Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Hi, I do not have any SFH's but have started following this thread because I would like to get some. The current discussion of what might be causing the leg problems with the SFH's caught my attention.

I agree, with the limited knowledge I have, that a vitamin deficiency is possible. Lack of enough niacin causes leg problems in ducks and geese, sometimes very severe problems.

When someone mentioned their chickens have access to fescue grass, that made me wonder ~ fescue has a fungus that can be problimatic to livestock. I discussed it with the ag agent in my area when I had sheep. He said vertially ALL fescue in this area is infected with it. As he explaied it, it causes reduced blood circulation which is what caused the problems with mares and different problems they can have with birthing and in the newborn foals. I have no idea if this would cause a problem with chickens, but I thought I would throw it out there as fescue is a main grass in pastures and lawns. Of course chickens generally eat a smaller percentage of their diet in grass than large livestock does, which would reduce the possible effects of the fescue toxicity.

http://forages.tennessee.edu/Page 2- Fescue Toxicity.html

 

[Bulldogma]

I had some deformed chicks from the feed store a couple of years ago and discovered that a vit B deficiency in the feed caused them all to have rickets. With lots of vitamins and bandaging I saved one, the others went off to necropsy (therefore finding the cause). Since then I always add vitamins to new chicks water.
I recently dewormed and dusted my flock for mites. The day after most of them were walking backwards. I have them with my mixed flock right now and only the Swedes were doing this. I added Nutri-Drench to the water for a few days and they're fine now. I was keeping an organic flock up until then, but despite all my efforts with DE, ACV, Pumpkin seeds, yogurt, etc...my flock had mites and I found a heavy tapeworm load in one hen.

Do you happen to follow the Natural Chicken Keeping blog? Here is an entry you might be interested in... and you might consider avoiding the use of DE - it actually kills the good nematodes that feed on the larvae of lice and mites, and can perpetuate a problem.

Natural Way to Rid Chickens of Lice & Mites

And an excerpt from another post about DE & the Deep Litter Method:

• Don't ever use diatomaceous earth (DE) or any other chemical insecticide in the coop bedding! This will kill off the beneficial microbes and nematodes.
• The beneficial microbes can help prevent infestations of mites and lice in your flock.

Nematodes & Deep Litter:

Fortunately, most species of nematodes have no effect, or have a beneficial effect, on humans and their endeavors. Many species of nematodes are ‘free-living’, living in soil, sea and freshwater. These feed on bacteria, fungi, protozoans and even other nematodes, and play a very important role in nutrient cycling and release of nutrients for plant growth. Other nematodes attack insects, and help to control insect pests.

You can see that creating a good environment in the coop can promote the growth of nematodes that can actually feed on the things that often harm our livestock/chickens. A good, decomposing deep litter system is like having a great little micro-mini compost heap in your coop. Good ventilation is key and monitoring the moisture and smell, making adjustments accordingly and letting nature take its course will help tremendously to grow good things in the coop instead of bad things that can cause constant and recurring health problems in a flock. Straw does not compost very well and tends to get moldy before doing so... not the good kind of mold. Wood shavings take longer to break down but they tend to stay drier while doing so... good fluffing and turning in a humid climate can also keep them from forming a "cap" of moist pockets on the surface that will grow mold beneath the cap.

 

[SunnySkies]

Many hugs. It is hard dealing with the unknown.

 

[Kimbroe1981]

Holy Cow!! There's a lot of information lately! I'm gonna have to remember what pages these are on for future purposes.

Thnx for all the great info!

 

[lcatty]

What are you feeding and what kind of plant life are your birds around and able to eat? This sounds like what happened to mine and I didn't realize anyone else had seen similar symptoms.

We have to wonder -
Is this a deficiency of some sort?
Is this a toxicity issue where they are eating something that is making them ill?
Is there a genetic factor at play here?
How do we fix this?

My birds get fermented feed - commercial mixed feed. They have access to a lot of acorns, fescue, clover and a lot of other plant life found in southern VA.
We have a lot of red clay for soil, and my birds have access to a parking area that has gravel that was brought in from elsewhere??? There are cattle in the field near them.

What factors are similar in our cases?

Nothing similar in terms of the landscape, I live in an extremely arid, desert environment. There's no grass, really, except a little patch we put in to one side of the yard for the boys to play on.
The only thing to recommend my yard is that it is good for dust baths!

We are surrounded by lots of "goathead" stickers, Mexican Elders, mesquite trees, creosote bush, occasional yucca. Mostly just a lot of sandy dirt. The chickens love to catch bugs and I have seen more than one chicken with a dead lizard in its mouth.

I do try to feed a lot of lettuce, cilantro, mixed young greens like spinach, kale, chard. I also have been giving them winter squash or sweet potato a couple times a week. In the summer they get a lot of melons.

Of course they have 22% protein layer crumbles from Onate Feeds, out of Albuquerque, available all the time. It's not organic. And once in awhile I give scratch for entertainment purposes.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Bulldogma, thanks for the information. I don't use the deep litter method. I use pine shavings that I rotate from the floor to the poop board to the compost. Nothing sits for very long. I hated using chemicals on the birds, but hated more to think they could be eaten from the inside out. A friend had a chicken die in front of her and as she went to reach for the bird worms began crawling out of every hole in it's body. I'll continue to try to keep my birds free from chemicals and use them only when absolutely necessary. I'll also heed your advice and cut out the DE. Makes sense.....I'll see if it has any affect.

Here's a picture of my new roo, a gift from Phage. The two boys have been getting along...so far.
This young one hasn't started sowing his oats yet so time will tell.

 

[Dahlisgrams]

Bulldogma, thanks for the information. I don't use the deep litter method. I use pine shavings that I rotate from the floor to the poop board to the compost. Nothing sits for very long. I hated using chemicals on the birds, but hated more to think they could be eaten from the inside out. A friend had a chicken die in front of her and as she went to reach for the bird worms began crawling out of every hole in it's body.

I'll continue to try to keep my birds free from chemicals and use them only when absolutely necessary. I'll also heed your advice and cut out the DE. Makes sense.....I'll see if it has any affect.
Here's a picture of my new roo, a gift from Phage. The two boys have been getting along...so far.
This young one hasn't started sowing his oats yet so time will tell.

He's handsome!

 

[waititout]

My little SFH, it is 3 to 4 weeks old. BTW, at what age are you able to sex them?

Any idea as to what color this one will feather out to?

 

[Bulldogma]

My little SFH, it is 3 to 4 weeks old. BTW, at what age are you able to sex them?

Any idea as to what color this one will feather out to?

If your SFH is a roo, he may look a bit like that beautiful boy pictured in the post above yours A pullet with this coloring is likely to be the same general color, but without the hackles and a more feminine tail.

 

[waititout]

If your SFH is a roo, he may look a bit like that beautiful boy pictured in the post above yours A pullet with this coloring is likely to be the same general color, but without the hackles and a more feminine tail.

Awesome, thanks!