Short answer: Faverolles are a calm, heavy French dual-purpose breed with feathered shanks and five toes. In Ghana they suit families and mixed flocks when the ground stays dry, the leg feathers are checked every week and the birds have shade in the dry season. Expect steady rather than record laying, and ask us about the next hatch before you plan a brooder.
Key takeaways
- Faverolles are calm and patient, which suits families and first-time keepers.
- Feathered shanks stay wet in the rains, so dry litter and a weekly leg check are not optional.
- Judge a pullet on her first full year of laying, not on her first three months.
- Shade and fresh water matter more than feed during a dry spell in Kasoa.
- Faverolles are not on our standard price list, so ask us before you plan a brooder.
Why farmers keep asking about Faverolles
The question usually arrives with a photo. Someone sends us a picture of a hen with a beard like a grandfather's and feathers hanging over her feet, and then asks the same thing every time: will she survive our rains?
Faverolles are a French dual-purpose breed. They are heavy, calm and slow to lose their temper, which makes them good company on a family farm. They also carry one feature that makes some keepers in Central Region hesitate: feathering on the shanks and toes. That feathering is what the breed is known for, and it is also where most of the trouble with Faverolles begins.
This guide covers what the bird looks like, how we would house and feed one in Kasoa, what a laying pullet should look like at each stage, and where the breed fits beside the other dual-purpose birds you may already be weighing up. It is written from what we see at the hatchery and what customers tell us about their own runs, not from a brochure. If you want the wider picture of how the breeds compare, start with our breeds overview, then come back here.
What a Faverolles looks like and why it matters
Four things set the breed apart on sight: a full beard and muff around the face, a short, broad body that sits low, feathered shanks, and five toes on each foot where most chickens have four.
Colour is the least useful thing to judge a Faverolles by. Salmon, cuckoo and white birds all turn up, and a colour choice tells you nothing about how the bird will lay or how it will cope in a wet season. Judge the frame, the legs and the eyes.
The feathered shanks and the extra toe are the two details we check first when a Faverolles arrives at a customer's farm. Feathered shanks are normal for the breed, but feathers hold mud, and an extra toe gives mites and dirt one more place to hide. Neither is a fault. Both are a reason to keep the ground under the bird dry from the first day.
Temperament: patient birds for families and first-timers
Faverolles are among the calmer heavy breeds we handle. A hen tends to stay by the feeder when someone walks in with a bucket, rather than bolting for the fence. That makes her easier for children to be near, and easier for a first-time keeper to catch when a bird needs a closer look.
Calm has a cost. A Faverolles is not a forager in the way a flighty local bird is. She will wait near the house for the feed to be topped up, and she will not range far looking for her own insects. Give her a clean, sheltered area with a dust-bath corner and she does well. Leave her on bare, wet ground with no shade, and the calm bird turns into a sluggish one that barely moves.
If this is your first flock, our frequently asked questions answer the basic questions about sexing, brooding and first weeks. Cockerels are the part most people underestimate. A young male of a heavy breed can be large enough to make a child nervous by sixteen weeks. Keep one cockerel to a group of hens, and decide what happens to the other males before the chicks are ever hatched, not when the cockerel is already the size of a turkey.
- Check the sex ratio of the chicks on arrival, not after the first crowing.
- Keep at least one cockerel per small group of hens, and no more than you need.
- Plan a sale or a pot for surplus males early, when they are still easy to handle.
Feathered shanks in a Ghanaian rainy season
This is where a Faverolles earns or loses its place on your farm. In the major rains, which in southern Ghana usually bring heavy downpours from about April to July, a run that stays wet for days soaks the feathers on the shanks. Wet feathers stay wet. They collect droppings and litter, and they become a home for the things you least want on a bird's legs.
Scaly leg mites are the usual problem. Check the shanks and the skin under the feathers every week, most of all in the wet months and after you bring in new birds. Raised scales, a crusted look, or a hen that keeps pecking at her own feet are the signs we tell customers to watch for.
Treatment is a conversation with your vet. The product, the dose and the repeat interval all matter, and some products are not suitable for birds that are already in lay. Do not guess from a shop shelf.
