singular “Faverolles” as “Faverolle.” And people will voice the final “s” on the plural Faverolles. Technically, all of this is incorrect, but it’s seemed to have taken hold in America, nevertheless, as these changes sound more natural to our English-speaking ears.
Why are they called “Faverolles” and where do they come from?
Faverolles are named after their town of origin, the French village of Faverolles, located southwest of Paris. The breed was developed there in the late 1860s and the early 1870s as a utility breed—good both for table meat and for egg production.
Nobody knows exactly which birds were used in the development of the Faverolles breed, but poultrymen and historians have speculated that some of the following breeds may have been used:
Faverolles chickens also have medium-size, upright single combs, small wattles, and oblong, red earlobes. However, their earlobes tend to be hidden behind their muffs.
You can see all these features in the video below.
The 22 things you must know before getting Faverolles chickens
You’ll learn everything you need to know about Faverolles chickens in this article, but if you’re seriously considering these birds, you’ll really enjoy the video below.
However, be aware that at about 4 minutes in, you’ll see a girl holding a Faverolles chicken on her back. Don’t do this—the chicken appears calm, but this is a fear response. This position is actually dangerous for your chickens.
For more information on this, check out my articles, Holding a chicken upside down: Is it safe? and Holding chicks on their backs: Cute or cruel?
#1 Faverolles chickens come in many different color varieties, but you’ll have a hard time finding any that aren’t Salmon.
In the United States, Faverolles chickens come in 5 different plumage varieties.
You can see these varieties summarized in the table below from information provided in Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds by Carol Ekarius.
However, after scouring the internet for hours, I was only able to find two varieties for sale in the U.S.—Salmon and White. Out of the ~40 hatcheries and breeders selling Faverolles, only 2 sell the White variety. The rest are Salmon.
That doesn’t mean the other varieties don’t exist in America. It just means they’re hard to find and they don’t have a web presence.
The popular Salmon variety is beautiful. The hens display a pretty wheaten pattern, sometimes laced.
The roosters are almost comical-looking with their black beard and muffs superimposed on light-colored head and hackle feathers. Roosters also sport beautiful black, brown, and tan feathers.
You can see these striking differences in the video showing Salmon Faverolles below.
And if you’re wondering what Salmon Faverolles chicks look like, check out the video slideshow below. They range in color from solid yellow to yellow with darker markings.
If you live outside of the U.S., you may have access to Faverolles of even more plumage varieties, such as:
Birchen
Columbian
Cuckoo
Ermine
#2 Faverolles are available in a miniature size, but these can be difficult to find.
Faverolles chickens can be found in two sizes: regular-sized (also called ‘large fowl’) and miniature (also called ‘bantam’). Check out their size differences below.
Roosters: 8 lbs
Hens: 6.5 lbs
Bantam roosters: 30 oz
Bantam hens: 26 oz
You can see what Salmon Faverolles Bantams look like in the video below. The video first shows the hen—to see the rooster, jump forward to about 20 seconds in.
And if you’re interested in ordering Faverolles Bantams, you can find breeders and hatcheries at the end of this article.
As an interesting side note on Faverolles size—Faverolles outside the U.S. may be considerably larger. In England, for example, regular-sized Faverolles hens weigh between 8.5-9 lbs and roosters weight 11+ pounds.
#3 Faverolles chicks can be visually sexed at an earlier age than most breeds.
One benefit to a breed that has roosters with totally different plumage colors than the hens is that you can tell the sexes apart at a fairly young age.
For most chicken breeds, you need to wait a few months before you can really tell the difference between males and females. This is typically the time when the male’s distinctive hackle and saddle feathers become obvious, and when they start crowing. Although, some males may crow considerably earlier.
But check out the video below of Salmon Faverolles chicks. The video doesn’t say how old the chicks are, but I would guess only a few weeks based on their size and feathering. You can clearly tell the black-winged males from the wheaten-colored females.
