Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ddpbk1]

Very pretty. I want some so bad

 

[alohachickens]

Sounds great! I'm thinking March or early April going by the age my other pullets began laying.

I agree. I'd like to gather as many different colors as possible in my flock simply to add a bit of genetic diversity but am not breeding for any particular color. I have a solid buff pullet with yellow legs that has no white in her feathers at all. I questioned her purity but GF says she's pure. I'm not sure what to do with her though, in terms of breeding. Is this a coloration to avoid when the breed is known for their flowers, or is it merely another color in the rainbow? I am considering a test breeding just to see what the chicks would inherit. She is currently with my laying flock but is not quite to the point of lay. I'll try to get some good photos.
The chocolate is very interesting. I wonder what else is hiding in the gene pool?

Just a side note from Aloha town! I've been over here trying to breed something Swedish-like in American stock, and decided to try Buff Rock with my Speckled Sussex crosses, to try and give the babies yellow legs, and lighter colors. Sounded like it should work, right? But weird thing, the chicks are born with spots that "fade out" around four months old.

I have some Buff x Mottled crosses that are in the third generation now, and it seems the Buff color is very resistant to the spots. It's like the solid yellow has some kind of "spot resist" stain-lifter! LOL!

So this may be of interest to you. Now I'm approaching it differently, going to try working with "Buff Columbian" color next, whichis the light Buff with the ring of black around the neck, and a black tail. In Mottled Cochins, this is the "base color" they use to add spots on top of, and they have had no issues.

So far, I've tried adding "flowers" to blue, black, brown, wheaten, solid red (like NHR) and solid buff. So far, everything else worked exactly like the Punnet Square would suggest. EXCEPT for the Buff x Mottled crosses. For some unknown reason, that color seems very resistant to spotting.

I have no idea why. Maybe someone with more experience will comment on this! It's just been my observation.

 

[alohachickens]

Oh, and my first Swedish x Aloha crosses are now mature and breeding. I thought you guys might get a kick out of seeing them.

Most of the first-generation Aloha x Swedish crosses look exactly like slightly smaller Swedish Flowers. However, two of the roosters have "new" colors unique to the Alohas, so I kept them. Both are a little smaller than pure Swedish but bigger than my Aloha roos:



This guy (above) probably has a good 1/8th to 1/4th Speckled Sussex, as can be seen with his white legs and deep mahogany color. However, you can see his color/pattern doesn't look like a Speckled Sussex OR an Swedish Flower! He has way more white on his head and neck than any Swedish or Sussex. (I'm breeding for more white than either breed.)

This next guy is a hoot, he's a pure Swedish roo with one of my little "Confetti" hens:



Size is smaller and type more "gamey" thanks to his tiny little Mom, but I'm hoping to keep the color and build up the body size/type. His mom was one of these hens. Try to imagine your big, plump, Swedish hen in this color and that's what I'm going for:




Will take a while to bring up size and type, but I love this hen's color a lot!

Other new chicks that may or may not be half Swedish? My most promising roos, but they were in a "mixed bag" pen, hatched out of eggs where five roos were running with about 25 hens. So they could be half Swedish, one quarter Swedish, or zero Swedish! Ha ha ha! All I know, is they have yellow legs, are big, and tons of white, and I love 'em:






I am happy to say that on some chicks, I have serious trouble telling the half Swedish half Alohas from the pure Swedish. On some, only the smaller size clues you in that it's not a pure Swedish Flower Hen. The photos of those are not shown here, because, well, they just look like small Swedish so not terribly exciting so haven't been following those ones around with the camera like the more colorful ones.

We're getting there, like this rooster that contains ZERO Swedish blood but is starting to get some of the body type and size we need:





I am just about to pen this guy with some pure Swedish Mille hens and a few half-Swedish half-Aloha hens and will be hatching babies from the cross this Spring if all goes well. Will keep you guys posted with the results! I wonder what the babies will look like?

 

[texasmomma]

I wonder if the curled toes are genetic with him? Especially if they are returning after being straightened. Hmmm...

That is my guess. We will have to see what happens when I hatch some of his babies. He hasn't shown much interest in the ladies as of yet, so it may be a while.

 

[Dahlisgrams]

Oh, and my first Swedish x Aloha crosses are now mature and breeding. I thought you guys might get a kick out of seeing them.

