Breed Profile: Faverolles Chicken

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BREED: The Faverolles chicken is a dual-purpose backyard chicken of international renown. It is named for the French town of Faverolles. The final “s” of the name is silent.

ORIGIN: Developed by the poultry industry in the late nineteenth century in the area west of Paris, France.

The History of the Faverolles Chicken

The area around the town of Houdan was an important poultry-growing region for many centuries. Indeed, Louis XIV (1638–1715) dined on birds of this type when he resided at Versailles, which is situated in this area. Houdan meat was considered a delicacy and fetched high prices at market. The challenge for late nineteenth-century farmers was how to increase production to meet market demands. Houdan lines suffered from inbreeding and the large crest impaired health in damp winters.

After importation in 1846, large chickens from China became wildly popular. Breeders combined Asiatic birds with Houdan to develop large, hardy, quick-growing poultry that laid well in winter. Up until the 1890s, the resulting fowl only had these production traits in common. Their appearance was very varied: sometimes approximating Brahma, Langshan, Dorking, or occasionally large Houdan. Breeders eliminated the Houdan crest, favored white legs and five toes, but otherwise were happy to disregard appearance. By 1896, 98% of meat sold as Houdan on the Paris market was, in fact, Faverolles. However, at agricultural shows, judges and spectators were disturbed by the lack of conformation to the Houdan or, indeed, any specification. Breeders agreed to call them Faverolles, after the town of that name which was pivotal to their production.

Breed Development

In the mid-1890s, breeders reluctantly started to standardize the Faverolles chicken, despite fearing its prodigious production qualities would diminish as a result. Breeders popularized white plumage with ermine-like dark markings on the hackle feathers. This resulted in the unique coloration of the Salmon variety. Happily, performance was deemed better than ever. By 1910, shape and plumage were fairly fixed, although allowing for some variation in shading and patterns to avoid inbreeding and loss of hybrid vigor. Still much argument on standardization meant that the standard wasn’t officially recognized until 1930 in France (although in Britain it was established much earlier).

The Houdan market was a major source for Parisian wholesalers in the early twentieth century. Indeed, the Faverolles chicken became France’s leading industry-produced table bird, a favorite of Parisian restaurants and the bourgeoisie.

International Recognition

It also gained fame abroad, imported to Britain in the early 1890s, where it was initially popular due to the birds’ hardiness and rapid growth. Britons attested to the difficulty of reproducing beards, single upright combs, and plumage to standard due to the diversity that still existed in the gene pool. Consequently, the breed lost favor by the 1920s, being considered ugly. When imported to New York around 1901, it was taken up by enthusiasts and accepted by the APA in 1914. In 1912, Germany defined their own, slightly darker strain. Like all heritage breeds, Faverolles lost their place in the poultry market as faster-growing strains were developed from the 1950s onward.

CONSERVATION STATUS: Although Faverolles aren’t considered particularly rare in France, they were almost non-existent in the sixties and seventies. The Houdan-Faverolles Club restored them and they now number many thousands. Other nations report no more than one thousand breeding birds registered. In 2022, The Livestock Conservancy moved the breed from the Threatened to the Watch category, following a major population increase.

Characteristics of the Faverolles Chicken

DESCRIPTION: Medium-sized, with wide, deep, and compact bodies, held almost horizontally in a classic “boat shape,” although the rooster stands with his breast slightly elevated. Wings are held close to the body. The head has a voluminous beard and muffs completely concealing ear lobes and the highly-reduced wattles. Importantly, there is no crest. The eyes are orange, and the horn-colored beak is short and strong. The plumage is very abundant, dense, and fluffy. The pinkish-white legs have light feathering and five well-separated toes.

VARIETIES: Salmon and White have APA standards in the United States. France also has a Cuckoo strain, Germany a dark Salmon, and several varieties are recognized in Britain. There are also slight variations in the standard conformations in these countries. The classic Salmon color is unique to this breed. Roosters’ plumage is like a pale Golden Duckwing, while hens’ coloration resembles a pale Wheaten. The rooster has a black beard, muffs, breast, abdomen, and thighs, with a straw hackle and saddle, and mahogany or straw back and coverts. There is a beetle-green luster to the black tail. Wing feathers are black, golden, and white. The hen’s plumage varies from salmon to light brown on the hackle, back, and wing, with creamy-white beard, muffs, breast, abdomen, and thighs.

SKIN COLOR: White.

COMB: Single, upright, and red, rather small in the hen and medium-sized in the rooster with the lobe following the curve of the head.

POPULAR USE: Dual-purpose. Their hardiness and friendly natures make them ideal for beginners, children, and homesteaders.

EGG COLOR: Tinted, sometimes slightly pink.

EGG SIZE: Medium to large.

WEIGHT: Ideally, hens weigh 6.5 pounds (2.9 kg), roosters 8 pounds (3.6 kg), pullets 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg), and cockerels 7 pounds (3.2 kg). Breeding for larger sizes may diminish quality. However, higher weights are standard in Britain.

Reliant Qualities

PRODUCTIVITY: Hens average 150 eggs per year. They lay well in winter and are excellent sitters and mothers. They mature at six months, but sex can be established from ten to fifteen days as plumage develops black markings in males.

TEMPERAMENT: Energetic and curious, they’re tireless roamers when young, exploring open spaces in small groups from morning to night. Yet they easily befriend humans, maturing into calm, docile birds who tolerate handling. They remain alert and are vocal when warning of potential danger.

BIODIVERSITY: A composite breed inheriting traits from the Houdan (beard, muffs, white skin and shanks, five toes) and other local fowl of their native area, as well as the Dorking (five toes, shape, plumage colors), the Brahma (size, feathered feet, light coloring, and ermine hackle feathers), possibly other Asiatic breeds (Langshan, Cochin), and the Cuckoo breeds of Rennes (France) and Malines (Belgium). Original standards allowed leniency in plumage markings to avoid inbreeding and maintain genetic variation and vigor.

ADAPTABILITY: Hardy and energetic, they like to roam and forage. They thrive best when allowed to range on grassland and under bushes, but they’re easily contained by a three-foot (0.8–1 m) fence, as they’re poor fliers. They cope well in damp and cold climates. Downy, profuse feathering protects them from the cold, while small combs help them avoid frostbite. However, the thick plumage makes them susceptible to overheating and external parasites. You may notice that they open their beaks and lift their wings to cool down. Shady areas in hot weather and dry dirt for dust bathing are important for their comfort. Heavy soils don’t sit well with thick feathering and feathered feet. The thick beards and muffs reduce their field of vision, so ensure that these feathers don’t prevent them from feeding properly.

Sources

• Brown, E., 1929. Poultry Breeding and Production. Wiley; via Faverolles Fanciers of America (web archive from 31/08/2009).
• Brechemin, L., 1910. La Basse-Cour Productive. La Maison Rustique; via Houdan-Faverolles Club (France).
• Lewer, S.H. 1912. Wright’s Book of Poultry. Cassell.
• Races de Poules de France
• The Livestock Conservancy

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Photos by Melani Marfeld from Pixabay (CC0).

Originally published in the June/July 2024 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.