Silkie chickens are amazing looking birds. No-one seems to know exactly where they originated. Some say China, others say Japan or India. Either way they have the most unusual feathers of any other chicken. There are various types of Silkies with some having just crests, others have beards and muffs. They come in large fowl and bantam versions. Ours are USA Silkies which are a smaller version of the bantam. The Silkies we have here are multiple colours from gold, gold partridge, gold blue partridge, black, white and lavender. They have crests, beards and muffs so are called bearded Silkies.
Silkie feathers are more like hair and it makes them unable to fly. The wing feathers are more twisted than regular wing feathers so they cannot get much lift, if at all. The beard, muff and crest can obscure the eye so they are more easily surprised and skittish than other chickens. Due to poor eyesight, they may not eat or drink much. A careful trim is helpful to give them a better chance to see. They are not big eaters anyway.
Silkies have black skin, 5 toes, and a mulberry comb which is both mulberry coloured and shaped like a cushion. The male has a larger mulberry than the hen. Wattles are very small and the ear lobe is a bright blue.
This hen is a good broody, as they fall broody often during the year. So much so that they might rarely been seen out of the nestbox. Silkie cockerels are somewhat defensive simply because of their poor visibility. They are always on their guard. A trim tends to sort this behaviour, as once they can see properly they know what they are up against.
Care Needs of A Silkie
Silkies are not good in a mixed flock due to their timid nature brought on by poor vision. Their feather is very fine and should not get wet. Feathered feet are also prone to picking up lots of mud in unsuitable ground conditions. An ideal Silkie habitat is clean, dry, mud free and only with other Silkies for company.
Breed Temperament
Silkies are not good at mixing with other chickens or rather they are not safe with larger chickens. They are quiet and curious. Due to their broodiness, they need care to avoid being malnourished in repeated broody episodes. See our blog article on broody behaviour
Breed Size
The USA Silkie is a small bird. Probably about the size of a pigeon.
Silkie Eggs
This chicken is classed as a poor layer of small eggs. Our Silkies lay about 10 eggs on consecutive days and then stop for a few months at a time.
Further Information
If you would like to know more about keeping chickens and which are good equipment choices then consider our online courses.
The following describes the history of the Norfolk Grey and was lifted straight from the Rare Breed Survival Trust website. The breed was developed by Fred Myhill of Norwich between 1910 and 1912 under the name Black Marias. He went off to fight in the First World War but came back to find all his work undone. He started again and then took them to the 1920 Dairy Show. In about 1925 he changed the name to the more appealing Norfolk Grey. They were mainly the result of a cross breed between Silver Birchen Game and Duckwing Leghorns.
Unfortunately this bird, which was developed as a hardy utility breed, never really caught on. In the 1970s stocks therefore reportedly dwindled to just 4 birds which were then acquired by Andrew and Sue Bowden. This quiet hen is a black bird but with a beautiful beetle green sheen to its feathers. It has silver neck hackles and small but refined head with a single comb and small wattles. They are a fairly upright breed with dark grey or black coloured legs. The males are black in the body and have abundant white/silver neck feathers. As a breed they are not particularly broody however which could be why it is so rare.
Breed Temperament
The Norfolk Grey has a quiet and fairly timid nature so they are unlikely to cause a problem with their coop mates in a mixed flock.
Breed Size
A Norfolk Grey is classified as a large fowl – light
Eggs of Norfolk Grey
This chicken should lay between 200 and 220 medium brown or tinted eggs in their first laying year. The eggs are a good size too.
Marsh Daisy chickens were developed in Lancashire from a number of breeds such as Hamburg, Leghorn, Malay, Old English Game and Sicillian Buttercups. They thrived on marsh lands which is why it ended up with the name. It is very rare and the colours are now not as exact as they were in the breed’s heyday. It fell out of favour at one stage but a pocket of dedicated followers have revived its fate.
Breed Description
This breed is a small to medium-sized but slender bird which is most often seen in the Wheaten colour. There is also a brown, white and black version but they are even rarer and many think they are now extinct. The wheaten is a soft cream colour on the breast with a slightly darker brown wings and back. The legs are willow green and the earlobes are white. A Marsh Daisy has a rosecomb. It is considered a fault if the Marsh Daisy has any ginger colouring, but with so few examples it is tricky to get a bird that conforms to the standard required by the Poultry Club of Great Britain.
The Marsh Daisy hens we have are bred by a dedicated breeder who supplies his surplus hens to us for re-homing. They have not quite made the grade of the breed standard as he strives to improve the quality of his lines. Nevertheless they are still good examples.
Marsh Daisy Temperament
They are a very active bird which makes them undesirable to some people. They can fly well so are likely to need wing clipping to keep them out of harm’s way. If they are well handled when young they can be positively velcro-like and totally trusting. They are non-aggressive. Marsh Daisy cockerels can be very over amorous to the hens if you keep more than one boy at a time.
Breed Size
The Marsh Daisy is classified as large fowl – light.
Eggs
A small tinted egg is produced by the Marsh Daisy. They are really good layers despite the small size of the egg
Beautiful Swedish Flower Hens are as the name says, a native landrace Swedish chicken. They are exceedingly rare in Sweden and have been brought back from the brink of extinction by a few enthusiasts who have nurtured them and tried to keep them alive and kicking. These are now consequently finding their way across the world as people discover how beautiful they are.
