Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[klf73]

Thanks for the tips! I'll up the vitamins and see how it goes.

Here are the rest of the babies. I'm not sure why it posted them in this order but the sick baby is marked below. These were taken just over a week ago at a little over 2 weeks of age. They really aren't the best photos though..













Yes, he is VERY crested. Below is a photo of the sick chick. When I received my chicks, two of them were so crested that they looked polish to me, even right next to an actual polish. So much so that I inquired as to whether they could be, in fact, polish. Nope. Crested Swedish. The smallest one is doing fine. This one does not want to eat or drink and just looks dopey, which is not how he was behaving previously. Is this Marek's? My chicks are not vaccinated. None of them are.

Here is the other very crested swede. Is there something to these bloodlines? As much as I would absolutely hate to do it, I am tempted to cull and have a necropsy done.

Oh. The chicks came from Greenfire. The two with the largest crests look very similar and very different from the other 6. The other chicks are out in the coop and I have the sick one in the house in box with food and water, though he really isn't touching it without my assistance.  

Just wanted to give you info, unless they changed their practice they had told me they had started vaccinating ALL chicks. You might want to ask...

Eta- getting a necropsy done this young would be pointless IMHO. I had problems last year and sent in 2 birds at once, an older one that was sick for a long time and one that had only been sick for a short while. The older bird had visible signs of mareks and they told me they had to have it long enough for it to show up on necropsy, so other than the secondary signs it wasn't easily diagnosed...

 

[klf73]

I will be breeding non crested to crested to make sure my flock produces both types ... I absolutely love the crests and think it gives them their unique look. I haven't had problems with my crested babies ....

Eta- I would breed crested to crested without concern if they had smaller crests but would not breed a vaulted crested to another crested, but that is personal preference and from my experience with polish and silkie babies, I really don't want them to be vulnerable to the same things as those breeds as a result of the skull "deformity" , I like my birds to be sturdy. I really think it comes down to personal preference and what you want for your birds... I still see my vaulted crested as valuable gene contributors in my breeding program.

 

[sevierchickens]

Hi, I recently got some Swedish Flower hens (THANK YOU SO MUCH CONTRASTPHOTO) and am absolutely in love with this breed...
right now I only got 2 of them but am hoping to get some more asap!
here is a pic of my little cockerel, he is the nicest out of all my chickens, still peeps like a little chick though, cannot wait to hear him crow (hope he really is a rooster, lol)
could somebody explain to me how one would even tell the difference between a cockerel and a pullet? I tried to read up a lot about it, but kinda hard to find anything about swedish flower hens...

 

[anniesmom]

"anniesmom - so sorry you have had so much trouble with your crested birds.

I am curious what color they were."


Two were wheaten with white speckles (including the one I have left), two were mille fleur, one was a red between wheaten and the darker mille fleur and the other was blue.

They were from two different batches but the same parents. Neither roo was crested and only one of the 4 pullets was - a mille fleur.

The ones that got better got better in about 4 days.

It would seem I got some bad genes, chicks especially fond of pecking others on the head or both!

 

[klf73]

Hi, I recently got some Swedish Flower hens (THANK YOU SO MUCH CONTRASTPHOTO) and am absolutely in love with this breed...
right now I only got 2 of them but am hoping to get some more asap!
here is a pic of my little cockerel, he is the nicest out of all my chickens, still peeps like a little chick though, cannot wait to hear him crow (hope he really is a rooster, lol)
could somebody explain to me how one would even tell the difference between a cockerel and a pullet? I tried to read up a lot about it, but kinda hard to find anything about swedish flower hens...

Quite honestly, the only way I can accurately sex them is the saddle feathers, the feathers right in front of the tail. Cockerals have very pointed ones and pullets are more rounded

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

As to many of you that have raised the question about the imperfection of the crest on the SFH I have done lots of searching with the actual breeders and poultry clubs in Sweden and have found the following info to be very helpful,
Scanian Blommehönan: was in the 1970s about to be cut off and preserved therefore now (on behalf of the Board of Agriculture ) of the Swedish Country Chicken Club by genebank work .
breed originated three farm flocks in villages Vomb, Tofta and Esarp, all located on the Plains of Skane. The last discoveries they made the new generation of Scanian Blommehöna was as late as the 1970s in the Vomb.Using gene bank so you can track all of today's chickens back to any of these three villages. Animals that originate from the village Vomb can often recognize that they can have a crest on its head.
, the Scanian Blommehönan is a peaceful race who formerly flew around in manure stacks in Skåne and the old Scanians sustained originally of those who "d old flower mede ". Both breed older name and today's breed names aimed at the white "spots", so-called flowers, they have feathers.
Blommehönan is the largest of the native breed hens and lay about 150 eggs per year, the eggs are light beige and weighs around 60 grams Body shape is round and robust, and the rooster has a broad chest and is beautifully colored. The plumage is always a primer that can be black, blue, wild-colored or pale yellow, with more or less white spots (flowers) in. The hens weigh around 2 to 2.5 kg and roosters around 2.5-3,5 kg.