What helps most is simple. Keep the litter dry and deep enough that the feathers stay above the damp layer. Put feeders and drinkers on a raised, drained spot rather than the lowest corner of the run. Do not let the run become a pond after a storm. Some keepers trim the feathers on the shanks in the worst months to make cleaning easier. That is a decision for you and your vet, and it should be done carefully, not in a hurry with a pair of scissors in the dark.
Laying: a steady hen, not a record-breaker
A Faverolles hen is a steady layer. Well-kept birds usually start laying around the sixth month, and in a good year a hen can lay well over a hundred medium to large, tinted eggs. She lays in runs with short pauses between them, and she will not match a dedicated commercial layer for count.
The mistake we see most is judging her too early. Many keepers sell a pullet at the first sign of a light lay, or they start to worry after two quiet months, and then they complain that the breed is a poor layer. A checkpoint table helps. It is not a rule, and if a bird falls far behind the rest of her group, your vet should look at her.
| Age | What a healthy Faverolles pullet looks like | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 8 weeks | Bright eyes, steady feeding, wing feathers coming through | Brooder warmth, and the feet and shanks for early wetness |
| 8 to 16 weeks | Feathered shanks filling out, the beard starting to show | Dry litter, early signs of scaly leg, and weight against the group average |
| 16 to 24 weeks | Comb reddening, body filling out, first pre-lay behaviour | Change to a layer ration on your feed plan, and shade in the heat |
| 24 weeks and up | Comb full and red, regular laying once it starts, calm feeding | Egg size and shell quality, and nest boxes that stay dry and quiet |
Egg colour is a good early signal. Tinted eggs usually show up before the lay settles into its regular rhythm, so if the shells look thin or chalky, look at the calcium and the grit in the house before you blame the breed.
Housing: dry ground, low perches and shade
A heavy bird needs a house she can enter and leave without a jump. Put perches low, around the height of a sturdy step, and keep them short enough that a Faverolles can reach the top without a leap. A hen that lands hard on a high perch bruises her breast and damages her feet, and we have seen this more than once with heavier birds that were housed in a house meant for light breeds.
Floor litter should be dry, deep and changed before it turns sour. Wood shavings, dried rice husk or chopped straw all work. In the rains, pull the wet patches out each morning and top up with fresh litter rather than waiting until the whole floor is caked.
Give her room. We would rather see five hens to a square metre of floor in a well-ventilated house with dry litter than eight birds on damp bedding. Nest boxes should sit in the shade, away from the door, with a dry, soft lining. A Faverolles will use a quiet nest box, but she will lay on the floor if the box is hot, dark and crowded.
- Check the house at dusk, when the birds settle, for draughts at perch height.
- Roof overhangs stop rain blowing into open sides during storms.
- Keep the feeder and drinker out of the wettest corner of the run.
- Look for droppings on the perches each week and move the perches if they are always soiled.
Heat in Kasoa and the dusty months
Faverolles were developed in a cooler country, and the beard and muff that give the breed its face also hold warmth around the head. A heavy body does not shed heat quickly, so a hen that is comfortable at seven in the morning can be panting by two in the afternoon during a dry spell.
Shade is the first defence. Give shade from the first week, either from the house itself or from a shelter over part of the run. Keep fresh water in the shade, change it at least twice a day when the weather is hot, and feed early and late, when the air is cooler. A hen that stops eating in the heat is losing more than an afternoon of feed. She is losing condition, and in a few days she will look like a bird that has been ill.
Watch for open beaks, wings held away from the body, a bird that sits with her head down near the water, or a flock that crowds into the one patch of shade. Those signs need action the same day: move the birds to cooler shade, add water, and call your vet if they do not settle.
The harmattan from December to February brings a different problem. Dust gets into the eyes and nostrils, and cold nights make a draughty house uncomfortable for a bird that has been used to the heat of the day. Partly close the open sides at night, keep the litter fresh, and check the eyes each morning for a crust or a runny discharge.
Feeding a dual-purpose hen without making her fat
A Faverolles does not need a broiler diet, and feeding her like one is the fastest way to get a heavy, idle hen who lays poorly. Grow her on a ration built for steady development, step her up to a layer ration when she is close to laying, and keep the treats in check.