Skånsk Blommehöna description
There is no breed standard for them because they are a landrace breed. This means that due to local conditions there has been a natural cross breeding taken place over many many generations until the chicken eventually became what it is today. A process of natural selection with no human intervention.
The characteristics of Swedish Flower Hens are that it can be with or without a crest. They can also have yellow, pink, white or pale mottled legs but the feathers all have a “flower” on each tip. There should be no “barring” on the feathers at all. Other than this the breed is not supposed to be selectively bred for colour or any other traits thus keeping it entirely as wild as it is. To add in selective breeding would destroy what makes them so special in the first place. The base colours for Swedish Flower Chickens are red, brown, blue, white, black and yellow. They have genebank status in their home country.
Our flock of Swedish Flower Hens (even the boys are named the same) is as multicoloured as possible with several boys to make sure the genes are well mixed to preserve the variety of colour which happens when nature decides the result.
The curious thing about Swedish Flower Hens is that until they are fully grown, you cannot tell what their final feather pattern is going to be. The grower chicks are often therefore a completely different pattern. They go through several changes of feathers until they earn their flowers by being mature enough to wear them. Although they are multi-coloured and may seem bright, they are actually superbly camouflaged in a field or natural setting. They just melt into the background.
Swedish Flower Hen Temperament
These chickens are not generally a friendly breed in that you could describe them as often standoffish. There are always some who don’t conform to this and reserve the right to be their own “person”. They are not aggressive to their other coop mates. Whenever you have any treats on offer they are then quite happy to be in your company. It is usually on their terms.
Breed Size
These chickens are a large fowl light category.
Swedish Flower Hen Eggs
Swedish Flowers lay a good number of pale cream eggs. Eggs size is medium to large
Cost
A Swedish Flower hen is a rare breed of chicken. The price starts at £11.50 for a day old chick up to £45
Sources of Further information
For more information about the chickens we sell please look at our chickens for sale page. There is a dedicated Swedish Flower Hen website which gives you a more thorough low-down on the history of these beautiful chickens. If you have burning questions about how to look after chickens and have been stumped by the confusing contradictions online join us on one of our courses.
Chicks and eggsSelection of coloured eggsEgg mountain
Hatching Eggs For Sale
Fertilised chicken eggs for hatching are available throughout the year, however some breeds are on shorter supply than others. If you are looking for a particular breed please get in touch via our contact page
Eggs for hatching from our flock of lovely chickens are available as shown below:
If you are wanting to make use of a broody hen then you will need to obtain some fertilised eggs for incubation. These can also be put into an incubator if you have no broody hen.
Supply warnings
Our hatchery eggs are no more than a few days old at most and are available for collection directly from us. Collection in person is much the best way to get your eggs for hatching.
Alternatively we can post them. It should be noted that Mr or Mrs Postperson may not be very gentle with your hatching eggs despite our very careful packaging. Fertile eggs can suffer broken or ruptured air sacs, or displaced yolks if they are vigorously shaken. This can drastically affect your hatch-rate. If the postal service has mistreated the parcel then you will get at best a poor hatch-rate or even no hatch at all. This is entirely beyond our control unfortunately.
We hatch throughout most of the year from our own fertilised chicken eggs so know that the fertility is good.
Choice or reliability of your incubator and incubation method is also a major factor in a successful hatch. Again, this is totally beyond our control and is no reflection on our egg viability.
Eggs will be posted on Monday through to Wednesday each week only. This avoids them sitting in sorting offices over a weekend. We sell them for £2.50 each. Postage and packing is extra and will depend on the weight and size of the parcel.
Hatching egg returns policy
Please note that our hatchery eggs are supplied as believed fertile because we hatch regularly throughout the year. However please view our returns policy before purchasing because we can offer no guarantees on the success or failure of the eggs. This is especially true for posted eggs. To rule out any spurious claims we need to verify the eggs as ours and their opening up during a Zoom call. We ask that you DO NOT crack open any suspect eggs if you are wanting to raise a dispute before the Zoom session. This is regrettably because we have been scammed in the past by some dishonest people.
Latest stock page so you can see at a glance what we have going on and what is the latest chicken availability for sale.
Latest Chicken availability as at 5th January 2025
Our breeding stock have just just finished their moult and the hens are beginning their rest period. We have some hens at close to point of lay available now. Our plan is to get some dayold Hyline Browns in during February. These should be ready to lay late Autumn which will give eggs over the winter. Winter eggs are only available in new hens. Hens that have been through a moult will probably not lay over winter. We have some beautiful Swedish Flower Hens now and a few Salmon Faverolles left from our 2024 hatchings. Faverolles are not yet laying and the Swedish are due to start laying in the next few weeks.
New Breeds Available
We are planning two new breeds for 2025. Lavender Leghorns which will lay a white eggs and Opal Legbars. I have no idea what colour the Legbars are going to lay. I am hoping for blue, but who knows.
Hatching Eggs – Not Available now Till 2025
We don’t have hatching eggs available now till Spring 2025. We should be having Salmon Faverolles, Swedish Flower chickens, Opal Legbar, Lavender Leghorn and USA Silkies.
Enquiries – please use Our Contact Form
You can ask us questions using our contact form. We also produce a newsletter when we have stock available or better yet – actual news!! We don’t email very often so we won’t be filling your mailbox with weekly spam.
Latest stock Available Listed below. Price rises with age each Monday
Cockerels – All £15 each (Swedish Flower) – stunning, and Silkie
USA Silkies – a trio available (1 cockerel and 2 hens) £105 for the trio.