Most of the first-generation Aloha x Swedish crosses look exactly like slightly smaller Swedish Flowers. However, two of the roosters have "new" colors unique to the Alohas, so I kept them. Both are a little smaller than pure Swedish but bigger than my Aloha roos:



This guy (above) probably has a good 1/8th to 1/4th Speckled Sussex, as can be seen with his white legs and deep mahogany color. However, you can see his color/pattern doesn't look like a Speckled Sussex OR an Swedish Flower! He has way more white on his head and neck than any Swedish or Sussex. (I'm breeding for more white than either breed.)

This next guy is a hoot, he's a pure Swedish roo with one of my little "Confetti" hens:



Size is smaller and type more "gamey" thanks to his tiny little Mom, but I'm hoping to keep the color and build up the body size/type. His mom was one of these hens. Try to imagine your big, plump, Swedish hen in this color and that's what I'm going for:




Will take a while to bring up size and type, but I love this hen's color a lot!

Other new chicks that may or may not be half Swedish? My most promising roos, but they were in a "mixed bag" pen, hatched out of eggs where five roos were running with about 25 hens. So they could be half Swedish, one quarter Swedish, or zero Swedish! Ha ha ha! All I know, is they have yellow legs, are big, and tons of white, and I love 'em:






I am happy to say that on some chicks, I have serious trouble telling the half Swedish half Alohas from the pure Swedish. On some, only the smaller size clues you in that it's not a pure Swedish Flower Hen. The photos of those are not shown here, because, well, they just look like small Swedish so not terribly exciting so haven't been following those ones around with the camera like the more colorful ones.

We're getting there, like this rooster that contains ZERO Swedish blood but is starting to get some of the body type and size we need:





I am just about to pen this guy with some pure Swedish Mille hens and a few half-Swedish half-Aloha hens and will be hatching babies from the cross this Spring if all goes well. Will keep you guys posted with the results! I wonder what the babies will look like?

The colors you're getting are amazing. What a cool project the Alohas are! They're so unique looking. I hope you're able to find the outcrosses you need to get the genes you're looking for.

That is my guess. We will have to see what happens when I hatch some of his babies. He hasn't shown much interest in the ladies as of yet, so it may be a while.

Good luck!

 

[Dahlisgrams]

Just a side note from Aloha town! I've been over here trying to breed something Swedish-like in American stock, and decided to try Buff Rock with my Speckled Sussex crosses, to try and give the babies yellow legs, and lighter colors. Sounded like it should work, right? But weird thing, the chicks are born with spots that "fade out" around four months old.

I have some Buff x Mottled crosses that are in the third generation now, and it seems the Buff color is very resistant to the spots. It's like the solid yellow has some kind of "spot resist" stain-lifter! LOL!

So this may be of interest to you. Now I'm approaching it differently, going to try working with "Buff Columbian" color next, whichis the light Buff with the ring of black around the neck, and a black tail. In Mottled Cochins, this is the "base color" they use to add spots on top of, and they have had no issues.

So far, I've tried adding "flowers" to blue, black, brown, wheaten, solid red (like NHR) and solid buff. So far, everything else worked exactly like the Punnet Square would suggest. EXCEPT for the Buff x Mottled crosses. For some unknown reason, that color seems very resistant to spotting.

I have no idea why. Maybe someone with more experience will comment on this! It's just been my observation.

That's exactly my concern. I have the mostly solid buff pullet in with the laying flock but when she starts laying I'll collect her eggs and set them. I'm very curious to see what she'll produce and whether her chicks will be flowered or more subdued.

 

[TarheelBirdy]

I took some pics today of my two Swedish Flower Hen breeding pairs. They are all 10 months old. Here they are!


My non-crested hen and crested rooster:






My crested hen and non-crested rooster:

 

[jbarrett]

I took some pics today of my two Swedish Flower Hen breeding pairs. They are all 10 weeks old. Here they are!


My non-crested hen and crested rooster:






My crested hen and non-crested rooster:

I love em espically the non crested roos tail!! multi color in middle!

 

[Kimbroe1981]

I took some pics today of my two Swedish Flower Hen breeding pairs. They are all 10 weeks old. Here they are!


My non-crested hen and crested rooster:






My crested hen and non-crested rooster:

Beautiful! They're 10 weeks? Are the girls laying?

 

[jbarrett]

10 months? mine are 3 months (12 weeks) and they are small and no spurs