Faverolles only make rare appearances on ‘Championship Rows’ at shows throughout Great Britain. Exhibitors of other breeds may not look beyond their own breed and the championship row winners, thus never see a Faverolles. Nonetheless Faverolles have been in Britain for over a century and have had a club representing them for about a hundred years.

Something vaguely approaching the modern salmon Faverolles came into being in mid 19th Century France. Poultry keepers at that time were endeavouring to fulfil the growing demand for utility fowl – both table and laying birds. City populations were growing and needed a constant supply of meat and eggs. There are various theories as to the Faverolles ancestry. One favoured and most probable possibility is that red Dorkings, Brahmas and buff Cochins, all of which were in France during the 1860’s, together with early Houdans which were roaming around French farmyards, all had an input. The combination of the five toed birds – Dorkings and Houdans and those carrying red, silver and gold genes could have produced a wheaten female and perhaps the silver hackled, reddish backed male. So a primitive salmon Faverolles emerged. There is documented evidence of black Faverolles at that time, but as so many of the then known French fowls were black, white or cuckoo it is quite likely that a black Faverolles did appear.

In the early 1890’s a French standard was put together for salmon Faverolles describing them as having a ‘tete de hibou’, head of an owl, but the number of toes didn’t seem important then. Faverolles began to replace the Houdan as fast growing table birds and the Houdans were used more as egg layers. Lewis Wright in his 1899 ‘The Practical Poultry Keeper’ writes that Faverolles had replaced the Houdan in the Eure-Loire region of France “this is not without good reason as the Faverolles combines large, early maturing, great hardiness, great laying powers and fine white flesh, being also a good sitter and mother.”

1895 was when Faverolles reached Ireland and the UK. A club was formed in 1902 with a view to developing a more uniform Faverolles and eliminating the too often obvious Brahma and Houdan characteristics – long legs and heavily feathered legs of Brahmas and the crests of the Houdan. At the end of Victoria’s reign and during the Edwardian era Faverolles became firmly established in Britain. The first birds shown here were probably in the ‘dead stock’ classes, holding their own amongst the other table birds. At the three classic shows – Dairy Show in London, Birmingham Dairy Show and the third in London, Faverolles made an impact –up to eighty entries. All those were large, mostly salmons, though apparently ermine and blacks made infrequent appearances, bantams did not exist.

The early Faverolles club engineered its own demise by the reluctance of members to pass on stock or eggs.  (A practice which occasionally still goes on throughout the Fancy today). A new club The British Faverolles Society was formed in 1935 with a lifetime devotee Mr John Milner at the helm until 1982. During that time the second world war took place when many breeders were otherwise occupied, many people had to leave their homes or share them with evacuees and bombed out families, so many strains and breeds of poultry dwindled or were lost entirely. Those who did manage to keep their fowl found feed hard to come by as it was strictly rationed. So the BFS, along with other breed clubs, was moribund until the war was over. The period after 1945 was bleak – many breeds had almost gone, eggs and stock being very difficult to locate and then Fowl Pest throughout the land in 1947 worsened matters. Nonetheless Faverolles did reappear and in two sizes! Ermine bantams came first and then salmons shortly afterwards. The first bantam classes appeared in the schedules in 1958.

The less demanding bantams, needing less space and food, became increasingly popular swelling the membership of the Society and outnumbering the large fowl at shows. Their mothering qualities made them even more attractive. The heavyweight large Faverolles seem mostly to have lost their tendency to go broody, not a bad thing as they are not the most dainty of birds, also dedicated breeders were creating bantams in black, blue and buff, so the rows of show bantams at the club show became a colourful spectacle for discussion. Cuckoos were included and finally in 1991 their standard was accepted by the Poultry Club.

In France, their country of origin, the accepted colour of the females became very pale and the cocks silver backed. This remains the case today and both are referred to as ‘claire’. The French also have the much darker birds with rich brown/red males furnished with the ‘thumb mark’, a dark mark on both sides of the neck hackle. This ‘foncee’ variety is more like the German shaped bird, so it seems likely that it was imported at sometime in the early 20th Century. Bantams have only been seen in France in recent years.

