Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Goose and Fig]

The fishing net was just suggested to me. Never had to try it- I keep all friendly breeds, and have yet to have an issue with the roos.
Ganders, on the other hand.....

 

[HaplessRunner]

Actually, I think crabbing net would work better than a fishing net. It has a long solid handle with a large ringed net on the end. Similar to this

Enjoy the chase!

 

[PugBug]

Hi everyone! Have not been here for a while, but I took some new pics today & wanted to share. My SFH's are 5 mo old now. Still have not started to lay yet...

 

[SunnySkies]

Rooster is a hormonal disaster. He assaulted some of the April pullets as they were happily wandering about eating bugs in the yard, to their disgust (and mine...I was planning to move them into the large coop he lives in so I have space for the black chicks outside, but they might not be safe from him in this state).

He tried to mount a duck, but the duck beat his bottom.

He pestered the Silkie and the March SFH girls as they were grazing, which was a mistake because their bantam Cochin roo (he took over after their Silkie roo died for them) will thrash any and all roosters that look at his girls. That is one tough roo, but perfectly wonderful with my kids. I would love to have about 10 more chickens just like him. So the SFH ran for cover with this bitty black and white rooster chasing him.

He tried to put the moves on the EE hen when she came over to see what the fuss was, but that got her barnyard mix roo (who is huge, but a gentle giant) angry, and the mix chased him off.

He followed me around but did not threaten or otherwise make me wonder, but he still got the surprise treatment as outlined above. I tossed him some grain and he calmed down a bit and I locked the door of his coop. I shall see what the morning brings.

His flock is all, what is going on?! as he wanders all over the farm by himself all day. There is a pullet in the group I think is close to lay, but she won't put up with his nonsense. The other roosters in that group are just fine, calm and relaxed, not worrying about things and happy to avoid people. He actually mounted one ofmthe other roosters in his group, It is that bad for him. It's just this one that is overwhelmed with hormones right now. Poor kid.

Bulldogma, I should have sent this guy with you too!

 

[Bulldogma]

LOL SunnySkies! The good thing is that your older roos will keep him in line. This is a very good dynamic for a young boy to grow up with. I would just be cautious with any chicks (age 0-12 weeks) he has access to. In the words of Delisha on the Natural Chicken Keeping thread, "A hormonally charged cockerel will try to mate with a cat... or a shoe." They all go through this stage, but their individual personalities dictate their actions.

Sorensen (the red/white crested roo I got from you) beats poor Viking up and has torn out some of his pretty hackles. They are back to getting along, but everyone knows Sorensen is in charge! LOL. Only trouble is that I think this particular hierarchy is preventing Viking from trying to breed with my girls. Ginger marched right up to Viking today and squatted in front of him... Viking looked totally lost! LOL!!! It's a pity as Elinor has gone broody and it would have been so nice to have some fertile SFH eggs to put under her. Right now she is incubating two plastic golf balls as if her life depends on it.

 

[ki4got]

I was told to catch the roo with a big fishing net. Pin him down and keep him there for a good 1/2 hour. You shouldn't have to do this more than twice.

knock on wood, I haven't had any issues with my guys... then again he's also NOT kingpin of the yard... big guy and junior rule quietly - ok not quietly, but peacefully, and let everyone else duke it out as needed. big'un is somewhere near the top, weebs seems to be middle of the pack but all the chicks are turning out to be his (he's sneaky too), and all my junior roos have sparring intervals where one just HAS to be top, and gets the snot knocked out of him in the process... so I have infrequent bloody messes that heal up and look normal 2 days later. LOL

fortunately none of them are game type breeds so tend to stay on the mellow side of sweet.

oh. big guy is a silver grey dorking, junior his son, big'un is a lf blrw, weeble is an ee mess (LOL). smee minds his own business (bantam blrw) the rest are bantam cochins and sfh mostly. but only one sfh is old enough to know what it's all about. the rest are around 12-14 weeks or so (right leigh? I've lost track).

 

[RedRidge]

It's a pity as Elinor has gone broody and it would have been so nice to have some fertile SFH eggs to put under her. Right now she is incubating two plastic golf balls as if her life depends on it.

Oh I SOOOO wish I had some eggs to send you...
All seven chicks are doing very well here... and Gunnar was apparently not bias with his ladies as I have chicks that hatched out of all three of your girls, so a wonderful even distribution. Now let's just hope they aren't all the same sex. LOL

 

[Bulldogma]

but only one sfh is old enough to know what it's all about. the rest are around 12-14 weeks or so (right leigh? I've lost track).

Um... maybe? LOL! I gave you SFH eggs on 2/9, 3/16 and a few other times at swaps and when picking up chicks. Those set around 3/16 would be about 11 weeks and February eggs would be 15 weeks-ish. Don't remember who you hatched when or who you kept/sold. LOL!

Oh I SOOOO wish I had some eggs to send you...
All seven chicks are doing very well here... and Gunnar was apparently not bias with his ladies as I have chicks that hatched out of all three of your girls, so a wonderful even distribution. Now let's just hope they aren't all the same sex. LOL

Gunnar was a great roo. And your blues... their mother. Elinor, has gone BROODY! Meaning those chicks will be more likely to go broody some day too! Hooray!!

 

[SunnySkies]

Well, Wasp, aka Ball of Hormones, was respectful this morning when I let his flock out. I reached in to check feed, and since they needed more water, he and the rest escorted me to the faucet without an issue. I had a squirtgun just in case though He is wandering a bit today, ogling various ladies, but no shrieks of what ARE you doing?! today from the yard.

 

[pebcrb]

Hi, all. I'm brand new to raising chickens, and last week I saw an ad on craigslist for two free Swedish Flower Hen pullets. After looking up the breed and seeing photos, I immediately went to pick them up. They were very skittish at first, but now go bananas every time they see me coming out of the house, and will even climb up on my lap to eat as long as I don't try to pick them up. Right now they're housed by themselves in my little coop/run, but I have 4 chicks inside that are almost 2 weeks old. After reading through some of this thread, though, I'm beginning to think I might have one, possibly two, cockerels. Alas, I live in Seattle, and if they start crowing, I don't think I can bribe all the neighbors to keep it hush. They're between 6 and 7 weeks old now, and in the awkward feathering phase, but I still think they're just gorgeous. And their antics are hilarious - rousing games of leapfrog, flapping at each other, and in the last couple days, the occasional chest bumping. I hadn't even noticed their tiny wattles until I took these photos, but between the behavior (I want to believe they're just very playful!) and comparing their pale but large combs to photos here... Well.

How are your chick doing? Have you been able to confirm gender?