And in the video below, you can see that some chicks have enough new wing feathers at just a couple weeks old for you to start to be able to tell your girls from your boys.
#4 Faverolles hens are good layers.
Egg color: Tinted to light brown
Egg size: Medium-large
Age of lay: 5-6 months
Eggs/week: 3-4
Eggs/year: 150-200
I’ve summarized the egg-laying behavior of Faverolles above based on numerous books. According to these sources, Faverolles begin laying at 5-6 months of age, and they lay about 150-200 medium-large, tinted eggs per year.
However, anecdotes and reviews addressing Faverolles egg-laying are highly variable. Some Faverolles strains, for example, won’t start laying until closer to 10 months of age.
Egg color can vary from off-white (tinted) to creamy white to light brown to a beautiful pale pink.
According to reviews, egg size can range from very small to very large, and laying frequency can range from 1 egg per week to 5 eggs per week.
Why the variation? This can most likely be explained by variation in strains bred for different qualities. In general, Faverolles bred for exhibition will be poorer layers, whereas Faverolles bred by commercial hatcheries for the backyard will be better layers.
If you’re concerned about egg production, be sure to check with your breeder or hatchery about their strain before you order.
You can see some Faverolles nesting behavior in the video below.
#5 Faverolles hens are excellent winter layers.
Faverolles hens were originally developed to lay well through the long, cold, and dark northern French winters. They are an excellent breed for winter eggs.
#6 Some Faverolles hens are frequently broody, and others are never broody.
For those new to chicken keeping, broodiness refers to the likelihood of a hen wanting to sit on her eggs and incubate them. When it comes to Faverolles, broodiness is all over the charts.
Even the “official” sources vary. The Livestock Conservancy says that Faverolles hens “are excellent sitters.” One popular chicken breed book says they “may go broody,” and another says, “Broodiness seldom occurs in these non-sitters.”
Anecdotes and reviews are similarly all over the place. And multiple Faverolles keepers have said that even their Faverolles hens can’t make up their mind about if they want to be broody or not.
One chicken keeper described her Faverolles hens as “broody, but [they] won’t stay on the eggs for an extended time… They go broody but then get bored sitting on the eggs and go back to normal business for a few days, then go broody again. They won’t set long enough to hatch a clutch. I am at my wits end with these two.”
Another described a similar problem with her hen: “She will often rush to the nest box when we are collecting eggs or just sit in empty nest boxes. But she doesn’t stay there with any consistency, making her a poor choice for a brood mother. With her lazy style of brooding, she can’t be broken of it and lays an egg once a week maybe. We don’t know what to do about this bird.”
However, many Faverolles hens do make excellent broodies and exceptional mothers. In the video below you can see 5 hens happily brooding together.
And here, you can see a couple of Faverolles mamas cheerfully caring for their chicks.
#7 Faverolles may take 6-8 months to reach table weight.
As a heritage breed, Salmon Faverolles will naturally grow more slowly than modern broilers. However, this breed was originally developed to grow quickly to table weight, so you’d think that Faverolles may be one of the faster growing heritage breeds.
But if you live in America, you’d be wrong. Most American strains of Faverolles actually grow more slowly than some other dual-purpose breeds, taking 6-8 months to reach a decent body size.
However, if you’re willing to wait, Faverolles are said to be quite flavorful.
#8 Faverolles chickens need extra help to prevent frostbite in the winter, and they require a dry coop and run at all times.
Faverolles chickens are incredibly cold-hardy in that they can survive very cold temperatures and they don’t seem too bothered by the cold. They were, after all, bred for the cold winters of northern France. This cold-hardiness is one reason why they’re able to continue laying through the winter months.
However, there are a couple of caveats to Faverolles’ cold-hardiness.
First, some Faverolles chickens, particularly some roosters, do have combs large enough to be susceptible to frostbite—check out the Faverolles’ rooster combs in the video below. Although their combs are smaller than those of most other single-comb breeds, they are still large enough to be worrisome.
