The Fayoumi or Egyptian Fayoumi is an Egyptian

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

. It originates from – and is named for – the

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

Fayoum Faiyum ( ar, الفيوم ' , borrowed from cop, ̀Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ or Ⲫⲓⲱⲙ ' from egy, pꜣ ym "the Sea, Lake") is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum ...

, which lies south-west of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

and west of the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

. It is believed to be an ancient breed.

History

The Fayoumi is believed to be an ancient breed. In the 1940s some eggs were imported from Egypt to the United States by a dean of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

, and the birds hatched from them were

cross-bred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

with American chickens. It was believed that the Egyptian birds might have a greater resistance to

bacterial Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

and

viral infection A viral disease (or viral infection) occurs when an organism's body is invaded by pathogenic viruses, and infectious virus particles (virions) attach to and enter susceptible cells. Structural Characteristics Basic structural characteristics, s ...

than the American stock. The Fayoumi is not recognized by the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in respo ...

, and is not included in its

Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standard''" ...

. The Fayoumi was first imported to the United Kingdom in 1984. Two colour varieties are recognised, silver-pencilled and gold-pencilled.

Characteristics

The Fayoumi has a single

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

, with even serrations. The comb, earlobes and wattles are bright red; the eyes are dark brown, the beak and toenails horn-coloured. Two colour varieties are recognised: silver-pencilled and gold-pencilled; the colour pattern of the plumage shows similarity to that of the Belgian

Braekel The Braekel or Brakel is a traditional Belgian List of chicken breeds, breed of chicken. It is thought to have originated in the area of Brakel, Belgium, Brakel, in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, f ...

. The bantam Fayoumi is similar to the standard-sized bird in every respect, but weighs about

Use

The Fayoumi is a hardy breed, well suited to hot climates. It forages well, and is suited to

free-range Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, ...

management. Hens lay a good number of small white or cream

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

. They are not given to broodiness as

pullet The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

s, but can be when they reach two or three years of age. The breed is fast to mature, with hens laying by four and half months, and cockerels crowing at five or six weeks.

References

{{reflist, 45em, refs= APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012
American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017. Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013)
Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013. Carol Ekarius (2007)
''Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds''
North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. {{isbn, 9781580176675. {{cite book , title=How To Raise Chickens , url=https://archive.org/details/howtoraisechicke00hein , url-access=registration , last=Heinrichs , first=Christine , year=2007 , publisher=Voyageur Press , isbn=978-0-7938-0601-0 Brian Meyer (27 May 1997)

''The Iowa Stater''.

. Archived 22 November 1997. Breed Classification
Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018. Ducks
Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 9 November 2018. Victoria Roberts (2008)
''British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''
Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN, 9781405156424. Faiyum Governorate Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in Egypt