Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Alpine Chicken]

This chick was sold to me as a Swedish Flower Hen roo... But, to me he looks nothing like a SFH. Any thoughts?
Thank you.

The roo part is definitely right. I think only time will tell if he´s a sfh. Some of mine do look like that as chicks. Some get their flowering later than others, especially the cockerels it seems to me. How old is he?

 

[Kenzie73]

The roo part is definitely right. I think only time will tell if he´s a sfh. Some of mine do look like that as chicks. Some get their flowering later than others, especially the cockerels it seems to me. How old is he?

I assume he is 4 weeks old because he is the same size as my other 4 week old SFH from a different breeder.... This is the other supposedly SFH chick (this one and the roo are from Greenfire Farms line, I was told):

 

[Sylvester017]

What attracted me to research this breed was because of GFF's video of a flock of SFH that followed the photographer around the outside of their pen with curiosity - it was the cutest video - I like friendly outgoing curious birds that are non-aggressive to be with gentle-tempered breeds like Silkies, Ameraucana, Breda, Polish, etc.

A couple breeder feedbacks said they weren't impressed with their SFH's and one loved the breed - not many reasons stated. I've found busy breeders have precious little time go into much detail about their flocks so hope to get BYC flock owner input.

Can you all tell me what your reasons were for getting SFHs and what you might like or dislike about your bird(s)? Be honest as some ppl's dislikes can be someone else's likes.

Diverse colors?
Possibility of crested birds?
Temperament - shy/melow or outgoing/friendly?
Combative/Non-combative with other breeds?
Productivity - quantity/size of eggs?
Trying a new breed?
Hardiness?

I'm assuming all current USA SFH breeder stock have originated from GFF imports?

 

[KYTinpusher]

What attracted me to research this breed was because of GFF's video of a flock of SFH that followed the photographer around the outside of their pen with curiosity - it was the cutest video - I like friendly outgoing curious birds that are non-aggressive to be with gentle-tempered breeds like Silkies, Ameraucana, Breda, Polish, etc.

A couple breeder feedbacks said they weren't impressed with their SFH's and one loved the breed - not many reasons stated. I've found busy breeders have precious little time go into much detail about their flocks so hope to get BYC flock owner input.

Can you all tell me what your reasons were for getting SFHs and what you might like or dislike about your bird(s)? Be honest as some ppl's dislikes can be someone else's likes.

Diverse colors?
Possibility of crested birds?
Temperament - shy/melow or outgoing/friendly?
Combative/Non-combative with other breeds?
Productivity - quantity/size of eggs?
Trying a new breed?
Hardiness?

I'm assuming all current USA SFH breeder stock have originated from GFF imports?

I originally got into Swedish Flower Hens because of my DH's Swedish heritage... and all the beautiful colors! The more colors of them I see, the more I want!

It is so much fun to watch them grow up and see them change - you never know exactly what they are going to look like as adults. I can collect all the different colors and keep them all together in one flock - no separate pens needed for purebred breeding. They are wonderfully friendly birds, too, though they are adamant about pecking order. The roosters are excellent flock watchers and most are quite gentlemanly. Certainly not production layers, but they are good layers. Being great foragers helps cut down on the feed bill. Being Swedish, they are very hardy - they handle the extremes of heat and cold quite well. There is so much to love about this breed it is hard to cover it all.

And no, GFF is not the only one to import them. There is a line from Germany that was imported by Dale Fisher. I have 2 gorgeous cockerels from him in my flock.

(I posted pictures of them a few pages ago, but I will have to get some new ones since they are maturing so handsomely.)

 

[GNRMorgans]

Hello,
I´m going to add to the confusion and disagree, Still looks like a pullet to me. I would expect the comb and wattles to be redder on a roo, and the comb spikes to be plumper, and not so fine-toothed. On a roo I would also expect the red feathers to be darker, more mahogany-like (see cree57i´s pretty boys above). Also the overall body-shape looks to me like pullet. If she is 7 weeks already, you should be seeing saddle feathers coming in the next couple of weeks if she is a he, then you´d know for sure (but be careful, new feathers can look pointy at first and be mistaken for saddle feathers). I do agree that she´s very pretty, though. Please keep us updated.


I have roos and hens both with yellow legs and with light legs. No connection I can see.

Thanks for this info - even if it does add to the confusion! I will definitely repost in a couple weeks with an update!

 

[Sylvester017]

I originally got into Swedish Flower Hens because of my DH's Swedish heritage... and all the beautiful colors! The more colors of them I see, the more I want!

It is so much fun to watch them grow up and see them change - you never know exactly what they are going to look like as adults. I can collect all the different colors and keep them all together in one flock - no separate pens needed for purebred breeding. They are wonderfully friendly birds, too, though they are adamant about pecking order. The roosters are excellent flock watchers and most are quite gentlemanly. Certainly not production layers, but they are good layers. Being great foragers helps cut down on the feed bill. Being Swedish, they are very hardy - they handle the extremes of heat and cold quite well. There is so much to love about this breed it is hard to cover it all.

