Swedish Flower chicken

Love the breed.

My FAV Breed of Chickens ! I Love this unique landrace breed and I have a wide variety of color variations - Black Milles,Blue Mottled, Blue bases, Splashes and Reds -all unique and slightly different- which is an asset to the breed. The variety can also include Crested Hens too ! My birds come to me immediately when i call them or approach their outdoor and indoor pens. Roosters are friendly and good tempered - but good at their manly role 'Jobs" of breeders and protectors. I have had very very few mean Roosters (although they are hand fed from babies ). Roosters can be raised together with minimal fighting in my experience. In breeding stocks -and in the genetics for survival of Hens ....DO NOT BREED CRESTED TO CRESTED birds...this can result in high vaulted skulls that dangerously become a risk to hens with loss of sight and intelligence (it becomes an undesirable genetic defect)
If you are interested in hatching eggs - there are a few tricks I can recommend-
I Suggest the Dry hatch method of incubation. This breed requires LARGE AIR CELLS for hatching. When Candling prior to lockdown - set the eggs when the air cells as large as possible (this could mean holding some back from lock down for a few days longer -BUT always watching for internal piping) thats the tricky part. For the Best hatch successes and survival rates - Let an experienced broody hen take over the eggs from day one. This is the best way of getting live chicks hatch for me! In a nut shell- UNIQUE and sweet. Cold Hardy and adaptable in many climates -thus the "landrace" that is an asset to survival over the harsh winter climates in the Northeast (We live in rural upstate New York)

I only have one SFH out of nine various breeds, so I'm not an expert, but Princess Buttercup is my very favorite. She's adorable, about 12 weeks old, and comes running every time I go out there. She's quick to jump in my lap and just hang out and is one of the most beautiful chickens I've ever had. I love her crest. What do you think?

I absolutely love the idea of not knowing what you'll get! It's like being 6-years old and wondering what the prize is in a box of Cracker Jacks! I've ordered several chicks, but I really want BUDDIES for a Salmon Faverolle and Mille Fleur d'Uccle! Can someone tell me how many eggs a week they usually lay AND are they good layers in the winter?

These are my absolute favorite chicken. Each one of them has their own personality, as well as their own unique patterns and colors of "flowers". They will run to you when they see you and come over to check out whatever you are doing. Rarely to never aggressive, they are exceptionally curious and will walk in the house or perch on an open car door. I love these hearty, gorgeous chickens who seem to truly like human interaction, but are also independent enough to forage. They mix well with other breeds too.

When ever I call my girls, my sweedish flower hen Ethel, comes running into my arms. They are excellent foragers, always finding the bugs here and there. She is a total lap chicken, and loves to cuddle. Because of her sweet nature, she is on the bottom of the peking order, and is constantly picked on. But it is a wonderful breed (and is my favorite of my flock )

I have to start by saying my two SFH's are my prize chickens LOL They were the only two babies that I actually got to pick instead of my husband! Mine are only 2 months old right now so they aren't laying but they have great personalities and have been wonderful to raise. As young chicks they were the bravest and liked to be held. My cockerel Thor is a sweetheart, though he is already trying to get frisky with some of the pullets. I have a cream legbar cockerel that is half his size and so far they are buddies but the legbar is the leader of the two. Freja is my little pullet and I should have named her miss piggy as she is a hog with the treats! They are both good foragers and get along great with all the other chickens! Luckily I have been blessed so far and all my chickens get along pretty well.

Thor


Freja


Thor when he was 3-4 wks I think


Thor at 1wk




Freja at 1 wk (I think)

I have a SFH I hatched in April named Reid. She is so pretty! She has a black mohawk, with blue, gold, brown, orange, gray feathers with white speckles!

She spooks very easily though and broke her beak because of it. She is nice to smaller chickens(she lives with a OEGB named JJ) and gets along with her fine.

I really enjoy my Swedish Flower Chickens. The rooster take good care of the hens lets them know where there is food and if he sees danger. He also feeds the chicks by dropping food in front of them. I have one hen that is crested and one that is not. They are very attractive fowl.