And it’s not just roosters. Although Faverolles chickens, in general, have only medium-size combs, I’m still finding anecdotes about some hens getting comb frostbite too.
If any of your Faverolles chickens have larger combs, consider putting a Sweeter Heater in their coop. A Sweeter Heater is a radiant heater that you hang above your chickens’ roosting bars. It doesn’t heat the coop, but it warms the chickens underneath it on the roosting bars, and it goes far in preventing comb frostbite. I’ve never had a chicken get comb frostbite after adding these to all my coops.
You can find small Sweeter Heaters here on Amazon, medium Sweeter Heaters here, and large Sweeter Heaters here.
Second, Faverolles chickens are highly prone to leg and foot frostbite if they get too damp. It’s a drawback that comes with all feather-legged breeds. If those feathers get wet in the snow, rain, or mud, they can freeze in low temperatures. In the worst-case scenarios, leg and foot frostbite can be so bad that your Faverolles either lose their legs entirely or even die.
So, if you’re keeping Faverolles, you absolutely need to make sure they have a dry coop and run. And if you’re open to heating your coop in the winter, maintaining a coop temperature that’s above freezing at the very least isn’t a bad idea.
#9 Faverolles tend to survive in the heat, but they don’t thrive.
You could certainly choose worse breeds for hot summers than Salmon Faverolles, but you could certainly choose better breeds as well.
These chickens have a harder time regulating their body temperatures in the heat because of their muffs, beards, and feathered legs. How would you feel if you were wearing a scarf over your face and sweatpants in the summer?
One chicken keeper said of her Faverolles hen, “…in the summer, she pants all the time and is pretty unhappy…”
Make sure you help your Faverolles stay cool in the summer with plenty of shade, an endless supply of cold, fresh water, and a shaded dustbathing area.
In the video below, you can see a couple of Faverolles hens dustbathing under a bush on a warm day. Fast forward about 15 seconds in to see this.
#10 Faverolles chickens love to free range, but they’re not very efficient at it.
Faverolles chickens are curious and active birds who love to free range and forage, but they still require large amounts of supplemental feed.
One chicken keeper said this of her Faverolles hen: “She’s a decent forager and given the chance, she will graze on grass from dusk to dawn. This helps keep her feed intake down for her size, but she still eats quite a bit.”
Below, you can see a video of a couple of Faverolles actively foraging.
Another keeper said of her Faverolles flock, “They don’t forage well and numerous times were rescued by the calls of my other birds when predators were around. They just don’t pay any attention to their surroundings.”
For more on why Faverolles “don’t pay attention,” see #18 below.
#11 Faverolles are happy birds in the backyard.
Although, like most breeds, Faverolles like to explore, they also are quite happy when confined to a run or yard. And, like many birds with feathered feet, they don’t tend to be as destructive to your lawn as most other breeds.
The only real downside to confining them is that they can be prone to obesity, so you do want to make sure they’re getting enough exercise. You could always throw some fresh chopped straw down in your run for them to forage in.
You also don’t want to confine them in a smaller run if you house them with more assertive breeds, like Rhode Island Reds or Barred Rocks. Your docile Faverolles will need to have enough space to be able to get away from aggressive hens.
#12 Faverolles chickens are noisy—Urban keepers, beware!
Although Faverolles chicken characteristics may vary some from strain to strain, such as in egg-laying ability and broodiness, one thing is for sure about these chickens. These birds are loud!
I’ll let Faverolles chicken keepers speak for themselves:
“Hens are very vocal…”
“They are extremely chatty.”
“If you want quiet chickens, don’t get a Faverolles.”
Faverolles hens are not only loud around egg-laying time (like most breeds), but they tend be very expressive at all times.
Sometimes, they may just chat with you, like Shallot, the Faverolles hen, in the video below.