The rough plan we give customers runs like this. Use a starter crumble for the first six weeks. Move to a grower ration until the pullet is close to lay, usually around 18 to 20 weeks on most rations. Then change to a layer ration with added calcium. Always check the label of the feed you buy, because protein and calcium levels vary between brands and between bags of the same brand.
Some things we see in Ghanaian backyards and small farms do real damage. Bread and salty leftovers fill the crop and push out feed. Maize-heavy scraps give energy without the protein she needs for feather growth. Feeding in a single heap means the strong birds eat and the shy ones go hungry.
- Clean water at all times, with a second drinker in a large flock.
- Grit available from the first week, so the gizzard can grind whole grain.
- Oyster shell or a calcium source offered separately once the hens are laying.
- Green feed in small amounts, not as a replacement for a balanced ration.
- Scatter some feed on clean ground so that the shy birds get their share.
If you mix your own ration, the basics are in our guide to feed formulation for poultry in Ghana. If you buy feed in bags, weigh a sample of what the hens eat in a day so you know your real cost per bird rather than the figure on the bag.
Need chicks for your next batch?
Send breed, number and town. We reply with price, hatch date and delivery cost in writing.
The egg sum for twenty hens
Numbers keep a flock honest. You can check the chick cost on our day-old chick prices page before you run your own version of this sum. Here is a simple worked example for a mixed flock of twenty Faverolles hens in their first full laying year. Replace the assumed figures with your own records as soon as you have them.
| Line | Example figure | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| Hens kept | 20 | A mixed-age flock in full lay |
| Eggs per hen in a year | 110 (planning figure) | Use your own nest records |
| Eggs in a year | 2,200 | 20 hens x 110 eggs |
| Crates of 30 | About 73 | 2,200 divided by 30 |
| Gross value at GH₵50 a crate | About GH₵3,670 | Our quoted price for table eggs, applied to 73 crates |
| Feed bill | Your own figure | Bags used in a year, multiplied by the price you paid |
The line you must fill in honestly is the feed bill. Twenty hens eat a lot of feed over a year, and a flock that lays 110 eggs each still loses money if the feed price rises faster than the egg price. Feed prices have risen sharply lately, so check today's market before you set your selling price, and do not reuse last season's figures.
The same sum also shows why the dips matter. A hen that stops laying for six weeks in the harmattan removes a fair share of her year's income, which is why we keep stressing dry bedding, shade and steady feed.
Mistakes that cost Faverolles keepers the most
Most problems with this breed are not the breed's fault. They come from decisions made in the first month, and most of them are easy to avoid once you know to look.
- Buying the breed for the highest egg count. A Faverolles is a steady dual-purpose hen. If you need maximum lay from a small house, choose a dedicated layer.
- Leaving the feet wet. Feathered shanks on damp litter lead to scaly leg, sore feet and a bird that will not walk to the feeder.
- Keeping too many cockerels. Two or three young males in a small flock fight, and the hens take the damage.
- Judging the pullet at twelve weeks. The bird is still developing. Judge her on her first full year.
- Housing a heavy bird with high perches. Jumps cause bruised breasts and sprained feet.
- Feeding the same ration from chick to hen. A growing pullet and a laying hen need different feed.
A pattern we see often in Kasoa: a keeper buys twenty chicks, keeps five cockerels because they were cheap to raise, and then wonders why the hens go off their lay in the second year. The cockerels were never the problem on their own. Too many males on too few hens was.
Where a Faverolles fits on a Ghanaian farm
A Faverolles suits a backyard or a mixed flock better than a large, specialised operation. She is calm enough for a family, productive enough to justify her feed, and she gives you a carcass at the end of her laying life that is worth more than a spent layer of the lighter breeds.
On a small commercial farm, she works best as one part of a plan rather than the whole flock. A group of steady hens can sit beside a faster-growing meat bird or a dedicated layer. If you want a faster-maturing dual-purpose cross, our Kuroiler and Noiler chicks are a different kind of bird, and for a dedicated egg flock our layer chicks page sets out the options. If you want a bird that is more tolerant of local conditions and has a stronger reputation for laying in the heat, look at our guides to the best dual-purpose chickens for Ghana and to the Plymouth Rock, a dual-purpose breed we list at GH₵7 a chick from our standard price sheet.