Our young rooster is the sweetest rooster we have had for a while. He has 2 girls who are beautiful. When we got them our rooster and hen we're doing great but our little hen not so well but she pulled through. I love that little hen to pieces! They are very sweet and soon that roo will have a nice little flock for himself.
All in all this is a great breed!
The rooster is sweet when I pick him up but he runs away from me rather than attacking me.

I have been raising Swedish Flower Hens for two years now. They are very sweet-tempered and pretty. I like that you can tell them apart so easily. The roosters are almost always nice.

However, I am now switching to another breed, because they simply don't lay eggs through the winter even with a light in the coop. In my experience with them, they produce for one season and stop. I really wanted to love this breed, but I have to be practical first. Also, they don't mix well with more aggressive breeds. I had one hen, named Tilda, who would ride on my foot while I did chores because she was so afraid of the other chickens.

Now, it is possible that this is just one wimpy family line that I raised for two years.

I´ve tried a few breeds, and I must say I´ve finally found the one for me. I wanted variety (not chicks and chickens that all look alike), good egg-laying, hens that go broody, good free-rangers, and decent meat quality all in one, and I´ve found it in this breed. They are real eye-candy; you can spend hours just watching them, and every hatch is exciting because you just don´t know what your chicks are going to look like. Then there is the financial aspect: because they free range so well, I definitely spend less now on feed than with the other breeds I´ve had.

I wasn't planning on getting chickens but I had purchased two Swedish Flower pullets for a friend, who has and loves chickens. These two sisters were gorgeous! Friendly, sweet... and quickly became my friend's favorites in her flock. She carefully introduced them, and all was going well until one day one of the sisters caught herself on some wire- and the rest of the flock (older and more established) attacked and killed her. My friend cried for weeks. And then the lone SFH began to be picked on, without her sister for support. So I decided to take her. And quickly fell in love with her! I think Swedish Flower Hens are amazing! Social and friendly, and just beautiful! It wasn't long before I called her breeder back to see if I could arrange to have more company for my lone hen! Yes, chicken math.... but something about the Swedish Flowers make them hard to resist. I live on the edge of town so I can't have as many as I would like (haha), but I do truly enjoy my few girls and would recommend them to anyone. I live in New Mexico and so far they seem to have weathered both the hot, dry summers (I put a mister on during the very hot days) and the colder winter nights (I'm near the colorado boarder, so I might get colder nights then elsewhere in the state). They are hardy and I just can't sing their praises enough!

Is there any body here that can ship me Crested Swedish Flower Hatching eggs Here in Canada around May Must be able to ship to Port au Port or Stephenville, Newfoundland. A0N1T0 and How much will it cost me in total ??

I currently have a flock of one rooster and 8 hens. I live in the mountains of So. Cal. We get hot temps and below freezing temps. These birds do well in both. They're very aware of their environment when free ranging. I've raised 6 roos to adulthood. Only one was aggressive. Mine free range most of the time, but when I have to leave them locked in their run all day they do just fine. There's been no bullying or picking on one another. Very easy going birds.

Early this year, I was looking into some new breeds of chickens to get and by chance I happened to find pictures and information on the SFH. One of the best things that happened to me! I was so impressed with their beauty that right away I got some hatching eggs. That was all it took and I was hooked! I use to raise paint horses and my first thought is that these birds are like the paint horses of the chicken world! No two are exactly alike and they come in so many colors and patterns. They also come in crested or non crested versions, adding even more variety. To watch a group of these stunning birds forage out on the green grass in summer is awesome! I haven't hatched my own yet but look forward to seeing what new colors I can come up with. A friend that has these birds told me that every time she hatches she finds herself keeping more chicks to add to her flock because she sees a new color or pattern she didn't already have! It's very easy to find yourself with more than you planned on having.