Hy-line Brown – available in chick form mid March 2025
Lavender Leghorn – available summer 2025
Breaking News!!!!
Exciting development. Our chicken keeping and incubation courses are now ONLINE. See our Poultry Courses Page for details so you can START ONE TODAY.
Easy to follow
We are hoping that people will find the easy-to-follow bite size chunks an enjoyable experience. It is crammed with masses of information you should know about keeping chickens. It will take you on a deep dive into the fascinating world of this wonderful creature. We guarantee that you will therefore learn things that will make you think about chickens in a totally new light.
Getting it right
It will help you to make good equipment choices, and get your husbandry right. Spotting illness quickly is a biggie because unless you are able to spot sickness, it can rapidly get way out of hand. A slow or wrong diagnosis can then be catastrophic for the chicken.
Easing the burden
Getting the right coop for example will make the cleaning out of your chickens a 10 minute job rather than a real thankless task. We help you get it right, first time. This saves you money and time and who doesn’t need some of that?
Benefits
Chickens are enjoyable however making poor choices can take the shine off it very quickly.
We are now able to offer Chickenguards for your coops
Having chickens is great but getting up early in the morning however to let them out especially in Summer is not so great.
Fitting a chickenguard on your coop means you can have that lie-in or even just get up at normal time rather than chicken time.
Chickenguards will allow you to go out of an evening and not have to get back at dusk to shut your chooks away. Chickenguard will do it all for you. Your chickens will not demand that you become party poopers.
Battery powered with 4 AA batteries which last from 6 to 12 months.
Perfectly designed coops that are manufactured from 12mm thick recycled plastic sheets. That is thicker than most other plastic coops.
Built with both chicken welfare and human welfare in mind because humans matter too. They look and feel solid.
No more back breaking stooping or crouching to clean out. Contortionism is also not required. Just open the roofline, lift the well spaced perches out and hey presto, the entire coop area is at the mercy of your shovel and scraper.
Red mite will be spotted in double quick time so therefore you can treat if necessary as they have no where to hide.
Chicks for Easter are very popular with young families. Schools are very keen to uphold the typical imagery of Easter. This excitement passes to parents who keep the traditional events of Easter going. Of course, Easter is an original religious celebration which is very important to those of faith.
In nature, whenever you think of Easter, it is normal to also think of it as a Spring festival. Spring heralds new beginnings when birds begin nesting and gardens wake up after the long Winter’s slumber. Snowdrops, Daffodils and Crocuses poke their heads through the cold soil to give bees and other insects their first feasts of the year.
The animals often thought of as Easter icons are baby rabbits, and baby chicks. Both animals feature heavily on Easter cards because they are so cute and fluffy. Chocolate Easter eggs also appear on cards but come a close second. Adding pictures of chicks on almost every product is common around this time of year
Chicken breeders often begin to incubate chicken eggs in Spring. Easter is the date in the calendar when hatching starts in earnest. Fertility and egg numbers increase as the daylight hours become longer. This is good news for us as we can then start to think about building up our stock of chickens for sale. Raising baby chickens is definitely one of the nicest things about what we do. It is very much a guilty pleasure handling as many as possible.
Our pure breeds are Swedish Flower Hens, Salmon Faverolles, and USA Silkies. We also take delivery of official Black Rock, & Brown Rock at intervals during the year. Hy-line Browns are also available during the year. Hy-lines lay as many eggs as the better known Warrens or Lohmann Browns but they lay a darker egg.
Pitfalls of chicks to be aware of
If you are wanting to buy chicks for Easter then we will have plenty by then. We will want to know that you have done your research, so that they will be well looked after. If you want to check out our blog page on how to care for chicks, this will stand you in good stead. Baby chicks have specific care needs otherwise they can die. We want to avoid that at all costs.
Male or Female chickens – that is the question?
Our pure breed chicks are not sexed at the fluffy stage so there is a potential high risk of boys. Boys will turn into loud cockerels and are difficult to re-home if you cannot keep them.
Need a Guarantee of Hens?
How early can you sex a chicken? It depends on the breed. Some breeds are easy at 3 weeks, whereas some are impossible until some weeks later. We don’t offer a return on chicks that we sell as unsexed. If you want a hen guarantee, then you will need to wait until the chicks are roughly 6-8 weeks old before purchasing. This means they are beyond the fluffy stage but they still look quite cute because they are diddy versions of the older birds. We could sell male chicks like some other breeders do and promise that we have sold hens, but it is not our way. Honesty is important and our customers appreciate that.
Guaranteed Hens at Day Old
Hybrid chicks like our Hy-line Browns, Black Rock and Brown Rock are hatchery sexed. We offer a female guarantee with those at day-old.
Silkie miniature cockerels hatched February 2023 in Black, Lavender and Gold mix
Coming soon Cream Legbar and Copper Black Marans in chick form.
These roosters for sale are what we have left from our breeding program. We handle them regularly so consequently, they are mild mannered and accepting of human interaction. Some are just coming into breeding age but are still young. The younger boys might therefore be a better fit in a much younger flock. Please note that we NEVER pass on any unruly or bad-tempered cockerels. That is dirty pool as far as we are concerned.
Choosing a Cockerel
Cockerels make a beautiful and valuable addition to a flock of hens because they excel as an early warning sign of danger. You may be wondering “do I need a cockerel to live with my hens?” The quick answer is no, however, they will protect their flock of hens with vigour against any predator and very often with their lives. The boys also find food for the flock and will very happily provide fertility for the eggs when they are laid. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it – right?
