Chicken Breed Focus - Swedish Flower Hen

[sumi]

The Swedish Flower hens emerged as a landrace several hundred years ago, the product of a now forgotten mix of primitive breeds that were brought to Sweden by settlers and conquerors. As a landrace, this breed was not intentionally created by a breeder carefully selecting birds as part of a structured breeding program. Rather, this breed was created through natural selection and random pairings as the breed adapted to the climate and conditions of the Sydskånska Plain in southern Sweden.Swedish flower hens are the largest breed of chickens native to Sweden. Roosters can weigh as much as 8 lbs. With the commercialization of Sweden’s poultry flocks in the last half of the 20th Century, this breed almost became extinct. A couple of decades ago remnant flocks were identified in three small, rural Swedish villages and a focused effort was made to save the breed. By the late 1980s fewer than 500 birds existed in the world. Today, about a thousand Swedish flower hens live in about fifty scattered flocks, and until Greenfire Farms began working with this breed, few if any could be found outside remote villages in Sweden. Swedish flower hens are called blommehöns in Swedish; literally ‘bloom hens.’ The complex and brilliant color feather patterns of the birds do, indeed, evoke the image of a tangle of wildflowers. Their full visual appeal can’t be adequately appreciated unless you witness firsthand the rich and striking colors of the birds. Few breeds are as practical as Swedish flower hens. The roosters have a powerful upright bearing and a broad chest. The hens are prolific layers for most of the year, and they far out-produce other breeds like Orpingtons. The first ‘pullet eggs’ produced by a young Swedish flower hen can be rather small. Be patient: Within a few months the hens will be generating extra-large eggs that are perfect for the table. The breed is also well-adapted to colder temperatures. Occasionally, flower hens have a feathered head crest, although the woman from whom we received our first shipment of birds selected against this trait in her flock. We later were able to locate and import four crested birds from an unrelated flock, so we have the ability to produce genetically diverse chicks in both the crested and uncrested varieties and in all the colors associated with this breed: black, gray, white, and red.
*From the Greenfire Farms website
Details:

Detail Value
Breed Purpose Dual Purpose
Climate Tolerance Cold
Egg Productivity Medium
Egg Size Large
Egg Color Cream to light brown


Pic by @stoneunhenged


Pic by @stoneunhenged


Pic by @TarheelBirdy


Pic by @CrazyCatNChickenLady

BYC Breed Reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/swedish-flower-chicken

BYC Breed Discussion:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/375288/swedish-flower-hen-thread/0_30

Do you own Swedish Flower Chickens? Are you a Swedish Flower chicken breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/

 

[Chaos18]

These are my Swedish Flower Hens.

 

[Perris]

so sad about that one! did you find out the cause?
Anyway so pleased Peep made it. I have one about the two weeks older and two about two weeks younger than yours, so they are all at very similar stages of development. This one's the tamest - the older one - she will walk onto me

 

[minihorse927]

I absolutely adore my swedish flowers! I breed and hatch hundreds every year and grow out the best! Such gorgeous birds! Getting ready to set 12ish dozen eggs from my flock.

 

[BrahmaMom1797]

Here’s my little lady at 11 weeks! She’s getting big!

 

[MildlyOffensiveChicken]

Hoping to revive this thread. I have 2 Roos and 2 pullets. All 19 weeks

The nicer of each pair. The hen enjoying the warming weather.

 

[MargaretAnneHK]

I have 17 of these I got from a BYCer going into the incubator tomorrow. I am keeping my fingers crossed and recrossed!

 

[SOHC-FTW]

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I'm excited to see what these little stinkers will look like.

 

[BrahmaMom1797]

so sad about that one! did you find out the cause?
Anyway so pleased Peep made it. I have one about the two weeks older and two about two weeks younger than yours, so they are all at very similar stages of development. This one's the tamest - the older one - she will walk onto me View attachment 1864096

She’s so pretty! My babies all got Coccidiosis but they all made it except for her since she only showed symptoms on her last day. They’re happy and healthy now and I know to keep Corid on me 24/7.
You’re so lucky she likes you that much! Peep is a freak and really does not like people unless she’s getting food