But other times, your hens may really cause some noise.
One chicken keeper told this story about her Faverolles hen: “The only issue I have with her is her volume level. She never knows when to stop. She certainly has a set of lungs, and she will let everyone know. She only squawks for the most trivial reasons…which are easy enough to fix. However, in a single day, I go down to my yard at least 4-6 times to resolve these ‘squawk fests.’”
If you have neighbors who live close by, you may want to think twice about getting Faverolles.
But if you live in the country, your Faverolles’ loud antics are sure to make you laugh.
Faverolles roosters, like all roosters, love to crow.
Below, you can see a video of a couple of Faverolles cockerels learning to crow. The first cockerel, Jack, crows a few times. Then at about 50 seconds in, a second Faverolles tries to crow, and his little crow is pretty funny.
And in this next video, you can hear Jack, a full-grown Faverolles rooster, belt out his beautiful crow.
#13 Faverolles chickens are docile.
Faverolles chickens are so sweet. These are very social and loving birds.
Faverolles flock owners had these stories to tell:
“I love my 5 girls. They are so easy to be around. They like to sit on a lap too.”
“This is a breed for a person who really wants to nurture their flock and enjoys physical contact with them. You can’t keep Faverolles and not touch them, they can and will hop in your lap and demand affection.”
“In the short time we’ve had her, she’s already gotten so comfortable with us, instantaneous bonding, unlike ANY of our other hens! She’ll just sit on our shoulders for hours and nuzzle closer if she gets scared or needs something. She’s pretty good at communicating with us.”
And Faverolles are also known for being incredibly active chickens. This is a breed that likes to explore and move around. They’ll love to pitter patter across your yard with their feathered feet.
“The most notable thing about her would be her comical goofball personality,” said one chicken keeper of her Faverolles hen. “She’s so funny to watch.”
Another keeper told a similar tale of her flock: “They seem to truly embrace their little chicken lives, honking and chatting constantly, running around, and snacking on everything they can find.”
Another said her hens were “more like curious toddlers than chickens.”
Faverolles are a fun breed to have.
#14 American strains of Faverolles roosters tend to be quite sweet.
No matter what breed of chicken you buy, you may end up with a rooster who’s aggressive. No breed is completely immune from this. However, some breeds are notorious for having mean roosters. And if you read the chicken-keeping books, Faverolles are just one such breed.
However, I was hard-pressed to find any actual stories of aggressive Faverolles roosters. I only found the opposite—glowing reviews of sweet-hearted guys.
“Roosters are absolute dreams,” said one Faverolles chicken keeper. She continued, “The rooster is flock leader and, honestly, I couldn’t do better. He takes his job seriously, but will still run to greet me for a beard scratch.”
Another said her Faverolles rooster “was so easy going… not an ounce of mean in him.”
You could end up with an aggressive Faverolles rooster. It is a possibility, but it doesn’t seem to be a common problem with American strains.
#15 Faverolles chickens are an excellent breed for children.
Faverolles chickens are one of the best breeds you can pick if you want your flock to be kid-friendly. These gentle, attention-loving birds do quite well with eager children.
One Faverolles keeper said, “…my 5-year-old showed them for 4H and they were so docile and friendly. VERY easy for him to handle and didn’t run if they got loose.”
Another said of hers, “They are friendly and my daughter can handle them.”
You will truly want to consider this sweet breed if you have children. They outshine most others in this department.
As one keeper said, “I’ve had lots of different breeds of chickens, but none ever put up with holding, nor were as affectionate… I think any child would adore these quirky hens. Ours always did the oddest things, like acting as a door keeper and greeting guests.”
#16 Faverolles are very amiable to other chickens.
This is another area where the chicken-keeping books disagree with seemingly everybody’s experiences. The books say that Faverolles can be aggressive to other breeds. However, American strains of Faverolles seem to be the extreme opposite. They are quite friendly to others, but are frequently the victims of aggression themselves.