Faverolles made their way into Germany and Holland around the same time as they appeared in the UK. Each nation developed them slightly differently and each of us consider our Faverolles to be the best! German Faverolles are a more rectangular bird with dark salmon females with cream lacing. The cocks having a distinct ‘thumb mark’ in their hackle. Also, the name changed to ‘Lachshuhners’ ie. salmon hens/poultry.

Holland has some enviably large Faverolles, mostly approaching the British type but colourwise they favour the French with paler females and silvery cocks. A substantial minority keep the darker German Faverolles therefore there are classes for both types at many Dutch shows. A pair of Salmon Faverolles Bantams - The male has experienced the same beard issues as the Large Dutch bantams, affording barely a meal, are much smaller than ours, which are often over heavy.

The Americans too have had Faverolles since the early 20th Century. They have an old established, active club.

Faverolles have been in Australia for some years and recently a very enthusiastic and energetic group of breeders formed a thriving club. Unfortunately for Australian breeders Faverolles don’t thrive very well in high temperatures so it is difficult to prevent them loosing size. As they are essentially a heavy soft feathered northern European bird they are not suitable for hot climates. Numerous enquiries have been made from the middle east, but it has to be pointed out that they wouldn’t be happy in the heat and dryness of their climate unless they had artificially made temperate climate areas!

Faverolles in the UK today

Unlike some heavy breeds the Faverolles have retained their table and exhibition qualities. The standard has fifty five points for type, size, table qualities and condition, twenty for colour, just ten for muffling, five for combs, five for feet and toes and 5 for foot feather. Thereby emphasising the importance of a good meaty bird.

The quality and numbers of large Faverolles we see at the shows is good. After years of advocating LARGE birds we are seeing the results and it seems that most of the birds in the pens at the club and National shows in particular have been bred with care and thought.

With the dawn of the new Millenium there came an increasing interest in large fowl, not just salmons, some members developed the ‘other coloured’ large fowl. Large blacks had been around for a while, but the other colours
were appearing annually so that for a while a new colour appeared at each club show!

The acknowledgement of non salmons indicates that the breed is still developing and members are endeavouring to perfect varieties which already have a standard. Every breeder of any pure breed poultry know that they cannot rest on their laurels after making a winning strain, it doesn’t take too long for unsatisfactory characteristics to come along – poor colour, toes, spotty beards and a host of other faults to show up even though the more important type may remain more permanent.

Getting all the adornments – beard, muffs, five toes and foot feathering takes patience and skill, particularly without losing sight of the fundamental characteristic - type. All too often a massively impressive beard can be considered the most important feature by judges not very familiar with the breed. Certainly they do look marvellous, providing it is set off by a good frame.

One reason that the breed is often overlooked can be the lack of preparation before a show. Along with other bearded birds they are not the easiest to keep clean and some thought has to be given to keeping them clean after having a bath. Being feather legged they are more prone to scaly leg mite which can quickly disfigure an otherwise good looking bird. Despite the drawbacks of preparing a fowl with so many extras – beard, muffs, five toes and feathered legs, they are accommodating birds, responding to frequent handling by becoming trusting and tame. Their docility means that they settle down in the show pens quickly and don’t normally cause too much trouble for the judges and stewards.

So why is that Faverolles rarely get top awards? There are of course many breeds which are more popular and numerous so more of those for the judges to choose from. As mentioned earlier, many judges are not familiar with Faverolles and probably have not kept them at any time. Another stumbling block is the colour of the salmons. ‘Cherry mahogany’ in the males is open to various interpretations, as is the ‘wheaten brown’ of the female so it is not an easy task deciding if the bird being judged is quite as the standard demands.

Exhibiting members of the BFS are nonetheless not put off by their traditional failure to reach top honours as the exceptionally large entries at the Poultry Club Championship show and the club show at the Federation in 2008, well over a hundred at Stoneleigh and a hundred and seventy odd at Stafford, prove.

The Society has many very long term members who have devoted themselves to this hardy, docile, useful and very beautiful breed, and many younger newcomers who ensure the survival of the Faverolles.

The British Faverolles Society

Contact Sue Bruton

Tel: 01902 843055

Article Reproduced with the kind permission of Fancy Fowl Magazine