Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Laingcroft]

Miss Gray when she was younger.

Love this girl! She looks so much like my Roka. Roka was a 'black' (now it's obvious she was VERY dark blue) chick from GF. Then she shaded blue and now she is this gray/blue/dun color with gold/brown in her hackles like your Ms. Gray.

Here she is at 16 weeks. (Roka means 'smoke' in Swedish)




And so I don't leave him out -- her hatchmate Eld (means 'flame') I think he's going to turn out to be the "traditional" black tailed red mille.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Yes! Your Roka looks like Miss Gray!

 

[choptank330]

Hi guys, I just recently hatched three Swedish flower hen chicks. They all look different. I am going to post pictures of the one, but it will be in three different post because I can only do it from my cell phone. I am wondering what it may look like when it gets older and also if you guys think it's a pullett or Cockerel, I know it's still little but it's comb is bigger than any of the other chicks.

 

[choptank330]

Same chick

 

[ki4got]

Did a bit of reading & I think I may do some reading into the Red, Black & Speckled. I've got some time to figure it out while I focus on the 'Swedes'

if you're referring to the dorkings, black and speckled aren't varieties of Dorking... they come in silver grey, red, colored, white & cuckoo (barred).

 

[SunnySkies]

Ever since I moved my SFH flock into a new coop, they have been on strike. Sigh. The sex links in with them haven't taken a break, but the SFH ladies apparently are protesting the new nest boxes and move. UGH.

I guess I will go buy a box like what they had and see if that encourages them to step up.

 

[kimi]

if you're referring to the dorkings, black and speckled aren't varieties of Dorking... they come in silver grey, red, colored, white & cuckoo (barred).

I just read these colors here: http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/dorking.html I also found an old add for a black trio.. as I said I am just now starting to even look into them, while my swedes are settling in to the quarantine condo. I do like the Red but have never been a huge fan of White or barred varieties..


On the SFH, I do have to say that they are much larger than I expected them to be. I somehow expected them to be about the same size as my Andy's but seem quite bigger...

 

[ki4got]

Quote: other colors do exist, but only the ones I mentioned are recognized varieties, which IMO need more work than project varieties that aren't standardized, and quite likely crosses with other breeds at one time or another. there are people out there selling 'non-standard' color varieties such as dun and speckled, but IMO we need to concentrate on preserving the recognized varieties first... and work on the others once the basics are preserved...

as for the sfh, yes, they are a bit larger than I expected too! some lines bigger than others. but not so large/meaty as i'd classify them as dual purpose. they are large framed but lean on meat.

 

[RedRidge]

as for the sfh, yes, they are a bit larger than I expected too! some lines bigger than others. but not so large/meaty as i'd classify them as dual purpose. they are large framed but lean on meat.

Hmm... and I have thought all along that mine were a little smaller.
Although they vary in size a lot more than my other breeds.
Vacker is larger than my other cockerel Dweezil... Vacker is about the same size as the Rhodebar pullets who are the same age.
Then I do have one runt... Willow.
As a matter of fact, I am so concerned about her lack of growth that I am going to move her into a separate pen today away from Dharma.
Dharma is top SFH pullet and I suspect she picks on Willow. I haven't ever seen it, but at feeding time Willow seems concerned enough to avoid being very aggressive about eating.
So I think I will put Willow with Harmony and Dweezil... then leave Vacker to Dharma and Serenity.
Wasn't planning on dividing into breeding pens this soon, but... for Willow's sake I think it may be a good idea.

I have taken pics in a while, so will do that today while we are moving em around.

 

[lovinchicks]

Hi everyone! First time posting on the SFH thread. I wanted to see if anyone know what caused this roosters feathers to twist out at the bottom. Is it hereditary, or something else? I'm trying to decide which of my 4 roosters I want to rehome. I love his coloring but don't want to keep him if it can be passed on. I tried to do a search, and it kept coming back with info on geese and ducks.

he is nice, but personally i'd pick another roo that has better mottling. but that's just me.

as for the feathers curling, any kind of stresses while growing can cause feather changes like curling or 'stress bars' where there's a dotted line across the feather where it looks like it's been chewed or something... also, I've seen mites/lice cause feather damage to growing feathers as well, because they're feeding on the blood that's intended to nourish the growing feather, so it comes out odd. damage to blood feathers when they're growing (again parasites or physical damage) can cause oddities as well... if you are willing, hang onto him until his next moult, and see what happens.

Sorry for the slow reply. I checked his feathers and they do have the lines going across the shaft of the feather. Looks like you could bend them in those spots, but there is no weakness to the feather. So it must be what you described. I wanted to keep him because he is not crested, and one of my hens is crested. I had some chicks that grew out and had rather large crests so I didn't want to breed crested to crested. I'll post some pics of my other roos and see what you guys think of them. He does have the least mottling out of my 4 roos.