Faverolles chickens in general are very gentle birds, who tend to develop very close bonds with each other. One keeper said of hers, “I have two hens. They were raised together and are so inseparable, I call them ‘the twins.’”
Below, you can see a video of one hen preening her companion—pretty sweet little birds.
And in this next video, you can see that even roosters get along with each other in some Faverolles flocks.
As a side note, this video also gives another example of just how loud these birds can be.
Some Faverolles can also be incredibly loving to other chickens who are vulnerable.
One chicken keeper told this story about her Faverolles hen: “We also introduced a few new hens to the flock later in the year, and one of the existing hens actually took to mothering and defending the 8-week-olds, even though she wasn’t even fully matured yet!”
Another keeper said of hers, “…one even took to being a buddy to a very injured Easter Egger.”
And another said, “Mine was very motherly to the other hens and often stood in place of the rooster as the protector.”
#17 For their own protection, Faverolles chickens should be kept with other gentle breeds.
Unfortunately, the downside to having such sweet-hearted hens is that Faverolles have a real tendency to get picked on in a flock, and, not uncommonly, may be bullied to the point of injury.
One chicken said her Faverolles “can get bullied by other chooks for being too soft/amiable.”
Another gave this advice: “I would not house them with aggressive breed birds, like Reds. You are asking for trouble.”
Another keeper seconded this advice, saying that Faverolles are “best kept in a coop by themselves, since they are very timid and easily bullied.”
If you do want to mix your Faverolles with other breeds, make sure you choose very gentle breeds, such as:
#18 Faverolles chickens aren’t dumb, no matter what you may hear elsewhere.
When you start reading about Faverolles chickens or talking to others who keep them, you’re likely to hear at some point how dumb they are. You’ll hear people complain about how they walk around aimlessly, get lost, get stuck behind fences, don’t run from predators, or roost stupidly on the floor at night.
So, they must be dumb, right? Wrong.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
If your Faverolles are exhibiting any of these behaviors, it’s because they can’t see past their giant muffs. Some strains of this breed have very large muffs that do impede their vision quite a bit. Check out the video below to see a Faverolles hen’s muffs up close—that’s a lot of feathers.
And when your Faverolles can’t see, they may walk around aimlessly, get lost, succumb to predation, and roost on the floor.
(Although, another reason they might roost on the floor could be because they’re being bullied on the roosting bars—see #17 above.)
#19 Consider trimming your Faverolles’ muffs and beards to give them a better quality of life.
If your Faverolles are presenting with any “dumb” behavior (see #18 above), you’ll want to seriously consider trimming their muffs.
Obviously, if you’re keeping Faverolles as show birds, you won’t be able to trim their muffs. But for the rest of us, a muff trim may be exactly what our birds need.
If your Faverolles’ muffs are impeding their vision, trimming them down can greatly improve your birds’ quality life, so they know where they’re at, where to go, and they can see well enough to get up and down from their roosting bars. You may also want to consider lowering your roosting bars for your Faverolles if they’re having a hard time roosting.
And if you’re free-ranging your Faverolles in an area where they are subject to predation, then you definitely want your birds to be able to see—their lives may depend on it.
Another reason you may need to trim your birds’ muffs is to prevent eye infections. The long, poofy muff feathers of Faverolles can sometimes curl back into the birds’ eyes, leading to discomfort and possible infection. Muffs can also get dirty quite easily, and you definitely don’t want dirty feathers curling back into your chickens’ eyes.
You may also want to consider trimming your Faverolles’ beards if they are getting them too wet and muddy. Alternatively, if you keep your Faverolles confined to an enclosed, sandy run during inclement weather, you may be able to keep their beards in tip-top shape without much effort.
You will definitely need to be careful about what kind of waterer you use for your Faverolles during freezing or below freezing weather.