It is always better to match the hen breed size with a similar sized cockerel. Something like a Cochin for instance is better suited to the large breed sizes like Cochin, Orpington or indeed another Brahma. You don’t need to get the same breed of cockerel as your hens, however, unless you want to do breeding for pure breeds.
Please note that we do not sell our boys for the table or for any other purpose than to accompany a flock of hens.
Most of our cockerels for sale are categorised as large fowl and large fowl heavy. They will not be suitable for bantam sized hens to avoid a squashing event. We do have a number of USA Silkie cockerels which are miniature versions of Silkies. All our pure breed cockerels are good examples of their breed. Our Silkie roosters are suitable for bantam chickens.
Examples of some of our Breeds in cockerel form
Window dressingMr Light yellow blue – Black based Swedish CockerelMr Yellow – Black based BrownSnoleopard Swedish Flower cockerelPeter Pecker Salmon FaverollesSwedish Flower Black basedMontage of 5 Swedish cockerelsGaylord
Available Roosters at £15 each
The gallery above is a small selection of what we may have available at various times. Most are youngsters and don’t have proper tails yet as the hens they are with are finding them irresistible. Boys also feather up more slowly than the hens and almost always have a bare back and rather stumpy tail. These are the last feathers to make an appearance. Cockerels don’t show their true finery until they are at least 6 months old and even later in some breeds like Cochin.
All the boys we have are £15 each which reflects the amount of care and socialisation we have given to them as they grow. It also contributes to their feed and bedding costs. Selling the boys too cheaply also means that they could more likely become prey to those who might wish to do them harm or worst still use them for illegal fighting or baiting.
The benefits
Many people will tell you that a cockerel will prevent any hens having too much of a fight for the pecking order because he becomes top dog. This is not really accurate. Cockerels have 3 functions, 1. to find food, 2 to protect the flock, 3 to make more chickens. They are not really good at breaking up fights. What they do do is to make sure that the hens feel safe because the hens can leave the protection duties to the boy. A flock without a guardian has to do all the work themselves so they are always on high alert to detect any danger. The hens form the pecking order amongst themselves. A head chicken is always a hen. Cockerels form their own hierarchy amongst the males. Just like humans, many males like to portray that they are in charge, but the reality is often a different story.
Warnings and advisory about Cockerels
Cockerels are a very protective creature. As far as they are concerned, the hens belong to them, and them alone. They will take any perceived threat very seriously. A cockerel in attack mode will attack out of the blue with apparently no warning. Learn to understand their behaviour and more often than not they will not feel the need to feel defensive because of you. Adult Cock birds have VERY sharp spurs which will slice through wellingtons with ease. We would strongly advise against allowing any children to be around any cockerels. Cockerels in attack mode can do some serious and potentially life-changing damage to a child.
Warnings to consider with cockerel behaviour
Making any loud noises or shouting around a cock bird will dramatically increase his alert level and can cause him to lash out.
He is more likely to be in a more alert state in peak breeding season which is Spring and Summer.
Don’t bend over facing onto a cockerel. This is a direct threat posture.
Always listen to his noises. If he is making a deep murmur with 3 syllables then he is definitely warning you. Stand still and don’t look him in the eye. Bop bop bop bop bop noises are generally good noises.
Never turn your back on them. If they are going to attack, that is when it will likely happen.
Always watch his body language. If he raises his shoulder or his neck hackles, or pacing back and forth – be very wary.
Always look sideways to a bird. Looking straight in the eyes is a sign of a direct challenge.
Don’t allow noisy children to run around these birds. This can trigger the cockerel and an attack on a child could cause serious injury or blindness.
If you try to pick up any uncooperative hen, he will see that as a challenge.
When the light is fading, he is on very high alert. He cannot see very well in poor light and will instinctively react if he feels insecure.
Despite all of the above, you may get very little warning so get to know your bird.
Wear gloves and wellingtons to protect your hands and legs.
Cockerel spurs can easily shred wellingtons so be careful.
Gaining rapport
There are many schools of thought on how to build a good relationship with a cockerel. We find that as we handle them at least twice a day then they accept the interaction and don’t see us as a threat. Handle them respectfully and kindly as they need to learn to trust you. Abuse that trust and you won’t generally be able to recover the situation. Hitting or kicking an angry bird is NEVER a good move. You only have to get it wrong once and they don’t forgive or forget.
Noise nuisance
A cock-a-doodle-doo can be issued at random hours of the night if they hear a noise outside the coop. They do like to join in with the dawn chorus. Crowing and singing at dawn is common with all birds and at random intervals during the day. If they can hear another cock they will have crowing competitions which can go on for some time. The cockerel who has uttered the last word is the most powerful, so there is a lot riding on it as far as they are concerned. This has to be considered if you are within earshot of neighbours.
Myths surrounding cockerel crowing
So how can you stop a cockerel from crowing? In short, you can’t stop a cockerel crowing. The only cockerel that doesn’t crow is either dead or ill. It is a total myth that cockerels need to stretch their heads and cannot crow if head height is restricted. A cockerel can crow at any angle. Keeping them in absolute darkness won’t stop them either. Putting a cover over your coop will block ventilation holes which is obviously bad for their health. All birds know the time regardless of whether they can see daylight or not. Cockerels have acute hearing, which means they can hear the dawn chorus which is an irresistible signal to them to join in and have a good old sing song. Cock birds in common with all other flocking birds will have a little “natter” at dusk as the flock settles down for the night.
