Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[KYTinpusher]

I have had a couple of the roos start to get aggressive, but they take very well to an "attitude adjustment." As soon as they show aggression (charging, pecking, etc.) grab them by the legs and hold them upside down in full view of the others. Hold them that way until they stop flapping and give in (relax). Then hold them backwards in your arm with their head under your armpit (out enough to breathe) and walk around with them that way for awhile. It doesn't hurt to explain to them that the crockpot is waiting to meet them if they don't settle down! Showing aggression to a roo will only make them more aggressive, and will only snowball. The SFH learn quickly; my BR are little more stubborn and may take several sessions. I should add they have only shown any aggression in the confined space of the coop while I was bent down to collect eggs - never outside while free-ranging.

My SFH get along fine with my BCM hens and BR Hens. They all can get a little mean when a hen is introduced or re-introduced, but I think that is normal for most flocks. I had a BCM roo in with all of them up until recently and they had their conflicts, but I think it was mostly due to too many roos and not enough hens.

 

[tnchickenut]

I have had a couple of the roos start to get aggressive, but they take very well to an "attitude adjustment." As soon as they show aggression (charging, pecking, etc.) grab them by the legs and hold them upside down in full view of the others. Hold them that way until they stop flapping and give in (relax). Then hold them backwards in your arm with their head under your armpit (out enough to breathe) and walk around with them that way for awhile. It doesn't hurt to explain to them that the crockpot is waiting to meet them if they don't settle down! Showing aggression to a roo will only make them more aggressive, and will only snowball. The SFH learn quickly; my BR are little more stubborn and may take several sessions. I should add they have only shown any aggression in the confined space of the coop while I was bent down to collect eggs - never outside while free-ranging.

My SFH get along fine with my BCM hens and BR Hens. They all can get a little mean when a hen is introduced or re-introduced, but I think that is normal for most flocks. I had a BCM roo in with all of them up until recently and they had their conflicts, but I think it was mostly due to too many roos and not enough hens.

Confined spaces always make roosters mean. "This is mine, don't come in here!" And sticks and feet always make the aggression worse... you are right there! I can't get people to understand that. I had a helper working for me that would shove them with his foot. Completely RUINED a few (and I suspect possibly this SFH).

Funny you mention Marans... I got two Maran roos that are going in the pot. They are vicious. Not towards me at all, but towards everyone else... especially the ducks. I don't breed Marans, so bye bye... if they played nice, they could have stayed in my mixed up flock of layers and kind roos.

 

[KYTinpusher]

Quote:

Confined spaces always make roosters mean. "This is mine, don't come in here!" And sticks and feet always make the aggression worse... you are right there! I can't get people to understand that. I had a helper working for me that would shove them with his foot. Completely RUINED a few (and I suspect possibly this SFH).

Funny you mention Marans... I got two Maran roos that are going in the pot. They are vicious. Not towards me at all, but towards everyone else... especially the ducks. I don't breed Marans, so bye bye... if they played nice, they could have stayed in my mixed up flock of layers and kind roos.

Yes, my BCM roo is a bit on the aggressive side (and will probably take a couple of more sessions). But he is the only one I have, so I will keep him until I can get some chicks hatched. He is still young, so he may come around when I get him into our new coop with about 10 hens (BCM and BR) to himself. Funny thing was, he was hatched with the SFH and BR, and even though he was the biggest roo among them, he was low man on the totem pole for quite awhile. Magnus, my SFH, and his SFH sidekick, Astolf, ruled the roost, and they were smaller than both the other breeds!

BTW, Stellan, the SFH in my avatar (I need to update my pictures!), is a VERY sweet roo and has never shown any aggression, even in a confined space. He and Astolf are my breeders for now.

 

[KYTinpusher]

Confined spaces always make roosters mean. "This is mine, don't come in here!" And sticks and feet always make the aggression worse... you are right there! I can't get people to understand that. I had a helper working for me that would shove them with his foot. Completely RUINED a few (and I suspect possibly this SFH).

Funny you mention Marans... I got two Maran roos that are going in the pot. They are vicious. Not towards me at all, but towards everyone else... especially the ducks. I don't breed Marans, so bye bye... if they played nice, they could have stayed in my mixed up flock of layers and kind roos.

