Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ki4got]

well, I've got 18 of Annie's eggs and 21 of Leigh's incubating, only a couple so far are clear/early quitters... didn't get an exact count, just did a quick scan.

OTOH, my mottled cochin eggs (1 pullet laying 2-3 a week so far) are all clear so far... my mille fleur cochins are all growing. the few that didn't get sold before the 2 girls laying quit again! (they laid for about 2 weeks then stopped when the rat snake came in for an afternoon snack of eggs).

 

[SeattleLeah]

Im really happy with the way my only SFH is feathering in. Her primaries are still solid white, is that normal? Its amazing how much she has changed!

at 12 weeks:



and now here she is at 17 weeks:

 

[TxFlowers]

Im really happy with the way my only SFH is feathering in. Her primaries are still solid white, is that normal? Its amazing how much she has changed!

I've had a couple of pullets develop exactly like yours in coloring and those the primaries stayed white too. They are about 5 months old so I know they will likely change even more. Don't know if the primaries will always remain white. Just have to wait and see!

 

[SunnySkies]

I have two colored like that. On one the primaries stayed white, on the other, they turned tan. Both quite pretty. One is in lay now, the other POL.

 

[OHfarmerswife]

Any thoughts on this roo. I am new to.SFH & would like to breed him.

 

[SunnySkies]

Any thoughts on this roo. I am new to.SFH & would like to breed him.

Pretty. I have one that is kind of similar. Watch his wings...check for a split. One of my Roos carried his wings like that, but it concerned me for a long time wondering if he had split wing because there was a feather missing for the longest time. Makes me wonder if the line has a tendency to it.

 

[Kyzmette]

Could you explain that for my curiosity? It's been my understanding that there is no show standard for the SFH, so why would anybody worry about the split wing? Isn't that a superficial breeding concern? Or is there an evolutionary negative to the trait?

 

[minihorse927]

Could you explain that for my curiosity? It's been my understanding that there is no show standard for the SFH, so why would anybody worry about the split wing? Isn't that a superficial breeding concern? Or is there an evolutionary negative to the trait?

Split wing birds are thought not to fly as well which hinders their free ranging ability due to the reduced ability to fly away from predators. There is no recognized breed standard but some have a general consensus of what they are working towards.

 

[Kyzmette]

Thank you. The flight issue would make sense. I have every intention of breeding my SFHs as true as they bred running wild in Sweden, but my overly protective nature doesn't take natural selection into account. I couldn't care less whether or not it's a pretty trait, but one that keeps them alive is another story. Appreciate the explanation.

 

[Kyzmette]

Although I do wonder that with a breeding pool as small as they had, if the split wing made it this far through the tree, it survived pretty well, didn't it?