And no, GFF is not the only one to import them. There is a line from Germany that was imported by Dale Fisher. I have 2 gorgeous cockerels from him in my flock.

(I posted pictures of them a few pages ago, but I will have to get some new ones since they are maturing so handsomely.)

So, basically, you were looking for a Swedish breed exclusively before any other reason? Sounds like your flock is exclusively SFH? I can totally understand the variety of colors without having to worry about separation pens.

 

[KYTinpusher]

So, basically, you were looking for a Swedish breed exclusively before any other reason?
No, not really. The beautiful colors caught my eye and the fact that they were a Swedish breed sealed the deal.

Sounds like your flock is exclusively SFH?
That one is.

I also have Isbars (a Swedish breed), Svart Höna (Swedish Black Hens) (are you seeing a theme yet?

), Black Ameraucanas, growing out Black and Lavender Silkied Ameraucanas (project), an Isbar project pen, plus non-breeding groups of Black Copper Marans, American White Bresse and a lone EE. Olandsk Dwarfs and Orust (both Swedish breeds) are on my wish list for when I have the room.

My SFH flock is by far the largest with currently 17 hens/pullets and 5 roosters/cockerels all in together, plus some grow-outs. My Isbars are not too far behind with 11 hens/pullets and 4 roosters/cockerels plus a few grow-outs in 3 different breeding groups. The Isbars do not need to be separated by color as they are all BBS, but they are in separate groups for diversity reasons and because I only have one very large coop (a 10x16 for the SFH) and the rest are much smaller.

I can totally understand the variety of colors without having to worry about separation pens.

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

Can you all tell me what your reasons were for getting SFHs and what you might like or dislike about your bird(s)? Be honest as some ppl's dislikes can be someone else's likes.

Diverse colors?
Possibility of crested birds?
Temperament - shy/melow or outgoing/friendly?
Combative/Non-combative with other breeds?
Productivity - quantity/size of eggs?
Trying a new breed?
Hardiness?

I added SFH to an order of Cream Legbars from Greenfire Farms back in 2012 because I was worried about so few chicks being shipped in a box. My purchased "packing peanuts" turned out to be more appealing than my intended order! They have been calm and easygoing for me which is great because at the time I had a toddler and now I have a toddler and a 4 year old. I couldn't have known that from the pictures on GFF's site and it was a pleasant surprise. I also got some hatching eggs from BullDogMa here and have been happy with those, too.

What I like about them: They are hardy, they're colorful, they stick up for themselves but don't go crazy with it (my poor Marans hens are at the bottom of the flock and just cower when somebody bosses them around), they have decent production of medium to large eggs with a nice shell color, and the roosters don't have an obnoxious chirpy, bantam crow. My EE males have the most annoying Err-err-ERR-ah! squawk of a crow. I can snooze through the SFH's longer Errr-Erruhrrr.... crow because it slowly rises and then gurgles away. They don't seem to do as much "Hey! I'm here! Up on top of this woodpile! I can see really far!" crowing at odd times of day and also don't crow if I turn on the back porch light. My EEs will keep crowing even if I pick them up to move them out of the way. Crowing tangent there. They have a great disposition and are not flighty around people; they're practically underfoot.

What I've been less impressed by: they haven't been the best broodies. I reported on those results a few weeks ago but they might improve in future attempts. The eggs are not consistently large and will never be jumbo eggs from what I've seen in my flock. They're a good size for baking and do seem to have fewer thin-shelled eggs than some of my other breeds fed a similar ration.

Now, I have heard some people have had aggressive males. So far mine have not shown any aggression toward their human caregivers. They seem to do well in a two-cock flock. That's how I have mine when I'm not hatching from particular pairings/quads. They haven't overworked the hens in that set-up and I like that they do a good bit of courtship instead of just hopping up on top.

 

[GNRMorgans]

Thanks! This is a great perspective!

 

[Sylvester017]

I added SFH to an order of Cream Legbars from Greenfire Farms back in 2012 because I was worried about so few chicks being shipped in a box. My purchased "packing peanuts" turned out to be more appealing than my intended order! They have been calm and easygoing for me which is great because at the time I had a toddler and now I have a toddler and a 4 year old. I couldn't have known that from the pictures on GFF's site and it was a pleasant surprise. I also got some hatching eggs from BullDogMa here and have been happy with those, too.

What I like about them: They are hardy, they're colorful, they stick up for themselves but don't go crazy with it (my poor Marans hens are at the bottom of the flock and just cower when somebody bosses them around), they have decent production of medium to large eggs with a nice shell color, and the roosters don't have an obnoxious chirpy, bantam crow. My EE males have the most annoying Err-err-ERR-ah! squawk of a crow. I can snooze through the SFH's longer Errr-Erruhrrr.... crow because it slowly rises and then gurgles away. They don't seem to do as much "Hey! I'm here! Up on top of this woodpile! I can see really far!" crowing at odd times of day and also don't crow if I turn on the back porch light. My EEs will keep crowing even if I pick them up to move them out of the way. Crowing tangent there. They have a great disposition and are not flighty around people; they're practically underfoot.