Just curiuos, do you run your ducks in with your chickens? I have some 6-week-old runner ducks that I am trying to figure out where I am going to put. Do they share the coop with the chickens?

 

[anniesmom]

I am also interested in the aggression level I just picked up two SFH roos they are currently together but they are only going to be 8 weeks old. I don't want to fear going into my own yard. They are so beautiful and I would hate to keep them locked up for the humans safety.

I've posted before that two of the six I received from GF last August were dinner a couple weeks ago. They would have been 9 months old now. I'd say their aggression level was about a 10. I tried all the suggested methods of holding them, etc. Nothing worked. They were just pure evil. They were the two darkest colored ones I had. Three of the remaining boys have shown absolutely no signs of aggression towards people. The other guy (one of the two in the same pen with four pullets) has charged me half heartedly a couple times when I bent to pet my little Sophie or pick a piece of something on the ground that doesn't belong there. That sounds normal and I can understand that and as long as he doesn't get worse he'll stay out of the crock pot.
I personally know of other people who have had to kill SFH cockerels because they became "mean as snakes".

That's probably a great trait for roosters protecting their flocks in the wild but not something I will tolerate around people.

All I have heard of didn't get that way until they were about 6 months old.

 

[Contrastphoto]

Hello tnchicknut! Haven't heard from you in a while! Good to see you on here. You got a pair from me. Sorry to hear he is getting aggressive. I have another roo you can have if you decide you want to send him to freezer camp. Just so you know the ones that came from me won't be a year old until late Sept. They where my birthday present last year.

I have found that my SFH Roo's to be pretty tolerable of each other. I have two in a large pen together right now. One is in charge and the other stays away. He is very protective of all the gals. He did go after my four year old daughter when she pick up a 12 week old chick, but so far I have two roos that haven't go after me.

I currently only have experience with one roo... he wasn't aggressive until he neared the year old mark... now he flogs the crap out of you for nothing. I was told by the person I got them from that the boys can be aggressive.
In reference to greenfire's statement of them not being aggressive... just because you read it on the internet, doesn't make it true. lol

I STILL wouldn't put him in the catagory of worst aggression I have ever dealt with. His hits are more like warnings than real punches. It might also be because I keep him and her inside alot more than I would normally do (they are in a 5x8ft coop) becuase they are... well... special... and I have had some preditor issues lately. Normally I would range them as much as possible, but lately I can only let them out for about a hour or two in the evenings, then only some evenings.

Hope that helps. maybe more people will tell their stories of their roos because I'm wondering if it is JUST him... but I'm thinking it is not, from what I heard from the previous owner.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I had 5 cockerels to start with. I gave one to someone who recently reported that he is the sweetest, gentlest boy and she'll keep him no matter what. He follows her around like a love sick puppy.
The other one I gave away I'm assuming is doing well. Another sweet one, on the small side.

Of the three I kept the top boy is nice. He's 9 mos. old. He's good to the hens and has never shown any aggression towards people. He follows us around and offers us treats.

I had hoped to keep the last three boys together. The other two, 7 mos. old, were raised together and all was going well until a couple of weeks ago. I free range and have 4 acres. The boys go everywhere! One day my son told me that he saw a bloody rooster...well, I had TWO bloody roosters! They were the two 7 month olds. I had seen them sparring in the past but figured it was something they do and would work it out. I cleaned them up and put them back out in the yard hoping again that they had worked it out. When they went in the coop to roost I heard them at it again. I pulled one out and he will be going to a new home this week.

Now, on the subject of other breeds....I have a mixed flock of all sorts, all LF. The SFH's fit in just fine. They are showing regular pecking order behavior with some young NN's that I just moved in there, but that's normal. However, my mixed flock are birds that I've chosen because of their friendliness so they may not be a typical sampling.

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[KYTinpusher]

Thank you! That is good know, but I guess it's another trait I'll have to look at when breeding. The pale cream eggs are so beautiful!

Mine lay a very pale egg but I understand that they can lay in a range of brown shades.

 

[Contrastphoto]

Most of my eggs are cream colored, but I do have one that lays a little darker.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Contratphoto, how long have your hens been laying? Looks like the ones pictured on the left are larger, which I'm assuming are from birds who have been laying a little longer. Those on the left appear to be "Large" eggs..are they?