What you can do to reduce the need for a cockerel to crow is to keep a single boy. He won’t feel the need to be the loudest boy in existence. A well built coop will reduce the mount of possible threat noises he can hear. This can stop him crowing a warning if he feels a threat exists.
Anti-crow collar – No crow collar – Facts
An anti-crowing collar is a device which is put round the neck of the cockerel which restricts the amount of air he can draw to fuel his crowing volume. These have to be fitted correctly and tested regularly as they can move around. Crowing collars will reduce the noise level, however THEY ARE RISKY. We don’t advocate or use them, but many people do use them. The collar is fitted low down on the neck so that you can fit a little finger underneath it. Cockerels need to take a large breath in to crow, so the collar reduces the expansion of the neck. A collar causes risks of choking when the cockerel eats. Food can go down the wrong passage also and end up in the lungs. Collars also rub the neck and can result in sores which can get infected.
Facts about noise
In consultation with a noise engineer I gained the following nugget of information. “Sound is like water” if there is a hole, sound will escape. This means you would have to make your coop airtight to avoid noise escaping. Impossible right? Airtight and living creatures is not really a good mix.
A possible workaround to reduce Cockerel Noise
We bring all our cockerels in overnight into their own boxes so they don’t wake the neighbourhood. They go back out after 8am. This can work well for you as it did for us for many years. Keeping a cockerel in a built up area means that you need to be prepared to do some work. Environmental Health can make you get rid of the birds if they cause upset between the hours of 11pm and 8am or also if they cause a noise nuisance during the day. Noise nuisance of cockerels is measured by the local authorities in each area. Each authority tends to have their own definition of what their rules are, and which constitutes a noise nuisance so be aware of your obligations. Unfortunately if you are reported, your only options are to re-home which is very near impossible, or end the life of the cockerel.
What is classed as noise?
Cockerel noise is something which is always a bone of contention. In any urban or rural setting, we are exposed on a daily basis, to dogs barking, children screeching and wailing, emergency sirens, cows mooing, house and car alarms ringing, lawn mowers, DIY noises, jet washing noises, motorbikes revving their engines, car radios blaring out, traffic noise, factories hissing, couples arguing, drunks staggering and yelling, dawn chorus, pigeons cooing, seagulls mewing, aeroplanes passing, crows and jackdaws cawing, football fans chanting and church bells ringing. Despite all this, none of these often very loud events are thought of by the powers that be to be worthy of prosecution, but yet cockerels are.
France has been enlightened enough to decree that cockerels are allowed to have their say without the fear of an enforced death sentence. Good for them!
And Finally
Many people believe that you need a need a cockerel for your hens to lay eggs. This is not true as hens will still lay eggs even if they have never seen a cockerel in their entire lives. There are many many cockerels needing homes due to the fact that they are noisy and they fight if there is another boy in the vicinity. If you are able to give a cockerel a safe and secure home then please please do.
The Salmon Faverolles Chicken is one of our favourites
The Salmon Faverolles is quite an unusual chicken. They have a lot of facial fluff (a muff and a beard to be precise) making their little choochy faces look so sweet. We keep the large fowl version but there is also a bantam variety which is a quarter of the size. They also come in a non-standard colour of Blue Salmon that is very hard to source as it’s not as popular as the Salmon. If ever we got tired of breeding chickens, then we would find it very difficult to stop keeping the Faverolles.
The Faverolles name is always prone to confusion. It is pronounced Fav-er-ol, but always spelled Faverolles. We do find that many people use the following spellings for this wonderful chicken. Favorell, Faverell, Favourel, Faverels and many other variations of the name. All of which are incorrect. If you visit a breeder who misspells the name, then they are unlikely to know a good breed standard from a bad one. We recommend you avoid these as there are unfortunately a lot of poor quality birds around.
Salmon Faverolles Breed Description
The Faverolles is originally a French chicken from the vicinity of the towns of Houdan and Faverolles in north-central France. This is how the breed got its name. A Faverolles chicken is always written in the plural – never singular – and pronounced Fav-er-ol as it’s French you know!! Cochins, Houdans and Dorkings were used in its chicken breeding ancestry. The Faverolles became one of the most important egg-producing utility fowl in the north-central region of France.
Faverolles reached the UK in 1886, but then the British developed it further to meet British hen breeder tastes. British breeders developed a slightly different type with tail feathers that were longer and raised higher than their German and French Cousins. This new type Faverolles chicken therefore went on to become the accepted exhibition standard in the UK. German and French poultry fanciers work to a slightly different standard as per their own tastes.
They are a dual purpose breed because they are good for both meat and eggs.
One of the things that makes a Faverolles stand out is the muff and beard and the fact that they have a fifth toe that curiously points up in the air, whereas most chickens have four toes. This breed has feathery legs and feet so therefore is not suitable for living on continually squishy muddy ground.
Other Colour Variations
We have Faverolles in Salmon, Blue Salmon and some in mottled black and white. There are a number of dedicated UK breeders who are trying to breed the Faverolles in different colours. Apparently it used to have a few colour variations in its history but they have been lost over time as they became less popular. A number of project colours in the pipeline with these breeders, is Ermine, Blue and Black. Ermine is a similar colour to a Light Sussex which is also known as a columbian pattern. This translates to black around the neck hackles and a black tip to the tail. The rest of the body being white.
