Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[KYTinpusher]

I think they should have all those things. sorry, just my little joke.
I was wonder that too. I'm hoping that the birds themselves are unusual enough to be recognized as Flowers. Meaning that if their is crossbreeding that they birds will not look enought like Flowers to be passed off as flowers.
So, really, what makes a Flower? Mine all are different colors. My roo is crested. One has grey legs. They all carry their tails really high. They seem smaller that some of my heritage breed, except for the roo. They are very upright in their stance.
I would love not to have the whole snafu that has occurred around the Aracauna/Ameracana/EE. Would really like to keep these birds whole.
Knock Kneed Hen, i don't know what "not a breed means" Can you explain it to this noobie?

This has been one of my concerns. I currently have two chicks growing out that are SFH/BR crosses. I hatched them just to see what they would look like. I will try to post pictures tomorrow, but I think they could be mistaken as pure SFH as there are so many color variations. They are about 3 months old and to me look a little different than my pure SFH chicks of the same age, but I already know which is which. Perhaps when I post pics tomorrow, I won't say which is which right away and see if you guys can tell the difference, too.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I think they should have all those things. sorry, just my little joke.  
I was wonder that too. I'm hoping that the birds themselves are unusual enough to be recognized as Flowers. Meaning that if their is crossbreeding that they birds will not look enought like Flowers to be passed off as flowers. 
So, really, what makes a Flower? Mine all are different colors. My roo is crested. One has grey legs. They all carry their tails really high. They seem smaller that some of my heritage breed, except for the roo. They are very upright in their stance.
I would love not to have the whole snafu that has occurred around the Aracauna/Ameracana/EE. Would really like to keep these birds whole.
Knock Kneed Hen, i don't know what "not a breed means" Can you explain it to this noobie? 

I'm not good with biology, so in layman terms, a breed is a chicken bred from parents chosen for particular traits ie: color, shape, body type. Examples of these are Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Wyandottes, etc.. All are recognizable from their appearance. There has been a Standard of Perfection written for them so that they must have certain traits to qualify.

Landrace fowl came about really by chance. The birds were living in a remote geographical area. Over years and years, they bred only with others in the area. Not all landrace fowl evolved the same. Junglefowl didn't have farmers tending over them. BUT in the case of the SFH it is likely that farmers traded stock from time to time. Birds ultimately started looking similar, sharing some traits most of the time. The healthiest, most disease resistant birds survived. Farmers most likely let the hens that they liked best set on her eggs, while maybe a nasty hen ended up in the stew pot. Over time the nicest, and often prettiest birds, remained in the farmers flock. Landrace fowl include Icelandics (very similar to SFH's), Junglefowl, Norwegian JÆRHØNS, etc...

That's a basic explanation. I have seen (and even have gotten some myself) SFH's that were mixes. A few have popped up here on this thread. It seems that it is apparent when they are mixes. So far I have not seen where a breeding of 1/2 SFH with 1/2 something else results in flowering. I don't have the space to work with mixes, but I know that there are people experimenting. The findings will definitely be interesting for all of us that are learning about these birds. I'd encourage people to post pictures of mixes so that we can all learn to recognize them.

I agree with your description of the "type" of birds that come from the pairing of SFH to SFH. I will eventually only be keeping SFH's. I do have a bantam NN rooster but he's in a bantam pen, not free ranged. I think it would be apparent in his case if he fathered any SFH chicks.

Mixing chicks in brooders is not recommended. I'd make sure that chicks are kept separate or have a leg band on. Like I said, I have some birds that the seller was adamant could no way have been anything else...yet they are solid black and solid red, clearly not pure (dang, cause I selected 3 pullets and am so stoked that I got THAT right!! ).

Anyhow, I'm no expert, just a fan of this bird and would like to make it my pet project. I'd love to hear what others have discovered and their take on it.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

This has been one of my concerns. I currently have two chicks growing out that are SFH/BR crosses. I hatched them just to see what they would look like. I will try to post pictures tomorrow, but I think they could be mistaken as pure SFH as there are so many color variations. They are about 3 months old and to me look a little different than my pure SFH chicks of the same age, but I already know which is which. Perhaps when I post pics tomorrow, I won't say which is which right away and see if you guys can tell the difference, too.

That'll be fun!! I look forward to seeing the pictures and playing Who's Who with the chickies!!

 

[Papa Brooder]

Ahhhh, Why does USPS not update their shipment status after they leave the main facility?!? I have a box of eggs says expected delivery date TODAY! and the shipping status is still Departed from sort facility in PA. The replacement eggs from TX (which is only 5-6 hours away) has no delivery date on it yet! Has anyone else shipped eggs through UPS or FedEx? How'd it go and was it outrageously expensive?

ha, i feel the same way. pick up box, run scanner over label, put box in a approriate next location. happy customers. doesn't seem that hard but so many times a whole day goes by with NO information on something that is supposed to arrive overnight!

 

[Papa Brooder]

does anyone have experience with SFHs as broodies? I have one and i have been adding eggs for the fun of it to see what happnes. my kids have been begging me so I figured now's as good a time as any. we'll see what happens!

 

[muddyhorse]

My sfh raised a brood this summer, she was a great mommy.
As far as mixing is concerned, I do have a silver laced Polish hen in with my sfh. I only had one hen at the time and I didn't want the roo to drive hen nuts so I added a Polish hen. The Polish lays a white egg so it was easy to tell who is who. I use multiple brooders and the offspring have blue legs. I have no problem selling the mixed babies. People always ask for more "funky chickens"

 

[Kimbroe1981]

Got one batch of eggs yesterday. The others that were supposed to be here yesterday didn't make it. Hope they come today. Of course I wouldn't know, cause USPS hasn't updated the shipment since 9/11. Dang them! I'm thinking I might have made a boo-boo! I was supposed to get 15 SFH eggs, she sent 22

, I still have 20 more arriving (not including extras). I only have a turner for 42 eggs

. Well, that chicken math panned out a lot better in my head!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

My sfh raised a brood this summer, she was a great mommy.
As far as mixing is concerned, I do have a silver laced Polish hen in with my sfh. I only had one hen at the time and I didn't want the roo to drive hen nuts so I added a Polish hen. The Polish lays a white egg so it was easy to tell who is who. I use multiple brooders and the offspring have blue legs. I have no problem selling the mixed babies. People always ask for more "funky chickens"

If you're able to could you post some pictures of your birds, even the mixes? I too had my SFH's with a mixed flock for the same reason. I set 8 eggs this season, but I was there when each one was laid! I wasn't taking any chances..LOL I really didn't want any mixes. I have a hard time finding takers. Crested birds go quick, never a problem there.

 

[Bulldogma]

Ok - with more and more people becoming interested in Swedish Flower Hens, how do we as breeders of these lovely birds go about defining the Standard of Perfection for this breed in the US?

OK - so back to this...

Let's not call it a SOP for now. I'd like to hear from everybody what *seems* to be this breed's general conformation. Certainly it's tail looks different from that of a Cochin and it's comb is different from that of a Silkie.

For my own purposes (and for others who may be interested) what is the basic conformation in these birds based on your own flocks??

Comb: (Rooster / Hen)
Wattles:
Beak:
Hackles:
Cape:
Breast:
Wings:
Saddle:
Tail: (Rooster / Hen)
Thigh:
Shank:
Leg Color:
Feathering:

 

[Kimbroe1981]

Quote: My eggs that were supposed to be delivered yesterday still have not shown up and the tracking number hasn't been updated since 9/11. AHH! So aggravating!