In the video below, you can see a few Faverolles hens drinking from an open bowl. This is fine in nice weather, but these birds do tend to get their drinking water in their beards and muffs, which is dangerous for them in freezing temperatures.
Many Faverolles chicken keepers choose to use heated nipple waterers to protect their birds’ muffs and beards from getting wet and frozen in the winter.
#20 Faverolles have extra toes that require occasional nail trimming.
Faverolles are one of a handful of chicken breeds that have a fifth toe—most chickens only have four on each foot. This fifth toe tends to grow at a strange angle, sometimes up the side of the leg. This means they don’t actually walk on the toe, and, therefore, the toenail doesn’t get worn down.
So, you may need to occasionally trim these toenails so that they don’t grow too long and curl. I recommend using a Dremel rotary tool for this task. I’ve used this dog Dremel from Amazon to trim toenails, beaks, and spurs with great success.
Chickens do have a quick, just like dogs do, and this will bleed profusely if you cut it during your trim—not to mention, it will hurt like heck for your hen. So, shine a light through the nail and make sure you know where the quick is before you trim.
I always keep styptic powder and Q-tips on hand when I trim, just in case I accidentally nick the quick. An immediate application of styptic powder will stop the bleeding fast.
#21 Faverolles chickens are more susceptible to mites.
As with all feather-legged breeds, Faverolles chickens are more susceptible to scaly leg mites than clean-legged breeds. This is simply because the feathers growing out of the leg and feet scales allow easier access under the scales for the mites.
Additionally, feathered legs and feet also make it harder for you to see the damage from scaly leg mites. So be sure to keep an eye out for that.
You’ll also need to keep an eye out for mites in your Faverolles’ beards and muffs. Beards and muffs don’t make Faverolles more susceptible to mites, but they do provide great hiding places so that mites are harder for you to notice.
#22 Faverolles chickens are in need of preservation.
Although Faverolles chickens are no longer considered critically endangered (woohoo!), they are still considered very rare. The Livestock Conservancy has given this breed a conservation status of “Threatened.”
If you’re interested in conserving rare breeds for future generations, the Faverolles breed could really use your help.
Breeds you may want instead of Faverolles
Faverolles chickens are really a unique breed, and there’s no one else out there quite like them.
But you may also be interested in other docile, dual-purpose breeds, like Sussexes, Plymouth Rocks, Orpingtons, or Naked Necks. All of these breeds are wonderful birds with sweet personalities, great egg-laying capabilities, and hardy constitutions.
To learn more about these breeds, check out my articles
Order your Faverolles chickens now
The map below shows breeders and hatcheries that sell Faverolles chickens. Click on your breeder or hatchery of interest for more information.
If you are looking for a particular variety of Faverolles, check out my article, Faverolles chicken hatcheries and breeders. This article lists the different varieties for sale and where you can find each variety.
Map Icon Key:
Red = Faverolles for sale
Yellow = Faverolles Bantams for Sale
Orange = Faverolles & Faverolles Bantams for Sale
Disclaimer: I am providing information about these hatcheries, but I am not endorsing them. Be sure to do your own due diligence before purchase. For more information on due diligence, check out the article, NPIP certification: How to know if your breeder or hatchery is safe to buy from.
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Faverolles sources
Backyard Chickens. “Salmon Faverolle Questions - Feed, Growth Rate, Dressing Age, etc.”
Bassom, Frances. Mini Encyclopedia: Chicken Breeds and Care. Dorking: Interpet Publishing, 2011.
Damerow, Gail. Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2017.
Damerow, Gail. The Chicken Health Handbook. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2015.
Ekarius, Carol. Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2007.
Hobson, Jeremy and Lewis, Celia. Choosing & Raising Chickens: The Complete Guide to Breeds and Welfare. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 2009.
Verhoef, Esther and Rijs, Aad. The Complete Encyclopedia of Chickens. Lisse: Rebo Publishers, 2005.