Male Salmon Faverolles are ideally a dark mahogany colour over the back of the wings. The front is black. Their beard and muff should be as dark as possible or black. The male Blue Salmon Faverolles has a dark back and blue front. Both Salmon and blue Salmon have the straw coloured neck hackles with a very small thumbprint by the ear or preferably none at all. It is easy to determine the sex at 2-4 weeks of age because the boys start to show dark feathers early on. The Blue Salmon is not yet recognised as an official colour by the breed club as its still quite new.
Faverolles hens love to over preen the beards and saddle of cockerels so the males are often seen with missing or broken feathers in these areas.
Breed Temperament
They are a very inquisitive and chatty bird and always on the lookout for when the treats are handed out. Despite being a large bird, they have quite a timid nature so consequently, can get bullied if they are in with chickens that have more attitude. Males are beautiful and calm so consequently shredded wellies are a very rare hazard.
Breed Size
These chickens are classed as Large Fowl – Heavy
Eggs
Faverolles can make good winter layers and are very hardy. Moulting time will stop them laying if that coincides with winter.
They lay a very good number of medium-sized, tinted pale cream or pinkish eggs.
Adult Salmon Faverolles henStubbs Poultry Palace in use as a dustbath for chickens
The Cream Legbar has Leghorn and Araucana genes in its breed profile ancestry. The Leghorn part makes for the aloof nature. Some of the Legbars can be quite friendly but as with all chickens, personality is definitely down to the individual. These chickens are an autosexing breed as from hatching these can be sexed by the colour of their down. The males are blurred paler colours with or without a defined pale headspot. The females are quite strongly chipmunk coloured with a stripe pattern down from head to tail.
Cream Legbar Breed Description – Hatching shortly
Unfortunately due to the craze for blue eggs, there are many many breeders of poor examples of the breed. Some breeders are oblivious about the correct genetics and produce Cream Legbar-like birds that are not actually Cream Legbars. The Cotswold Legbar is a Legbar but is not defined as a Cream Legbar. These hens are more gold and salmon coloured than your traditional Cream Legbar. The Cotswold Legbars are brilliant birds also and can also be blue egg layers or a green egg. Any Legbars that lay an olive egg would have been crossed out to a brown egg layer at some stage. Brown genetics muddy the blue egg genes which results in an olive egg.
These are a crested breed which is a feature which comes from the Araucana in the genetic makeup. Many people call these Crested Cream Legbars. There are no uncrested Cream Legbars – ever. This is a pet peeve of mine. A Cream Legbar is a Cream Legbar. True Cream Legbars are grey/brown in the body with a pale salmon breast. They have yellow legs and cream (almost white) neck hackles. Any birds with yellow or gold in the neck feathers is not to the defined British standard. These are not Cream Legbars. The body shape is also defined in the standard but I won’t go into that here.
There is also an official Gold Legbar and Silver Legbar but these are a different type of Legbar. Both are rare to find and both are also uncrested. Neither the Gold or Silver Legbars will lay a blue egg.
Breed Temperament
Legbars have rather a lot of Leghorn in them (clue is in the name – Leg). Leghorns are a rather skittish bird. Legbars are quite aloof but are likely to be around when any treats are handed out. They are not really fussed about being your best friend. Hens can be quite assertive flock members so you should try to avoid the more timid companions.
Breed Size
These lovely hens are classed as large fowl – light.
Cream Legbar Egg
The Legbar is a blue egg layer of a medium to large size in a good example. Proper blue/green egg colour is part of the verification of good quality breeding. Hens with blue or green egg genes mean that the shell is produced a little different. The shell colour is actually formed within the fabric of the shell itself. A feature which is created further up in the egg manufacturing process. Other egg colours are only applied to the shell just before the egg exits the hen. You can almost think of as a paint applied before the egg is actually laid. The inside of brown shells are white whereas the inside of the shell of a blue egg layer is blue. When the egg is on your plate, you can tell no difference to any other egg.
Our Hedgerow Homemade chickens are currently from a mix of Swedish Flower Hen boys with our laying flock of Ixworth and Faverolles.
They come in a variety of colours especially with those Swedish Flower Hen genes.
Most are handled regularly to ensure that they are happy to be held by their new owners. They are all large fowl rather than bantam sized, so most will lay a good sized egg.
We have called them Hedgerow Homemade because that is exactly what they are. The exciting time is when they hatch and it’s like a Forrest Gump moment, “you never know what you’re gonna git”. We always love when they start to feather up, as it’s then that their true identity begins to show itself. It’s totally fascinating and consequently, we find it difficult to let them go because they do turn out quite unique and rather lovely.
Breed Size
Our Hedgerow Homemade would be classed as Large Fowl and either light or heavy. Some are definitely more chunky than others!
Breed Temperament
Variable mostly placid but some may be a little flighty or standoffish if they have more Ancona in them for example. Given the right handling they are apt to become quite calm and interactive. They do reserve the right to be contrary 🙂
Eggs
Egg colour could be anything from white through to a medium brown colour. They will be medium to large in size. Quantity would be anything from 80 to up to 200 in their first laying year.
Cost
The Hedgerow Homemade starts at £10.50 for unsexed day-olds and rises to £35 each with age
Availability
We have some growers left at around the 16 week mark. We have some black, white, splash, brown and Faverolles with no beard.
The bottom of the page will show a selection of our egg laying flock that are due for retirement. Our retirement ladies come from our egg-producing breeding flock and most are still laying but won’t be expected to lay an egg every day. When a chicken gets older, then her laying capacity will tail off. Some might even lay very infrequently. They are all in good health and would like to find a nice home, preferably in a small laying flock so that they can enjoy their well-earned rest. We also take in hens for rehoming if you can no longer keep them.
