The Svart Hona (Swedish Black Hen) Thread!

[boykin2010]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to take a little time to get the word out about some awesome new chickens we recently imported into the US. The Svart Hona (Swedish Black Hen) is a Fibromelanistic breed meaning their bones, meat, eyes, comb, legs, and feathers are solid black. There are other breeds that have the fibromelanistic gene which makes them all or mostly black, but the Swedish Black Hen is known as the blackest breed in the world. Another all black breed, the Ayam Cemani, is the close cousin to the Svart Hona. The breeds are extremely similar with most differences hard to spot. Svart Honas should not be confused with its cousin the Ayam Cemani, although they are very similar in appearance. The main difference is that the Svart Hona has a less “gamey” appearance compared to the Ayam Cemani.

A little information on the breed: The Svart Hona are a small chickens, although not considered bantams. Svart Honas weigh between 5-7.5 pounds and the hens are excellent layers of off-white eggs. For the size of the hen, the eggs are extraordinarily large often almost as big as some of my Large Fowl Orpington eggs. These birds are excellent fliers and enjoy roosting high off the ground when given the opportunity. Because of their abilities, these birds make amazing free-rangers. The roosters are alert and take great care keeping an eye on the hens. If something sets off “the alarm” the chickens will fly to the nearest cover quickly usually escaping danger. However, just because these birds are excellent fliers it does not make them unfriendly and flighty. My Svart Honas are some of the friendliest birds on my property and crave attention from their caregivers. They will fly up to your shoulder, or walk and sit in your lap looking for treats. Another great plus for the breed is that they are exceedingly healthy, eggs are extremely fertile, and I have amazing hatch rates. I am not the only one to experience this; other breeders report 98% vitality.

Here is some history on the breed: Svart Honas, also known as Swedish Black Hens, were imported to Sweden in the 1800’s from Mozambique, but Svart Honas originated in Indonesia. A nice straightforward breed to keep, its total jet-black appearance often arouses the curiosity of those who come in contact with it. Svart Hona’s are still extremely rare and as of 2013, there are very few known flocks in the entire United States, one of which is ours. The birds are even extremely hard to find in Europe to this day.


The Svart Honas are amazing, unique birds that would accent anyone’s flock nicely. These birds are definitely conversation pieces as anyone who walks onto the property will have to know, “What in the world is that chicken?!”
If anyone has any questions about the breed, please feel free to post. My main goal is to get the word out about these amazing birds since the vast majority of chicken keepers have never heard of them. Below are pictures of our actual stock and as you can see they are jet black with a hint of green tint in their feathers when the sun hits them just right. They are absolutely gorgeous birds.

Here are some links I have searched and found that has information on the Svart Honas for those interested in more information. http://www.nederlandsepluimveesoc.com/Nieuws Engels.html
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Svart/BRKSvart.html

 

[chick18]

Hi guys, This is the translation I have:
SWEDISH BLACK STANDARD
(my translation)
SWEDISH BLACK FOWL (SVENSK SVARTHÖNA)
An old farmyard breed from Sweden's northwest coast.

Type and Temperament: A small primitive, hardy and vigorous country fowl with calm temperament. Excellent forager. Not a prolific egg layer, but a good broody breed. It is hoped to preserve them as a pure rural Swedish breed.

COCK
Carriage: Proud, tall stance. Neck: Short and sturdy with rich feathering.
Back: Medium-long, slightly concave, well developed saddle feathering, smooth transition to the tail. Shoulders: Rounded, not flat. Wings: Medium size, well developed, strong, pointing slightly downward. Tail: Well developed and carried quite high in a curved arc – sickles not entirely covering the straight tail feathers. Breast: Broad, well developed, carried relatively high. Abdomen: Rather broad. Head: of medium size. Face: Black to dark purple, smooth and non-feathered. Comb: Medium to large sized firm single comb with 5-6 well-defined spikes. Black to dark purple. It is acceptable for a large comb to fall over slightly, but it should not obscure the view. Wattles: Medium sized, black to dark purple. Ear Lobes: Rather small oval, blue-grey or black. Blue-grey is preferred. Eyes: Large, dark brown. Beak: Large and black
Thighs: Medium length with strong muscle. Legs: Medium length, non feathered, set wide apart, slightly bent at hocks. Black or slate grey. Toes: Four, set well apart, black to horn coloured nails. Skin: Black. Plumage: quite tight to body, with medium wide feather.


HEN
As the cock with the usual sexual differences.
Well-developed rear, high tail carriage - 45 degrees above the horizontal. Acceptable for laying hen or older hen to have lighter leg colour.

COLOUR
Both sexes - black with green sheen.

 

[Beccachicka]

I just was gifted a cockerel a few weeks ago. This is him with my twins. He is the sweetest chicken I have. He seems to think my hair is a cool place to cuddle up under and makes some of the funniest noises, none of which I've ever heard from a chick before. I'm so excited to see him all grown up and fingers crossed he stays such a sweet guy! His comb has grown twice the size of this now!!!

