About

Flarry Eye Greys are beautiful game fowl that originated in Ireland and were probably brought to the United States in the late 1800s. “Flarry” is an Irish derivation of the word “fiery,” and it alludes to the bright red eye color of this breed.

Appearance and Behavior

In addition to this breed's bright red eyes, the Flarry Eye Greys also sport a signature feather crest on their heads; a striking adornment that is unusual for game fowl. Roosters are medium-sized and usually weigh between five and six pounds. The hens have a deep red breast that contrasts nicely with the intricate grey patterns in their feathers. The hens typically weigh around 4 pounds and lay medium-sized white eggs. Surprisingly they lay a lot of eggs for a game fowl, at around 160 eggs per year. The hens are broody and some of the hens in our flock are very protective of their eggs. So just a heads up, they will peck at your hands a lot while you collect the eggs.

They are extremely active and flighty. They are on high alert and the roosters will sound the alarm while everyone makes a mad dash for safety. They are good fliers so don't be alarmed if you find your birds trying to roost in trees. They thrive with space to roam - so ideally a coop with a large run or a free-range setup will be best for this breed. We recommend a large run as they don't always go back to their coop when it's time to roost if let out to free-range.

It will be difficult to introduce new birds into an existing flock of Flarry Eye Gray. Both the hens and the roosters can cause trouble. We have found that it is next to impossible to integrate a new rooster into a flock that already has a rooster. If the roosters are raised together you will have better results. It's a lot easier to create a separate flock with one rooster each. You can easily put up to 12 hens with 1 rooster. The roosters mate with the hens well so the viability tends to be pretty high. When introducing new hens into an existing flock, make sure the hens are full-size. The other hens, especially the dominant hen, will not accept new hens into the flock easily. You will not have a successful integration if you use a pullet or undersized hen.

Hatching Eggs

We incubate at 99.5F and 55% humidity. Typically the viability of this breed is high and they tend to hatch well. We have noticed that there are typically a few eggs from every hatch that will need an extra day to hatch, so make sure to leave eggs in your hatcher an extra day or two to make sure all of the chicks have time to hatch. As a reminder, 21 days is the standard time it takes for chicks to hatch. On average the male-to-female hatch ratio is 50:50.