Are Faverolles good for showing?

Yes. They're shown in the APA's **Continental** class, in the U.S. in the Salmon and White varieties. Judges want the full package — beard and muffs, feathered shanks and toes, and clean, correct **five-toed** feet — so keep the foot feathering spotless.

How hard are Faverolles to hatch?

No harder than any chicken — **99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch**. The one thing to mind is **hygiene**: because they're feather-legged, keep the incubator and brooder very clean so chicks' feathered feet don't cake with droppings.

Why do Faverolles have five toes?

The extra (fifth) toe comes from the **Dorking** in the breed's ancestry. It's a required breed trait — a correct Faverolles has five toes on each foot, with the two back toes distinct and well-separated.

Can you tell Salmon Faverolles roosters from hens early?

Yes — the Salmon color is **sexually dimorphic**. Pullets grow in soft salmon, brown, and creamy-white, while cockerels show much darker feathering (a black beard and breast). That lets you sex growing Salmon birds by their plumage.

Are Faverolles friendly and broody?

They're famously **gentle, docile, and active** — a favorite family and beginner breed, though their sweetness can put them low in a mixed flock's pecking order. Broodiness is moderate: some lines go broody and make good mothers, but many keepers use an incubator.

Faverolles: The Five-Toed, Bearded French Breed

Q: What color eggs do Faverolles lay?

A **light tinted egg** — cream to pale pinkish-tan, sometimes with a faint pink bloom, rather than a deep brown. Hens lay well and are notably good **winter layers**.

Verified September 2026Tinted eggs

The short version

The Faverolles is a gentle French dual-purpose breed instantly known by an unusual combination of traits: five toes, a beard and muffs, and feathered legs and feet. It lays a light tinted egg (cream to pale pinkish-tan) and lays well through winter. In the U.S. the APA recognizes the Salmon (1914) and White (1981) varieties; the classic Salmon is a sexually dimorphic color — cockerels and pullets look completely different, which lets you sex them by feather color as they grow.

APA class: Continental

Egg color: Tinted–Cream

Broodiness: Occasionally broody

Varieties: 8

Egg-color genetics

Faverolles lay a light tinted egg — think cream to a pale pinkish-tan, sometimes with a faint pink bloom on the shell rather than a true colored shell. There is no blue or dark-brown pigment at work here: the shell is a base color with only a light brown tint, which is why the eggs read as cream or pinkish rather than as a saturated brown. They are steady winter layers, which is part of the breed's dual-purpose appeal.

What makes a Faverolles a Faverolles

No single trait defines the breed — it's the combination. A Faverolles has five toes (a legacy of the Dorking in its makeup), a beard and muffs (from the Houdan), and feathered legs and feet (from the Brahma-type breeds behind it). Plenty of breeds have one of these; very few carry all three at once, which is why a correct Faverolles is unmistakable.

The breed was developed in and around the village of Faverolles, France, as a practical dual-purpose farm fowl — a good winter layer with a meaty, deep body. It reached England in the 1890s and the United States around 1901–1902.

What color eggs do Faverolles lay?

A light tinted egg — most often described as cream to a pale pinkish-tan, sometimes with a faint pink bloom, rather than a deep brown. Hens are dependable layers and, unusually, keep laying well through the winter, which is a big part of their appeal to homesteaders. If someone tells you Faverolles lay dark-brown or blue eggs, that isn't the breed.

Breeding notes

Select for the full trifecta that defines the breed: **five toes** on each foot, a **beard and muffs**, and **feathered shanks and toes**. It is the combination that makes a Faverolles — birds missing the fifth toe, clean-faced, or clean-legged are throwbacks to cull from a breeding pen.
The Salmon color is **sexually dimorphic**, so you can sex growing birds by plumage: pullets come in soft salmon, brown, and creamy-white, while cockerels carry much darker feathering — a black beard and breast and a paler Golden-Duckwing-type pattern on the surface. Keep a Salmon pen pure to hold that pattern.
Watch the fifth-toe conformation, not just its presence: the two back toes should be distinct and well-separated. Doubled or fused toes are a common fault to breed away from.
Because Faverolles are docile and often land at the bottom of a mixed flock's pecking order, keep breeding stock in their own pens so gentler birds are not out-competed for feed and condition.
This is a heavy, deep-bodied dual-purpose breed with abundant fluff; select for good width and depth of body and clean feather quality rather than reproducing standard text.

Showing notes

Faverolles are exhibited in the APA's **Continental** class; in the U.S. enter by recognized variety — Salmon or White — as large fowl or bantam.
Judges look for the signature furnishings all together: a full beard and muffs, well-feathered shanks and outer toes, and clean, correctly-formed five-toed feet. Condition the beard, muffs, and foot feathering and present the bird clean.
Keep feathered feet spotless for the show table — mud-stained or broken foot feather reads as poor condition. White Faverolles in particular must be washed and kept free of yellow or brassy staining.

Hatching & incubation

No special temperature or humidity needs — treat Faverolles eggs like any chicken egg: about 99.5–100°F forced-air, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch.
Because the breed is **feather-legged**, hygiene matters more than with clean-legged breeds: keep the incubator, hatcher, and brooder scrupulously clean, since feathered shanks and toes can trap droppings and bedding on chicks and lead to caked feet if left dirty.
Brood feather-legged chicks on clean, dry bedding with low roosts and check foot feathering for balled-up mud or manure, especially in wet weather.

Recognized varieties

SalmonWhiteBlackBlueBuffCuckooErmineMahogany

Frequently asked questions

What color eggs do Faverolles lay?: A light tinted egg — cream to pale pinkish-tan, sometimes with a faint pink bloom, rather than a deep brown. Hens lay well and are notably good winter layers.
Are Faverolles good for showing?: Yes. They're shown in the APA's Continental class, in the U.S. in the Salmon and White varieties. Judges want the full package — beard and muffs, feathered shanks and toes, and clean, correct five-toed feet — so keep the foot feathering spotless.
How hard are Faverolles to hatch?: No harder than any chicken — 99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch. The one thing to mind is hygiene: because they're feather-legged, keep the incubator and brooder very clean so chicks' feathered feet don't cake with droppings.
Why do Faverolles have five toes?: The extra (fifth) toe comes from the Dorking in the breed's ancestry. It's a required breed trait — a correct Faverolles has five toes on each foot, with the two back toes distinct and well-separated.
Can you tell Salmon Faverolles roosters from hens early?: Yes — the Salmon color is sexually dimorphic. Pullets grow in soft salmon, brown, and creamy-white, while cockerels show much darker feathering (a black beard and breast). That lets you sex growing Salmon birds by their plumage.
Are Faverolles friendly and broody?: They're famously gentle, docile, and active — a favorite family and beginner breed, though their sweetness can put them low in a mixed flock's pecking order. Broodiness is moderate: some lines go broody and make good mothers, but many keepers use an incubator.

Sources

Faverolles Chicken (breed history, traits & conservation status) — The Livestock Conservancy (Reference)
Breed Spotlight: Salmon Faverolles — Murray McMurray Hatchery (Hatchery)
Salmon Faverolle (breed profile & egg color) — Cackle Hatchery (Hatchery)

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