Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[HaplessRunner]

Welcome LittleFoxx!

I have not had SFH for too long either but a few things I have learned so far. Some of these SFH really take their sweet time to mature! I have a roo that I am raising and was guessing him wrong until 8-9 weeks. He is going to be a beautiful bird but I only had behavior to get a clue with because his comb was very slow developing and very late pinking. Since you are used to ameraucanas, you may forget about the splash terminology. These birds vary all over the place in color and pattern. There are mille fleur, mottled, and predominant color patterns but colors vary and types vary. As another poster stated, there will be dramatic changes in color and pattern as they mature from chicks to juveniles to adolescents to adults. It will be a real challenge to predict their final coloration and pattern.

Enjoy this new breed! They are full of personality and are very active birds.

 

[jmarie]

Welcome LittleFoxx!!

wild horse annie -good luck with the hatch, I am on day 17 with your eggs and am so excited. My astrolorp mommy rarely gets off the nest and the eggs looked good when I candled!

tried to go to water country today, park closed as we got on first water slide ( check weather first...grrrr) took 2 hours to get home (usually 15 minutes) because the weather was bad. Chickens stayed out in all the weather, they would rather get soaked than go in the coop if it is daytime.

 

[redhen689]

It's day 19 and all 6 sfh have pipped internally!

I'm nervous, because I'll be away at work all day tomorrow.

 

[ki4got]

yes, the lightest ones that don't show any signs of black/blue are likely splashes. sometimes the color will develop more as they grow.

i'm the worst at sexing these guys LOL. 2 of my 'girls' are crowing now. but color... now there's something I can help with.

the pics I left in the quote above are (IMO) the most likely to have the mille fleur patterning...

ALL sfh should be mottled. the pattern will be better on some than others. SOME will be mille fleur patterned. mille fleur is the combination of the Columbian gene with the mottling gene. pretty simple, but hard to get 'right' LOL.

I'm fairly new to sfh, but i'm NOT new to the patterns. genetics is one of my 'hobbies' if you want to call it that. I have also been raising mille fleur bantam cochins for a while now too, and the chicks all color out very similar...

here's a before and after of a few of my mfc's...
Calico, my main breeding roo




one of his daughters from last fall




and Kepiru. Calico's son (and the only 'keeper roo')

 

[lalaland]

Just a couple of days ago I was fretting about a teeny tiny frail chick I thought was a sfh, turned out it was a banty chick that somehow got into the hatch I had ordered. I thought I didn't have any sfh....and then.... feathers!


3 weeks old, eggs came from TNBEARCHICK





same chick as first pic, and below is one of two siblings that are look alikes:





I am so excited to have sfh, and thanks to everyone who helped out with the teeny tiny chick (who thanks to Sue is thriving with vitamins and liver)

 

[OHfarmerswife]

7 of 12 SFH have hatched, one sadly didn't make it.
Today is day 22, how long should I leave the eggs before removing?
Mom is still sitting tight!!!

 

[Bulldogma]

7 of 12 SFH have hatched, one sadly didn't make it.
Today is day 22, how long should I leave the eggs before removing?
Mom is still sitting tight!!!

Mom will know. Leave them in the nest until mom takes her chicks out to forage. She'll sit on them until the last one that is going to hatch hatches.

 

[OHfarmerswife]

Mom will know. Leave them in the nest until mom takes her chicks out to forage. She'll sit on them until the last one that is going to hatch hatches.

thanks bull

 

[wildhorseannie]

My thanks to ChickNmamma, KYTinpusher, and jmarie for the suggestions and well wishes.
I had thought about the hand warmers, but remembered I'd used my last few at the Gilmanor swap.
The rock is a neat idea, will have to remember that.
The power had been out about 3 hours and I was just about to take the eggs out to stash under a broody hen..(.yes, of all things, another of my SFH girls has gone broody on me ), when the power came on. I sat there for a second, like a thief caught in the act, then quickly grabbed out the chicks that had hatched, put them under the lamp, then added hot water to the hatcher resevoires to kick up the heat and humidity. As of this morning there was one more that had hatched. No word from my hunny, so I'm thinking that's gonna be all she wrote. Glad to have gotten the 7 that made it. Time to go home.
Thanks all!

 

[RedRidge]

So just curious. Are folks finding that SFH are naturally broody? I hadn't heard that but am getting that impression. What is the experience of folks here?