Current Availability
Re-homes
We don’t have any hens that have been rehomed just at the moment. Pictures of the rehomed hens are below.
Special needs hens for Sale
We also have 3 hens which have special needs, so can only go to homes that are prepared to do what is necessary to ensure their comfort. These are hens which were hatched in April 2023 and came into lay in December 2023. The reason we kept them was to make sure that we had some eggs to tide us over the winter period when our other birds were moulting, aka “resting”. I will detail their history below.
Special Needs Hen No. 1
This hen has been hatched with a skull deformity. Consequently her beak points to the side and is misaligned. She will need her new owner to be prepared to file her beak with an emery board. Much like you file your own nails. Beaks are made of keratin which is the same stuff that fingernails are made of. If the beak was left to its own devices it would curl back on itself into a hook as the bottom beak is not there to keep it in check. Once the beak hooks over, the hen can no longer eat. Beaks have a blood supply like dogs claws but the end doesn’t and it is this (dead end) which is gently filed back. A bit of reshaping on the sides might also be needed on occasion.
Special Needs Hen No. 2
This hen was hatched with a slight scissor beak. The picture is of a normal Faverolles hen. As scissor beaks go, hers is quite mild and it doesn’t stop her feeding herself. This hen will need the same sort of treatment as hen no. 1 above. The aim is to encourage the beak to follow the normal line. Beaks grow much like fingernails so eventually the top beak will curl downwards because there is nothing to keep it in balance. The beak should not be allowed to develop a hook. A hook will force the two halves of the beak apart.
Hen no. 2 is a really sweet hen, very attentive. As with all scissor beaks, the feeder should have a depth enough so that they can use their beak as a shovel rather than a pecking implement. This she manages very well.
Special Needs Hen No. 3
This hen had an unfortunate start in life as her coop-mates decided to try to eat her vent. Chickens can be very vicious to their own kind. With treatment her wound healed but with a lot of scar tissue and tightness. I gave her a chance to grow because that is just what I do, however I knew when she started to lay that she might have difficulty. She could have gone one of two ways. The scar tissue might have prevented her from expelling her egg and she would die from the experience. Alternatively the laying hormones which enlarge the vent might do the job of making her more flexible in that area.
It is a relief to find that she has been able to lay without complications. Her damaged vent, however has never really had a good seal, so she leaks. This hen has a messy bum, and she will always have one. Fly-strike is a risk to her so vigilance would be needed, along with a spa treatment every so often.
All three hens are a normal weight, and eat and drink like normal. The wonky ladies need a feeder they can dig their beaks into, but apart from that they are happy-go-lucky. They are all laying a nice egg. I am offering them for sale because they are not needed for my breeding plans for pure breeds, however, they can stay here regardless for life if necessary. The amount of eggs they produce is too many when I add into the rest of my breeding birds eggs. There is only so many omelettes I can eat!!
I would like all three special ladies to go together. Pictures below of the wonky ladies. If you want to take on these ladies then I will show you what to do so you can continue with their care. You can also bring them back here for us to do it for you.
Hen no. 1
Hen no. 2
Our Retirement “policy”
All our girls get to live out their lives here at Hedgerow Henporium until their natural demise if they are not re-homed. None are ever “dispatched” just because they no longer lay enough, or lay at all. Egg numbers are not that important to us but their good health is. Our retirement option is not a “rescue hen” situation because their fate is not in dispute or ever even at risk. They get to live their full natural lifespan either way.
Any re-homed hens are only taken if they have a clean bill of health.
What To Expect From Our Retirement Girls
Our retirement selection is usually done in Autumn. As they have been with a cockerel for some time they could be looking a little “careworn” for example, they may look somewhat scruffy. Cockerels are truly magnificent birds, but their “bedroom manners” are not very tender. As they mate every 10 minutes, they do cause some feather loss or damage at times to our girls. When a cockerel has a favourite (usually the easiest or most submissive hen) then she will have more feather loss than most. The feather loss pattern will be around the top of their heads and mid backs due to being firmly grasped and trodden on by the cock bird. Most of our breeding hens wear hen saddles so that they are protected from the advances of the males.
Feathers will grow back in a few weeks with some TLC, a good diet, and some girly “me” time. Depending on the time of year some hens may be in moult (annual phenomenon) and as a result may resemble a hedgehog in parts while they are in the process of growing their new finery. They are all in excellent health.
Expected Lifespan
The lifespan of our retirement ladies is not expected to be very long as they are often 2-3 years old come retirement. Egg laying takes it out of hens however many eggs they have produced thus far. We find the average hen lives 4-5 years in good health. As in humans things can happen which alter the normal expected lifespan so nothing is guaranteed.
Prices
Hens are priced individually according to age and breed. Please ask for details of our availability as it changes regularly. See below for the individual birds profiles. Hopefully they will be living with you soon 🙂
Laying Flock Breed Size
They are all classified as large fowl. Some are light and some are heavy.
Breed Temperament
All our egg-laying flock are pretty docile with no real squabbles going on. They are all good-natured girls.
Eggs
You may get some eggs from any hens we retire. If they do lay then they will be medium/large sized and pale cream coloured.
Re-homing For Your Hens
If you find that your circumstances have changed and you need to find new homes for your hens then we can probably help. If we have some space to keep them in quarantine then we will try to take them if we can.
