Frizzle Overview
Frizzle Chickens are one of the oldest breeds, yet little is known about their origin. In the US frizzle is not classified as a breed but actually a type of feather plumage, whereas in most other countries they are recognized as a breed in their own right.
Charles Darwin Classes them as Frizzled or Caffie Fowls, not uncommon in India, with feathers curling backwards and primary feathers of wing and tail imperfect.
Frizzle Chickens main points for exhibition purposes are the curl, which is most pronounced on feathers; the purity of color in plumage, correctness in leg color; i.e., yellow legs for the white, red, or buff, and yellow or willow for other varieties.
Frizzles are considered more valuable if each of their curled feathers are uniform.
Males weigh on average 8lbs (3.6kgs) and females 6lbs (2.7kgs).
Eggs
Size
Small sized eggs
Color
White or light brown color egg
Production per year
120 eggs per annum
When do they start laying eggs?
From 20 weeks old
Frizzle Characteristics
Temperament / Are they good as pets?
Frizzle chickens are particularly friendly and make wonderful pets especially for families with kids as they are extremely well tempered and gentle.
How do I tame Frizzle chickens?
The best way to tame chickens is to pick them up and hold them when they are still very young so that they become accustomed to humans at an early age. If you get your chickens when they’re a bit older than you can feed them right out of the palm of your hand in order to tame them.
How many do I need to buy?
Chickens get lonely on their own and should always at least be with 1 other chicken. We do suggest that you have around 6 though as they thrive in numbers.
How much space do they need?
They should have at least 25 square feet each in their run, try and give them lots more than this.
Will they mix with my other chickens?
This breed is really friendly and should mix well with your other chickens.
Appearance
Frizzle chickens are most identifiable by the curls in the feathers after which they get their name. There are lots of different varieties in plumage, with 13 being recognized in the UK. The most common colors are: blue, black, cuckoo and white.
The frizzle chicken has a single comb and in some varieties they have legs clean of feathers.
Feeding
What should I feed them?
When your chickens first hatch until they are about 6 weeks od they should be fed growers mash which is a 19{cfcd481556a8b43fba6af451761032bd323e94372a0c1e607} protein content refined chicken feed.
After this you can then give them standard chicken feed which should have 15-16{cfcd481556a8b43fba6af451761032bd323e94372a0c1e607} protein content. When your chickens reach 16 weeks they need to be switched to layers mash or layers pellets. This feed has around 16{cfcd481556a8b43fba6af451761032bd323e94372a0c1e607} protein and has all the good stuff your girls need in order to help them make eggs.
How much should I feed them?
The average chicken will eat about ¼ of a pound (113g) of feed each day. You can start by giving them this amount and then vary the weight based on how quickly they eat this or if they even eat all of it. Make sure not to overfeed your chickens as this can give them health problems.
What can’t they eat?
There are lots of foods that chickens can’t eat and you’ll find a detailed list on the feed part of our page. The most important foods you should never give to chickens are chocolate and beans. These foods contain theobromine and phytohemagglutinin which are extremely harmful to chickens if they eat it and can be detrimental to their health.
It goes without saying that any food that has grown mold or is well past its sell by date should not be fed to chickens. If it’s not safe for you to eat, it’s probably not safe for them either.
What do I need to keep chickens?
The most important piece of equipment that you need to keep chickens is their coop. This should be around 11 square feet per bird and have a little perch for each of them which they can rest on at night. You should also get some laying boxes for your girls to lay their eggs in and you can fill these with wood shavings.
To protect your chickens at night you will need a fence all around and over the top of the coop, make sure to sink it into the ground. Their run should have 25 square feet per chicken each.
You need a water container that can’t be pushed over too easily and keep it away from sunlight as chickens won’t drink warm water.
Grit should always be accessible to your chickens especially as they get older as it helps them with egg production.
Breed Tips
Frizzle Chickens are bred principally for exhibition, but capable of being good productive fowl. The skin is yellow and the eggs shells are brown. They can be short fused in the males. It is noteworthy that crossing frizzles to frizzle for too many generations produces an over frizzled bird. It is therefore useful to keep a smooth feathered bird that contains frizzle genes to breed with the main stock.