The question to ask is not which breed is best. It is which breed you can keep dry, fed and calm through the next two rainy seasons with the labour you actually have.
Getting your first Faverolles started
Faverolles are not on our standard price list. That means you should not plan a brooder for a specific date until you have asked us. Message us on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503 and ask three things: when the next hatch that includes the breed is, what the price per chick is in writing, and what the batch record will show.
Our chicks are vaccinated at the hatchery against Marek's disease, Newcastle disease, Gumboro (IBD), infectious bronchitis and coccidiosis, and you receive a batch record with the box. Count the chicks the day they arrive and send us a photo on WhatsApp the same day. Dead on arrival is replaced free in the next hatch.
Before you place an order, make sure the brooder is ready, because the chicks will not wait for you. Then place your order through the order form or talk to us first on WhatsApp if you are not sure about numbers. We deliver to all 16 regions, and you can collect at the farm in Opeikuma if you prefer. Farm visits are by appointment. Details on shipping sit on our delivery page, and Kasoa customers can also see our local Kasoa page.
If you are planning a larger operation, our bulk day-old chicks page explains how larger orders are quoted individually, and our partner with us page covers the longer working relationship for farms that buy every hatch.
Questions farmers ask
Are Faverolles good layers?
They are steady rather than spectacular. A well-kept hen usually starts laying around the sixth month and can give well over a hundred medium to large tinted eggs in a year, laid in runs with short pauses. If you need the highest count from the smallest house, a dedicated layer such as the Hy-Line Brown will beat her. If you want a hen that also makes a decent carcass at the end of her laying life, the Faverolles is a fair choice.
Why do Faverolles have feathers on their legs?
Feathered shanks and toes are a standard feature of the breed, not a defect. They come from the bird's history as a dual-purpose fowl developed in France. The feathers give the legs a heavier look, and they hold moisture and litter. In Ghana that means dry bedding and a weekly check for scaly leg mites. A Faverolles with clean, dry shanks is easy to keep. One that lives in wet mud is hard work for you and for her.
Do Faverolles cope with the Ghanaian heat?
Not as well as a light, bare-legged bird does. The beard and muff hold warmth around the head, and the heavier body does not shed heat quickly. Give them shade from the first week, cool water that you change at least twice a day in hot spells, and feed early and late in the day. Watch for open beaks, wings held away from the body and birds that stop eating, and act the same day when you see them.
Are Faverolles suitable for children and beginners?
Yes, for the most part. Their calm nature makes them easier to handle than flighty breeds, and hens rarely panic when someone approaches. The exception is an adult cockerel, which can be large and dominant. Keep the number of males low and decide what happens to young cockerels before hatching, so that a child is not left to manage a bird that has grown too big to be playful.
Do Faverolles go broody?
Some hens do, and a broody Faverolles will sit quietly if she has a dry, shaded nest away from the other hens. You can use a broody hen to hatch a clutch of fertile eggs, but the timing has to suit your plan. Check the nest each day, remove cracked or dirty eggs, and make sure she can reach feed and water. Our guide on <a href="/blog/natural-incubation-broody-hen-ghana/">hatching eggs with a broody hen</a> covers the practical steps.
Can Faverolles live with other breeds?
Yes, with some sense. Faverolles mix well with calm, medium-sized breeds such as Plymouth Rock or Australorp. Put them with very aggressive birds, or with much smaller and quicker ones, and the calm hen gets pushed away from the feeder. Keep the ratio of males to females sensible, give every bird enough feeding space, and watch the first two weeks after you introduce new birds.
Where can I buy Faverolles chicks in Ghana?
From our Opeikuma base near Kasoa, we hatch and supply day-old chicks. Faverolles are not on our standard price list, so message us on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503 before you plan a brooder. Ask when the next hatch is, what the price is in writing and what the batch record shows. Chicks leave the day they hatch in ventilated boxes of 50, and we deliver to all 16 regions.
