Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[MeatMyChicken]

sunnyskes do u have wooden fence posts
if u do u could use those posts

a few ways

anchor the coops u have to the fence posts

or build onto the fence posts
u can make taller supports by putting taller posts against ur fence posts and anchoring them with industrial grade materials and then build a pole barn with atleast 2 anchored posts in the ground
the other posts wont have to be anchored
still stronger then what u have now

there are more ways u can pm me if u want

hope ur rooster comes home

 

[Kyzmette]

SunnySkies, I had some medical issues a couple of years ago that, combined with arthritis, left me pretty unable to do a lot of the heavy work around my place. I picked up a post driver at the local Tractor Supply that has been a lifesaver for me. We have incredibly rocky soil where I live, but with the help of that driver I was still able to get a ton of tposts seated so I could build a new pen for my chickies.

You might also consider building around a tree.

 

[ridinshotgun]

Well I had my first egg form my pullets. I had one that had been acting funny and wanting to hang out in the coop. Well this afternoon I checked on her and lo and behold an egg in a hollow in the saw dust. Now I just need to get her using the nest boxes.

 

[CackleJoy]

I am so excited! One of our little SFH chicks is sporting the beginnings of a mohawk!

Love the crests! Super happy about this. The hens can be crested as well as the roo's, right? Just checking to see if the crest is gender identifying or not. A little disappointed though, it looks like I'll have a lovely flock of SFH but not a single red. I do so love the red.

A crest, though!
A CREST!

 

[Bernie56]

I am so excited! One of our little SFH chicks is sporting the beginnings of a mohawk!

Love the crests! Super happy about this. The hens can be crested as well as the roo's, right? Just checking to see if the crest is gender identifying or not. A little disappointed though, it looks like I'll have a lovely flock of SFH but not a single red. I do so love the red.

A crest, though!
A CREST!

Both sexes can be crested. Roosters crests tend to be more spikey and swept back , while hens crests are usually more rounded. It sounds like your chicks are pretty young so the coloring will change quite dramatically over time. Reds can start out as red, yellow, mahogany, walnut brown, and even tri colored. You will have fun watching the colors change, until about 4 months when they will start getting their adult plumage. Just enjoy the journey!

 

[SunnySkies]

The little guy was found! The dogs located him and alerted later that morning. He was scared to death and soaked to the skin, but healthy and fine. He is kind of a love bug and comes around deliberately where I can pick him up. I'm a little worried he is going to turn nasty on me as he doesn't seem to care about being handled now. But at least he is safe and has a chance to finish growing up.

I have a T post driver but had not thought of using T posts as anchors. This coop was designed to be portable, and I moved it daily for the meaties, but that isn't necessary for now with the Swedes in it.

The main issue is, well....the wind broke the type of cable they use to tie down aircraft. Yes. That stuff. For airplanes. I can pound posts, but my anchoring material can break. We are studying the issue.

Egg production is coming back up. Finally.

 

[CackleJoy]

Both sexes can be crested. Roosters crests tend to be more spikey and swept back , while hens crests are usually more rounded. It sounds like your chicks are pretty young so the coloring will change quite dramatically over time. Reds can start out as red, yellow, mahogany, walnut brown, and even tri colored. You will have fun watching the colors change, until about 4 months when they will start getting their adult plumage. Just enjoy the journey!

Oh I didn't know that the colors changed so much. What fun! Yes, our chicks are quite young, hatched the 14th of October. Our first experience with SFH. We will certainly enjoy watching them change. Thank you!

 

[HaplessRunner]

Not a good way to wake up. The winds are howling here. We live on top a hill too. It easily tops 50-60 mph at my place without a storm sometimes.

Was asleep, heard some crazy noise and decided to go out to have a look. Well, my SFh coop had blown over and down the hill. Maran coop had blown over and was laying on its side.

My black SFH roo is unaccounted for

I hope he turns up when the sun comes up, that maybe he ran for it and found some hidey-hole where I couldn't see him in the dark and rain.

The wind took the roof off a third coop and part of the barn. We were hoping to re-roof the barn anyway, but the howling winds might prevent us from working in it today (hubby is off today, for the first time in months...we have so much to do!).

Part of me is glad this happened now...before we get a blizzard and we are out there trying to fix up the coops in the freezing cold, snow and high winds.

Now....to figure out how to anchor my coops down. Last winter, the winds actually got so bad here that it broke the airline cable and ground anchors, picked up and destroyed one of those garage in a box things from TSC. I am thinking about chains, locks and those large concrete anchors, railroad ties. etc.

Yes, I know a permanent structure would be the best solution, but I have to build coops on my own, as hubby isn't here 60-80 hours a week. I can't dig holes deep enough in our rocky earth to put posts in the ground...we have broken two pairs of post hole diggers and had to rent an augur to place fence posts. Sigh.

SunnySkies,

What you need are called ground anchors. They screw into the ground and you attach to your coops with a bolted chains. I had to do this years ago when I build a school shelter that was blown over by the wind. A local farmer helped used a tractor to lift it back in place. I attached three ground anchors and it has never moved in the 50-70 mph winds we get here. I, too, live on a hill that has a view to the gap to Harpers Ferry and the gap to Point of Rocks.

The anchors look like this.

 

[HaplessRunner]

Karen & Leigh,

The chicks that I got from you are growing out. The two chicks I got from Karen (KYTinpusher's chicks) are both cockerels. The chocolate down one has changed to what appears to be a black base but with striking mottling of white, black, chocolate, & yellow/orange. No hackle or saddle feathers yet. The white one has some hints of red but is mostly white. The two chicks I got from Leigh are mostly white with red lines and tones. One is a pullet and one is a cockerel. LOL - my usual - too many cockerels!

The two chicks that hatched from the eggs I got from Leigh are doing fine. The mother to both of these chicks is Yttra. One of the chicks looks like it will be a cockerel and is chocolate and white for now. The other may be a pullet but it is too early to tell. This chick is going to be very gray like its mother. I will have to get some updated pictures.

 

[ki4got]

Karen & Leigh,

The chicks that I got from you are growing out. The two chicks I got from Karen (KYTinpusher's chicks) are both cockerels. The chocolate down one has changed to what appears to be a black base but with striking mottling of white, black, chocolate, & yellow/orange. No hackle or saddle feathers yet. The white one has some hints of red but is mostly white. The two chicks I got from Leigh are mostly white with red lines and tones. One is a pullet and one is a cockerel. LOL - my usual - too many cockerels!

The two chicks that hatched from the eggs I got from Leigh are doing fine. The mother to both of these chicks is Yttra. One of the chicks looks like it will be a cockerel and is chocolate and white for now. The other may be a pullet but it is too early to tell. This chick is going to be very gray like its mother. I will have to get some updated pictures.

well, if it makes you feel any better, my 2 ky chicks, Confetti (looks like someone dumped a load of it over him LOL) is a roo for sure, i'm still on the fence about the crested penguin... pretty sure the one of leigh's that I kept is a pullet.

of my second bunch, eggs from wildhorseannie (Marcia) and from Leigh, I have 3 of Marcia's and 4 of Leigh's. no idea on sexes overall, but leigh's I have 2 blue mille and 2 red/white. 1 of each is crested, and of Marcia's, I have a penguin and 2 darker mille colored ones.