So.... those who have a crested bird, be proud! You have genes from the village of Vomb
Information is found in the Swedish poultry club, http://www.kackel.se/lantras_hons.html

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

As to many of you that have raised the question about the imperfection of the crest on the SFH I have done lots of searching with the actual breeders and poultry clubs in Sweden and have found the following info to be very helpful, Scanian Blommehönan: was in the 1970s about to be cut off and preserved therefore now (on behalf of the Board of Agriculture ) of the Swedish Country Chicken Club by genebank work . breed originated three farm flocks in villages Vomb, Tofta and Esarp, all located on the Plains of Skane. The last discoveries they made the new generation of Scanian Blommehöna was as late as the 1970s in the Vomb. Using gene bank so you can track all of today's chickens back to any of these three villages. Animals that originate from the village Vomb can often recognize that they can have a crest on its head.
, the Scanian Blommehönan is a peaceful race who formerly flew around in manure stacks in Skåne and the old Scanians sustained originally of those who "d old flower mede ". Both breed older name and today's breed names aimed at the white "spots", so-called flowers, they have feathers.
Blommehönan is the largest of the native breed hens and lay about 150 eggs per year, the eggs are light beige and weighs around 60 grams Body shape is round and robust, and the rooster has a broad chest and is beautifully colored. The plumage is always a primer that can be black, blue, wild-colored or pale yellow, with more or less white spots (flowers) in. The hens weigh around 2 to 2.5 kg and roosters around 2.5-3,5 kg. So.... those who have a crested bird, be proud! You have genes from the village of Vomb Information is found in the Swedish poultry club, http://www.kackel.se/lantras_hons.html

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this information. I'm going to copy and paste for the FB page.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Hi, I recently got some Swedish Flower hens (THANK YOU SO MUCH CONTRASTPHOTO) and am absolutely in love with this breed...
right now I only got 2 of them but am hoping to get some more asap!
here is a pic of my little cockerel, he is the nicest out of all my chickens, still peeps like a little chick though, cannot wait to hear him crow (hope he really is a rooster, lol)
could somebody explain to me how one would even tell the difference between a cockerel and a pullet? I tried to read up a lot about it, but kinda hard to find anything about swedish flower hens...

I noticed with the crested birds that when the crest comes in if it's more rounded like a bonnet it's a pullet. If it comes in more standing up, like a David Bowie hairdo, then it's a cockerel. Another way to tell is the reddening of the comb and wattles. The girls don't redden up until right before they lay. The crested birds seemed to redden up later than the others. Finally, I also look for the pointy saddle and hackle feathers. I have some birds out there right now that I know are boys at 5 weeks and others I've had to wait 10 weeks to figure it out.

 

[Dahlisgrams]

"Yes, he is VERY crested. Below is a photo of the sick chick. When I received my chicks, two of them were so crested that they looked polish to me, even right next to an actual polish. So much so that I inquired as to whether they could be, in fact, polish. Nope. Crested Swedish. The smallest one is doing fine. This one does not want to eat or drink and just looks dopey, which is not how he was behaving previously."



I asked if it was crested because of the experience I had this spring. Your symptoms sound so similar. In my case, I'm convinced it's the crests/skulls. Of the 50+ SFH chicks I hatched this spring, 6 were crested females. Four of them have died. They were about two to three months old. The ONLY one that never had a problem, I sold. The 5th one that had the symptoms, I did not return to her buddies when she got better so she wouldn't get hurt again. She's doing great but she will NOT be in my breeding flock (neither will the one crested hen - from GF - from last year). The few crested males were sold or went to freezer camp.

Each of the 5 (not at the same time) got similar symptoms - kind of drunk acting, falling over backward, heads twisting upside down..... The first three died one at a time in their nice cozy hospital boxes. After the fourth one got better, I put her back in with the rest of her buddies. In the morning I looked in and she was down and I saw another chick peck her hard on the top of her head. I took her back out and three hours later she was dead.

I did some research at that point and discovered skull defects can go along with those crests on birds. I could feel a spot similar to an open fontanel of a baby. I think mine had/died from brain injuries from a weak spot/area on top of their heads. If it's not too serious, they can get better. The 5th girl that survived also had a "soft spot" on her head. I haven't checked her recently to see if it's still there. She is 17 weeks now. I would imagine her bones are much harder now. They did eat and drink fine IF I held the food and water in front of them (which I did a lot).