What I've been less impressed by: they haven't been the best broodies. I reported on those results a few weeks ago but they might improve in future attempts. The eggs are not consistently large and will never be jumbo eggs from what I've seen in my flock. They're a good size for baking and do seem to have fewer thin-shelled eggs than some of my other breeds fed a similar ration.

Now, I have heard some people have had aggressive males. So far mine have not shown any aggression toward their human caregivers. They seem to do well in a two-cock flock. That's how I have mine when I'm not hatching from particular pairings/quads. They haven't overworked the hens in that set-up and I like that they do a good bit of courtship instead of just hopping up on top.

GFF didn't say the SFH eggs were particularly large but that there was plenty being layed by them so I took that to mean the SFH eggs were plentiful but smaller. Do I understand that you have mixed your breeds into one flock or are your breeds separated? You mentioned your Marans were easily bossed is why I wondered if you had a mixed flock? Our one Cuckoo Marans was a mean one and we had to re-home her - she was easily put in her place by the alpha White Leghorn female but then the Marans next decided to viciously attack the gentle Silkies so we re-homed her. Our friends re-homed their BCMs for the same reason - they were too obnoxious toward the gentle breeds - from nipping at passers-by to downright full attacks on smaller Silkies. Eventually the White Leg and a Buff Leg had to be re-homed because they became too assertive also. Which brings me back to ask how SFHs behave around smaller gentler chicken breeds in the flock? We can't have LF that have tendencies to bully gentle breeds which our Silkies, Ameraucana, and Breda are gentle souls. I have researched and asked enough questions about SFH behavior toward humans and their own SFH flockmates to know they are mellower as a LF breed but I wonder how SFH would do if placed in a situation where all the other flockmates are gentle and non-combative. I'm on the fence about the gentleness of a SFH female placed with 2 gentle Silkie hens, a non-combative Ameraucana hen, and a small lightweight Breda pullet. You said the SFHs stick up for themselves but "don't go crazy about" - do you mean they're non-aggressive but will combat if confronted by others? My Ameraucana will choose to flee rather than engage in any combat - even if cornered. I suppose I am looking for a docile breed and SFH so far doesn't sound like it - what say you?

Originally Posted by Sylvester017

So, basically, you were looking for a Swedish breed exclusively before any other reason?
No, not really. The beautiful colors caught my eye and the fact that they were a Swedish breed sealed the deal.

Sounds like your flock is exclusively SFH?
That one is.

I also have Isbars (a Swedish breed), Svart Höna (Swedish Black Hens) (are you seeing a theme yet?

), Black Ameraucanas, growing out Black and Lavender Silkied Ameraucanas (project), an Isbar project pen, plus non-breeding groups of Black Copper Marans, American White Bresse and a lone EE. Olandsk Dwarfs and Orust (both Swedish breeds) are on my wish list for when I have the room.

My SFH flock is by far the largest with currently 17 hens/pullets and 5 roosters/cockerels all in together, plus some grow-outs. My Isbars are not too far behind with 11 hens/pullets and 4 roosters/cockerels plus a few grow-outs in 3 different breeding groups. The Isbars do not need to be separated by color as they are all BBS, but they are in separate groups for diversity reasons and because I only have one very large coop (a 10x16 for the SFH) and the rest are much smaller.

I can totally understand the variety of colors without having to worry about separation pens.

I envy your ability to have the space for such a beautiful breed assortment. We once had 25 acres (mostly Babcock Leghorns, Pekin ducks, and Grey geese) but in retirement we have a small cottage yard zoned for only 5 hens - we consider ourselves lucky I suppose since most communities around us aren't zoned at all! In my ideal I would have every Leghorn variety on the planet down to the newest Mille Fleur variety, every Ameraucana variety that layed only the bluest of eggs, covered space for flighty bantams like Pyncheons and Olansks (we chose flightless bantam Silkies for our current yard), and would love some rare or endangered chicken breeds like the gorgeous Svart Honas, Orusts, Cemanis, Pavlovskajas, or recovering breeds like Dominiques and Orloffs, some Cayuga and Welsh Harlequin ducks swimming in a pond. Ah-h-h these are the ideals that dreams are made of - Smiles. How are your Isbars doing? I understand GFF had some bacterial issues with their first imports where customers were having hatching and chick problems and GFF had to import a second group of Isbars. This info I got from Mary of the Egg Farm who discontinued her Isbar sales from the first GFF imports and was too disheartened to try Isbars again from the 2nd GFF imports. Her love for chickens started when a stray chicken flew into her yard years ago when she thought it was an Icelandic and since has expanded her love for more Icelandics and a couple other rare breeds i.e. Pavlovskajas, etc.