Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Bernie56]

Holy cow! I've never seen a crest like that.

 

[Jeansrie]

Out of the egg he looked vaulted like a silkie, is that possible? And his crest changes and "moves" with his mood.. He was aggravated in the picture, when he is calmer it doesnt stand straight out as much.

 

[MeatMyChicken]

Hi everyone. I hatched my first SFH chicks about a month ago. Have you ever seen one crested like this? None of his hatch-mates are this dramatic. I've decided to call him Kramer.

LOL!! He's awesome - and also lucky to be alive and healthy. Many SFH with vaulted skulls don't make it out of the egg. He almost certainly resulted from breeding a crested roo with a crested hen... which is why many folks try not to do this.

But - he's great!

 

[Jeansrie]

LOL!! He's awesome - and also lucky to be alive and healthy. Many SFH with vaulted skulls don't make it out of the egg. He almost certainly resulted from breeding a crested roo with a crested hen... which is why many folks try not to do this.

But -  he's great!

Thank you for your help! I have not done much research but thought it might be some kind of "doubling-up" of the crested gene. His personality matches his looks - very quirky.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Bad hair day

 

[ki4got]

Out of the egg he looked vaulted like a silkie, is that possible? And his crest changes and "moves" with his mood.. He was aggravated in the picture, when he is calmer it doesnt stand straight out as much.

it sounds like he's the product of a crested to crested breeding... which is why I won't do that. the sfh crest should be smaller IMO and not interfere with their vision when they free range. my one crested girl has a neat little 'cap'. I'll keep a few crested girls, but all the roos *for me* will be uncrested.

I've got one more pullet growing out with a crest, from Leigh's Sorenson, who's a red/white/splash. I think she's going to be very pretty.

I sold one of the crested cockerels this weekend along with an uncrested roo so she's got some variety to work with for breeding. don't know if she follows this thread but hope she'll send pics somewhere down the road of how they're maturing. the crested is from kytinpusher and the uncrested is one of Leigh's. they both now live in Tennessee (delivered to the show in Knoxville I went to this last weekend).

edit: ok I replied before reading everyone else's posts... MeatMyChicken said pretty much the same thing, and is very right about the vaulted skulls... some breeds that's the norm and they've worked out the problems that cause the higher mortality rates (I think).

 

[Leahs Mom]

Yes...I'm bummed because I have a crest to crest girl. I like her color but the crest is larger...and I don't like even small crests to be honest.

I want to find a non-crested boy as my roo is crested. I have one pullet that is non-crest and I'd love to get a few more. It may take a visit to VA to accomplish this.

 

[CackleJoy]

LOL!! He's awesome - and also lucky to be alive and healthy. Many SFH with vaulted skulls don't make it out of the egg. He almost certainly resulted from breeding a crested roo with a crested hen... which is why many folks try not to do this.

But - he's great!

I didn't know that crested/crested was bad. Good to know now. Is it rather like the Araucana's with their double tufts? I like the crests and wanted to breed for more crested.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
the crested gene is dominant, so breeding crested to uncrested will result in 50/50... the crested gene is not a fatal like the tufted gene in araucanas, but it can cause problems in some chicks that have vaulted skulls (hatching problems and early losses). some breeds where the vaulted skull is normal seem to have fewer problems but it could be that over the many generations they've developed some mechanism that helps them cope with it. not really sure as I'm not into polish or silkies.

 

[Jeansrie]

I didn't know that crested/crested was bad. Good to know now. Is it rather like the Araucana's with their double tufts? I like the crests and wanted to breed for more crested.

I think it is more preference than "bad". I like the crested birds (IMO ) and that's why I bought eggs from a crested flock. I think Kramer is fun and different even if he isn't everyone's favorite and I'm glad he is healthy and perky.