Fayoumi Breed Overview
The Fayoumi Chickens are an uncommon ancient breed that originates from Fayoum in Egypt. It has thought that they have existed in Egypt for centuries. Their primary purpose is egg production. Fayoumi Chickens are hardy and very precocious in early maturing. They’re famous for being extremely disease hardy.
They don’t like to be kept in captivity as they scream when captured and due to their excellent flying skills tend to escape captivity easily. They’re raised for ornamental purposes as the meat quality is not great and they are not especially good layers.
They were introduced into the UK in 1984 by the Domestic Fowl Trust. The Fayoumi chicken has not been recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA).
Males weigh around 4.5lbs (2kgs) and females weigh around 3.5lbs (1.6kgs).
Eggs
Size
Medium sized eggs
Color
White or cream color eggs
Production per year
150 eggs per annum
When do they start laying eggs?
From 16 weeks
Fayoumi Characteristics
Temperament / Are they good as pets?
They’re extremely active birds but not very friendly towards humans. They’re not the best breed to keep as pets.
How do I tame “Fayoumi” chickens?
Fayoumi chickens can’t be tamed properly and it is not a good idea to try and pick them up or touch them. The best way to get them used to humans is to try and get them to eat feed out of your hands, but even with this, you will never be able to tame them fully.
How many do I need to buy?
Chickens much prefer to be with their friends so you should never buy just 1 chicken. If you don’t have space for lots of free range chickens then you can buy 2 at the very minimum. The ideal small flock size would be 6.
How much space do they need?
This breed doesn’t like confinement and needs to be free-range. For this, you should have at least 250 square feet per chicken of land outside of the coop for them to walk about on.
Will they mix with my other chickens?
They are mostly non-aggressive so they should mix with other chickens. It is always best to watch them closely in case any problems arise.
Appearance
They have red earlobes, wattles, and single comb. Their tail sticks out at almost a 45o angle from the ground. They have blueish gray skin and their feet are clean of feathers. Their plumage has two recognized varieties: silver-penciled and gold-penciled.
The tip of each feather is black, making them appear as if they have striped plumage.
Feeding
What should I feed them?
When your eggs first hatch your chicks need to be fed growers mash. Growers mash has all the nutrients they need to grow big and strong, with 19{cfcd481556a8b43fba6af451761032bd323e94372a0c1e607} protein; this should be fed to them until they’re 6 weeks old.
At 6 weeks you can give them chicken pellets, which is just a standard 15-16{cfcd481556a8b43fba6af451761032bd323e94372a0c1e607} protein chicken feed which has been pelletized.
Once they are starting to reach 16 weeks they should be given layers mash or layers pellets. This has around 16{cfcd481556a8b43fba6af451761032bd323e94372a0c1e607} protein and everything they need vitamin wise to help them with making eggs.
How much should I feed them?
These chickens are really good foragers and enjoy finding their food. They don’t need lots of feed as they can find their own. The average chicken eats ¼ of a pound (113g) of feed a day.
Try giving them this amount and see what of this they eat. Be careful not to overfeed them, they’ll be getting lots of food from their foraging.
What can’t they eat?
There are lots of different foods that chickens shouldn’t eat as they will cause health problems. The theobromine in chocolate and the phytohemagglutinin in beans are poisonous and can cause heart problems and even death.
In the UK you can’t feed your chickens any leftovers from your kitchen as this is illegal. Moldy food shouldn’t be fed to chickens as it will have bad bacteria which can make them very unwell.
What do I need to keep chickens?
A chicken coop is the first thing you should get to keep chickens. The coop needs to have 11 square feet per chicken and a little perch for each other them to rest on while they dream away at night.
The coop should be completely covered by fencing, sink the fencing 8 inches or more into the ground to make sure predators can’t dig under it. They need at least 250 square feet per bird of exercise space, this should have a fence around it as well. They need to have laying boxes which should be wooden, you can fill them with wood chips.
There should be grit always accessible to your chickens as this is important in helping them make eggs.
They need a water container that they can’t push over or get into. Keep the water away from the sun as they won’t drink warm water.