Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[cmarlowdrive]

I know right? I have 5 standard size pullets that are 30 weeks, J.O., SFH, B.B., EE., and a Wyandotte . Only the Wyandotte is laying about 3 eggs a week. Since August I have found 4 soft shell eggs and a tiny jelly bean sized egg. I have read that means they are ready to start laying. I got nothing yesterday. They get layer pellets, yogurt, oats, fruit, etc. Vent checks look good, appendages are bright red, and all are wide between the bones, just no eggs. These are not prolific laying production hens, but, it's ok, I expect eggs will come soon enough. I was expecting hard eggs after several soft no shelled ones, but, that has not happened yet.

 

[minihorse927]

Have you offered them free choice oyster shell yet? The feed may not have enough calcium in it to form shells.

 

[gimmie birdies]

SFH!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I have a question for anyone that might know.
I have found 4 soft, no shell, eggs in the coop and run. I don't know who is responsible for these.
Do they normally lay several soft eggs before the normal eggs show up?
Could one bird be laying all these soft egg or do they lay one soft egg and then start with the normal eggs.
I am reading that this a first layer egg, but, I am not seeing regular eggs with shells after several weeks of this.

That ALWAYS happens with my new layers. And saw it happen with one on her way out of lay. It has taken several weeks to a month before I get hard eggs while the softees show up in random places. For us, I wonder if they are coming into lay just in time for winter hours to shut them down. Lack of oyster shell is not my problem at all. Some have hidden nests for a while after the softees before I found the hard eggs. It could be one bird making all the softees, or more than one.

It's hard to tell sometimes.

 

[OHfarmerswife]

SFH!

What a sweet little flower

 

[gimmie birdies]

SFH to the front, just one this time, in the back...BCM, and blue Isbar, momma hen sitting on one zipping BCM egg and 3 blue isbar eggs in air cell.



SFH with her friend, the BCM.

 

[Sylvester017]

Shoot two of mine have had red comb and wattles for 2months.

Make sure they aren't hiding them somewhere in the yard?

 

[Sylvester017]

My girl , TRIGGER. She gallops like a horse instead of running like most chickens.
No eggs yet at 29 weeks. She has red comb, red waddle and a hand length between vent bones. If she is laying, she is hiding them from me.
But I don't mind waiting for her.

Trigger is such a perfect name! I don't have a SFH but a Cuckoo Breda pullet that does the funny hop-skip-gallop when she runs because of feathered feet. She too is a breed that takes time to mature before POL but we owners feel our girls are worth the wait - eh?!

 

[SOHC-FTW]

Make sure they aren't hiding them somewhere in the yard?

Their penned up, I lost two and said the heck with this. Anyway none in coupe or run.

 

[Sylvester017]

Their penned up, I lost two and said the heck with this. Anyway none in coupe or run.

You just have late-bloomers then. My Breda are slow-maturing but once they start laying they never quit! I lost one Breda hen from exhaustive laying for 10+ consecutive months her pullet year and she keeled over dead suddenly. Sometimes I would rather have a sporadic layer and have the chicken around for longer rather than lose them to too prolific egg laying. My Silkies are good layers of 3 to 6 eggs/weekly but then they go broody and it gives their little bodies time to rest before starting another exhausting cycle. My poor little Breda started laying and never stopped -- I'll be giving the new Breda a lot more vitamin, selenium, and calcium carbonate supplementation if she turns out to be a dynamo layer too. Laying and molting are very stressful on hen bodies.