NONE of the uncrested ones had a problem - ONLY the crested ones. None of the parents were from eBay or any source but GF so it's not some wierd breeding somebody did. I did not breed crested to crested.

Their little heads were not domed like your picture. I would think that might be worse. I couldn't tell they were crested until those feathers started standing on end at about 3 weeks.

I personally don't want any more crested ones no matter how cute they are. I understand it's still possible to get them breeding uncrested to uncrested. If I get any next year, I will take them out of the group and raise them separately unless I can find little tiny football helmets. It's too hard to see 2/3 of the crested girls die.

Wow. I'm sorry you've had so many problems with your chicks, anniesmom.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I suppose each breed has their own issues, especially when dealing with such a small gene pool. I am now seeing crests on 6 out of the 8 but it is only the vaulted crested chicks that have shown anything unusual at all. The others are extremely vibrant, active and sharp. It looks like one of the uncrested is a cockeral and I'm really hoping that he is, as with all the crested pullets the rooster would have to be. I don't want to breed crested to crested, especially after seeing this. I am encouraging the chick to eat and drink and gave additional vitamins as well. Other than that, I'm not sure what to do except keep him safe and encourage eating. I hope that it wasn't due to a peck.

Thanks to everyone who offered information regarding the crests. I somehow knew that it was breed specific. I sent a note to Jenny at GFF and asked if mine were sent unvaccinated as I'd requested and let her know what was happening. I think I'll go back to the organic starter too. I'm sad and frustrated because it seems that there is really so little that I can do.

 

[Dahlisgrams]

anniesmom - so sorry you have had so much trouble with your crested birds.

I am curious what color they were. I have had problems with 3 of the SFH chicks I have hatched. They were all dark, all hatchmates, and all from the same source (hatching eggs). The first one was VERY similar in coloring to the one Dahlisgrams is having trouble with. It died at 2 days old and I believe it would have been crested. The second I believe would have been a cockerel and not crested, but I am not positive on the crest. His symptoms were very similar to what has been discussed here. He got sick at about 3 weeks, and died about a week later. With him, I tried homeopathic remedies and handfeeding of kefir and hard-boiled egg yolk. I did not get to the vitamins. The third is my black hen Adrian. She fell sick at about 4.5 months old. I threw everything at her! She got the homeopathic remedies, kefir, antibiotics and vitamins. It was a long road, about a month, but she survived and is doing well to this day, although bottom of the pecking order. I can't say what treatment did the trick, maybe a combination. The point is, they were all DARK. I know the white birds are supposed to be the least vigorous, but this has me curious.

Some further information that may help lead someone to an A-ha! moment about this:

I had no trouble with my first hatch of 5 SFH. None of them were crested and none of them were dark. None of the parents were crested. They were not vacinated and were started on a commercial medicated feed. After a couple of months (I think) they were changed to an organic, locally freshly-milled starter feed. I did not use vitamins with these, but they were given kefir after a couple of weeks. I still have 4 of them and they are doing very well. I recently rehomed Magnus, and unfortunately a racoon got him last weekend.

My second hatch I started on the commercial medicated starter. After a few weeks they were changed to the organic starter. The first one died at 2 days old. It was having trouble right from the start and appeared blind - would not open its eyes. These were not vaccinated either (none of my birds are). I hatched 11 and had trouble with the three mentioned above. Of the other 8, there were no major problems. One of the cockerels (Hannes) seemed to have a sinus problem and wheezed all the time. I still have 8 of these, including the one that recovered from being ill. The parents of these were a mixture of crested and non-crested roosters and hens in many diiferent colors. Crested to crested breeding was a possibility.

My next 2 hatches were from my own eggs that I hatched for someone else. Crested to crested was a possibility. The first set all went to my friend, but they only lasted a couple of weeks until a raccoon got into the coop and killed them all. I hatched some more for her and kept 5 for myself (1 pullet and 4 roos! of course!

). They are about 8 weeks old now. All of hers and mine are doing well. These were started from the beginning on the organic starter and given vitamins, mainly because I had them on hand and figured it couldn't hurt. I know she gives vitamins and feeds a different locally-milled non-medicated feed, too. I am waiting for pictures from her, but says one has quite the afro, and many of them are dark. Mine look to be red or mille fleur. BTW, I use the Poultry Drench Vitamins.

From my own experiences, and what I have read here recently, in the future I will stick with the organic starter, kefir and vitamins with my chicks. I am still debating about using only non-crested roos so there would be no crested to crested breeding.

I recently switched from the organic starter to purina's start and grow. I think I'll switch back. Best of luck with your chicks. I'm glad to hear they're doing well. Maybe it's the combination of things that's working. I will give them a try. Thanks very much for sharing.