 

[gosselinfarm]

SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS, MY CAP LOCK IS STUCK. frown emoticon

AS SOON AS THE VVEATHER IS BETTER THESE GUYS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GET OUTSIDE! IT'S JUST STILL PRETTY CHILLY AT NIGHT. THEY ARE MATURING QUICK AND ARE GREAT FLYERS! LOL



TODAY AT ABOUT 6 VVEEKS OLD AND VVHEN I FIRST GOT THEM 4 VVEEKS AGO.

 

[Zoomie]

My friend from Norway has translated the document a few pages back on the SOP for the Svart Höna! Yay! Unfortunately she had to leave town immediately for a funeral, but she dropped this off at my house before she left. I'll have to wait until she gets back to ask about the few words I can't understand. Also, some of the words she was not able to translate, I think because she is not really into chickens and doesn't know the words for things like "hackle". So, where she did not know the word, I've put (?) but usually, you can make a pretty good guess. This is what it says:

Background: Originally Swedish landrace - (?) Black Poultry. In 2002 converted to Swedish Black Hen.
Overall impression, disposition: Somewhat primitive, hardy and rugged landrace. Eagerly looking for food, not a great egg layer but competent sitter. Have been bred to conserve breed characteristics with the introduction of other breeds.
Breed Characteristics:
Cockerels:
Body: short, muscular landrace type with somewhat upright stance. Black skin.
Neck: short, muscular, with dense (?) (Note: probably, hackles.)
Back: average length, mildly swayed, well developed (?) (saddle hackles?) smooth transition to tail.
Shoulders: broad, rounded, covered by (?)
Wings: average length, carried close to body, not carried too high.
Saddle: well developed (?)
Tail: well developed and carried high with beautifully angled (?) that must not cover the broad horizontal (?)
Breast: broad, well developed, carried high.
Abdomen: rather broad.
Head: average size.
Face: smooth and featherless, black to dark purple.
Comb: average single comb, erect with 5-6 regular (?), not to be too deeply cut as to fall backwards, black to dark purple. It is not too important if the comb is large and off to one side as long as the vision is not impeded.
(?): average size, black to purple.
Ears: small and fairly thin, blue/grey to black, blue/grey preferred.
Eyes: large and alert, dark brown.
Beak: strong, slightly curved, black.
Thigh: average length, strong.
Legs: average length, smooth, wide set, slight angle at hocks. Black.
Toes: 4, same and well-spaced. Horn colored.
Hens:
As described for cockerels but with the naturally occurring sexual differences. Well developed rear end, tail at 45* angle. Hens laying, and old hens, allowed somewhat lighter colored legs.
Errors:
Too large and bony build, square body, distinctive (?) for males, feathers and down on legs and toes. Different color in the face, comb, (?), ears and legs than described. Bronze or purple body colored feathers, red or silver in (?).
Errors:
Too large, coarse comb and (?), light colored eyes and light color in ears.
Weights: Cockerels 1.4 - 2 kg, Hens 1 - 1.4 kg
Ring size: Cockerels 16mm, Hens 15mm.
Eggs: min. 40g, ideally 45g, white to cream colored shell.
Colors: Black. Cockerel & Hen, Feathers: Outer color green shimmery black, down color dull black.
Errors: Absent green shimmer, wrong colored feathers for ex. red in (?), purple shimmer, too much white in down as well as white in any part of the tail feathers.
Errors: (To be honest, she was in a hurry and I can't read enough of this last sentence to make any sense.)



OK so obviously when my friend is back home next week I'll ask her a few questions but that gives you most of it and I think helps to create a picture of the bird they mean. Also, when it says Errors, I think the reason there are two lists is that some are more severe than others, perhaps even a disqualifying error as opposed to an acceptable one but not desirable, but I don't know which is which.

Interesting though about the legs being lighter colored in laying/older hens. Have any of you noticed a color change in legs as your hens have gotten older? I'm also glad they gave the ring size! I've been meaning to band my young birds so I can tell them apart.

ETA: Oops, made a mistake in the weights, sorry about that... I've fixed it now.

 

[HonaHelp]

A breeder who participates in the Swedish gene bank shared this information:
"As a participant in the gene bank, you may not select for exterior or color. White, red (mullberry) and blue combs and earflaps are ok, red legs occurs and even white animals. ...But the focus should be on the pure breed and healthy animals."

 

[campingshaws]

I’ve decided to get out of honas but wanted to post a pic of my breed cock for critique before I sell out. I think he’s still in molt (saw pin feathers) and he’s a bit too thin but I’m curious about your opinions on his form overall. He’s strutting a bit and I love it. He’s blind in that eye and lost bits of his comb to fighting younger cockerels.

 

[Chicken Boy 101]

I actually just got a svart hona rooster yesterday.

 

[bekkanblue]

A quick hi. I just set 14 SH eggs in my bator and have fingers crossed. Have wanted some for a while so trying not to be too excited. I'm going to read this thread for at least the third time this weekend! Lol!

 

[campingshaws]

I apologize for reviving a dead thread. Can anybody tell me - are svart honas particularly slow growing?

I don’t find them slow growing, but they are not large birds. They are one of the smallest “large fowl” breeds and do not look much larger than bantams.