My flock is young and the oldest have just started to lay so I can't say much about how good of layers they are yet but will update that later. They are referred to as a "dual purpose" breed, but these are more of a medium sized bird that I would not consider the most practical breed if you wanted birds for the table but that's ok with me since I will raise other breeds for meat and keep the SFH for their eggs and beauty. Of the ten or so breeds I keep, the SFH are one of the two or three best foraging breeds I have. They are out there searching for bugs and eating grass all day while most of the others stay close to the feed bowls. They are very aware of their surroundings and any potential dangers. Most of my SF seem a bit on the high strung side but then having developed as a landrace breed that learned to survive on it's own, I can see how their "energetic" personalities would be an asset in avoiding predators! My "calmer" birds would likely be the first to be caught and eaten! They also seem to be more hardy and disease resistant than many other breeds. On the website of their original importer, Greenfire Farms under FAQs, they claim that the breed has shown resistance to Marek's disease. Luckily I hadn't had a chance to find that out first hand but they do seem to have better immune systems than some of the other breeds I have. If I had to get rid of most of my breeds, the SFH would be one of the ones I would just have to keep!

UPDATE: It's been some months since I wrote this and I wanted to update it in regards to egg laying ability. The SF girls are very good layers. Before the summer began to get really hot, they were laying at a rate of about 80% of the total number of hens each day. In July, it started to go down and now it is August and I am getting 4 or 5 eggs daily at most from a group of 14 but this is a Texas summer and they are beginning to molt. Some of my other breeds, like my Buff Orpingtons have stopped laying altogether right now. Anyway,they have so far done a great job as layers and despite the fact that they are from a cooler climate origin, they seem to be tolerating the Texas heat pretty well.

After 50 years, and LOTS of chickens, I can easily say that this is my favorite breed! The hens are very friendly, and curious, always checking everything out. They are good layers, with the eggs being a nice large size. My EEs probably lay more in quantity, but my Swedish lay the largest eggs in my coop. The eggs range in color from brown to near white, with light cream being the norm. I can't free range my flock any longer because of stray dogs, but they are excellent foragers, with the roosters alert and protective. The downside being that I have noticed that roosters have a tendency to become aggressive. I have never had a people aggressive Ameraucana/EE, but have had to cull several SFH roosters that became VERY aggressive. Fortunately not all get aggressive, so its a matter of culling until you get the right one. The only other down side that I can see is that they are so pretty, and so different, that you always want more! "I wonder what the next hatch will produce"! Visitors are always drawn to the Swedish pens, and I have had several comment that "those are the prettiest chickens that I have ever seen"...and I agree.

Have 4 of these funny girls, hatched here. Average growth rate, laid right at 6 months as expected, no issues. None of them turned out with crests, but the range in colors is neat. Three of the four have Blue points on a red base, and you don't really see that in other breeds. Another is red and white speckled. One is solid red, with only blue in the tail. Some are sweet, one is mean. Reasonably tame without a whole lot of hands on rearing. Not flighty. Curious. Just normal chickens really, with neat coloring.

Egg color... 2 lay the expected light beige. The other two lay white. Mine didn't come from someone who was picky on the breeder birds, they're purebred as that was the only breed on the farm, but there was no culling for specific traits (egg color, crests, etc)... so it really was "You get what you get" variety. I'd like to see the breed retain the range of colors, but gain consistency with having crests and laying the beige colored eggs instead of white.

They can go broody, seems inconsistent in the who and when. Mean streaks are in there if you don't cull it out from the breeding stock. Overall I'm pleased with them.

As Forrest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get!"

Hatching and raising Swedish Flower Hens is the same way. With so many possible color combinations and varieties, you just never know what you're going to get. I currently have 6 SFHs and each is unique. The colors are beautiful, and as a flock they adorn my yard better than any flower garden! Not only that, but they free range most of the day and keep our bug population down.

I have a couple other breeds of chickens and none of those range as far as my SFH. My SFH also are quick (they run everywhere), alert and on the look out for danger, yet so friendly that they will run up to me when ever I come outside.

These are great chickens to have if you like a lot of color variety in your flock, and enjoy friendly birds!