Re-homing for Cockerels
We cannot re-home cockerels as we don’t have enough space to keep them separated. Cockerels will fight if kept together which is distressing.
Hy-line Browns are your archetypal barnyard hen and are very desirable to mass egg producers. Don’t let that put you off owning one. Owning a Hyline brown means she is going to be very lucky indeed compared to her hatchling companions. She is friendly, docile and a very nice addition to any garden flock. She is a top egg producer and also very economically as she doesn’t eat as much as most hens do either. This is what makes her so attractive to egg producers. In full feather, she has ginger background with pale amber tips to her tail and wings.
Breed Temperament
A Rhode Island Red based hybrid is bred to be docile, however they have plenty of attitude and are usually to be found near the top of the pecking order. This is no timid hen though, as she is active, friendly and inquisitive. Some hyline brown hens can be rather forceful. They are generally a good mixed flock bird, but possibly not always a good companion for more timid coop-mates.
Breed Size
Hyline Browns are classified as large fowl light.
Eggs
The Hy-Line Brown is the world’s most balanced brown egg layer. She produces over 355 rich brown eggs to 80 weeks, peaks well and begins lay early with optimum egg size. These traits combined with an excellent unrivalled feed efficiency, the best interior egg quality in the market
Further Information on Hy-line brown
There is loads of information about the Hy-line brown on the Hy-line website. For other chickens from Hedgerow Henporium view our chickens for sale page. Or if you have any questions please use our contact form
The Rhode Island Red is a beautiful bird with a rich deep mahogany glossy colouring. They are often described as having a brick shape. Many commercial hybrids are based on this breed as part of their genetic makeup, because that’s how good this breed is. The hybrids, however, lack the richness and glossiness of colour that the pure breed possesses. A good example has yellow legs. Lots of unscrupulous breeders try to pass hybrids off as Rhodies, more by ignorance than design, we would hope. They are good layer with a winning personality. Rhode Island Reds would be classed as a heritage breed which originated in the United States of America. These chickens lay a brown egg but in America the supermarket preference is for white eggs. For this reason therefore, they are not the main breed in USA commercial flocks. Rhode Islands also come in white variation.
Rhode Island Red Breed Temperament
A confident kind of chicken who will very rarely be found at the bottom of the pecking order. They can be calm or a bit of a bully, but this breed can be very dependent on the individual personality of the chicken. Most tend to be friendly and tolerant of their coop-mates. As regards being a good garden bird or a good pet then we can wholeheartedly recommend them. They are not a skittish breed at all so can be very easy to handle, even by novices.
Breed Size
A Rhode Island Red is classified as a large fowl – light and can be dual purpose, good for eggs and meat.
Eggs
A Rhode Island Red is a very good producer of large medium brown eggs. They will lay approx 200 to 240 eggs in their first laying year.
We are an official agent for the famous and original Black Rock hens that are supplied all the way from Scotland’s Muirfield Layers hatchery. Our area covers Wirral, Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. Click here for further breed information. If you don’t get your Black Rocks from us in the area above then it is very unlikely that you have the genuine article.
We have had a delivery of young Black Rock® growers that are now 12 weeks old at 6th December 2023. These are very calm birds, ideal for new keepers.
They are a very special recipe which has been handed down over generations and is only available from selected agents throughout the country, more importantly, be sure you don’t confuse these hens with a Rhode Rock. The Rhode Rock is a commercial style hybrid which comprises of a Rhode Island Red and a Barred Plymouth Rock, therefore, a lot of chicken suppliers will try to capitalise on the Muirfield Layers name and excellent reputation by claiming the same name for their birds. All black and gold birds are consequently not the same. If you are unsure, you can check the agent status through the supplier by following this link to the Muirfield Hatchery. If you get offered a Black Rock cockerel, or hatching eggs, be assured it is NOT the genuine article, as they do not exist.
Black Rock Breed Description
This hardy breed is renowned for having a long laying life and is bred to be happy in the sometimes challenging Scottish weather. It is not unusual for it to be a bit parky up there.
Her stunning blue/black plumage comes alive with a vibrant sheen when the sun shines. She also has a collar of gold coloured feathers which extend down to her abdomen. The gold patterning on the front and neck is often different on each bird, therefore, some have more gold than others.
When looking for a Black Rock chicken please ensure that you are getting the genuine article by coming to us. We get regular deliveries of day-old chicks that we raise to point of lay. They are handled daily to ensure that they are socialised and not prone to panic. Consequently, a hen that is already quite a friendly bird, becomes more so when we get our hands on them.
Temperament
This lovely hen is a friendly inquisitive and confident bird, consequently a Black Rock is not usually at the bottom of the pecking order. They are well suited to a mixed flock of similarly sized or even larger birds.
Breed Size
A Black Rock is classified as large fowl – light
Eggs
The eggs are the normal supermarket biscuit colour or sometimes slightly darker. She is a good steady layer of medium to large eggs. Her famous genetics also mean that she will lay 4-5 eggs a week in her first laying year. As long as she remains in good health it is usual for her to continue to lay well for longer than your average hybrid.
Further information about our chickens
Checkout our chickens for sale page here. Our Courses page may be of interest if you want to learn more about keeping chickens
The Original and Genuine Muirfield Layers Black RockBlack Rock and a.n.otherBlack Rock GrowerA pair of lovely Black Rock hensSome of our Black Rock chickens for you to enjoy
