Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[FeyRaine]

@ki4got The Black based SFH cockeral I got from you Crowed for the 1st time this am!

Also today 2 cream eggs I set Dec19 hatched, I can't think of anyone by "Flo" my SFH pullet who could have laid them so as soon & this cold snap breaks then I can rearrange pens & in a month I should have my first pure SFH eggs to set from her. Then followed shortly by a MF colored pullet hatched in Oct. I'm hopeful for making some SFH in 2014 !

 

[Penny Hen]

My three cream legbar roosters got frostbite pretty bad. Two have wattles that have swollen at least a half inch or more in thickness the other lesser swelling. Two that have swollen ear lobes as well. Should I leave it be or lance them to relieve the pressure and allow drainage?

You can try some sugar water sprayed on to take down the swelling. The sugar will feed the damaged cells and help more of them survive. When you have an animal prolapse her uterus it swells horribly and you can't get it stuffed back inside. You cover it in sugar and it reduces the swelling so that it can be put back inside and sewn in. I have never had to try it on frostbite but have used it on bleeding wounds with sucess. Managed to keep my pony from loosing her eyelid when she tore it 90% off leaving it hanging by a thread. Stitched it back together and then kept spraying it with the sugar water to keep the cells alive until the circulation was reestablished.

At worst it won't work but it won't harm them either.

 

[HaplessRunner]

You can try some sugar water sprayed on to take down the swelling. The sugar will feed the damaged cells and help more of them survive. When you have an animal prolapse her uterus it swells horribly and you can't get it stuffed back inside. You cover it in sugar and it reduces the swelling so that it can be put back inside and sewn in. I have never had to try it on frostbite but have used it on bleeding wounds with sucess. Managed to keep my pony from loosing her eyelid when she tore it 90% off leaving it hanging by a thread. Stitched it back together and then kept spraying it with the sugar water to keep the cells alive until the circulation was reestablished.

At worst it won't work but it won't harm them either.

Thanks! I will check it out. They are beautiful birds with ultra large combs and wattles which makes them much more suceptable to frostbite.

 

[Penny Hen]

Thanks! I will check it out. They are beautiful birds with ultra large combs and wattles which makes them much more suceptable to frostbite.

I would pat it dry before returning them to the cold though.

 

[DeltaBluezTess]

Yes sugar does help reduce swelling. I raise sheep and have sued sugar to reduce swelling with the ewe has a prolapse. It absorbs the water. Use it generously. I have uses it as well as honey for inflamed wounds to help them heal and reduce the swelling.

 

[SunnySkies]

All four of my SFH boys got frostbite too, along with one hen. The wind ripped the front plastic off their coop the night it hit -20 wind chill up here. UGH. I've just left them alone so far and examine them every evening after they have gone in to roost (I can't catch them during the day). I feel bad for them, but there isn't anything else I could have done about it unless they had been in a different coop, but that coop is the only one big enough to accommodate that flock. The 50 mph winds were what did it. None of the other roosters were affected, but they live in smaller coops.

TurnipTruck....I let them grow out quite a bit before making decisions on who to keep. Some lines seem to take a little while to decide to really indicate gender, as well as faults such as split wing, comb sprigs, etc. Most, if not all, of those chicks will be crested, so I would only keep non-crested roosters. I have processed quite a few SFH roosters, and 3-3.5 lbs is what they average at 6 months, so they are soup birds really. Those chicks have nice friendly daddies, but any mean ones go. You can sell or give away extra roosters as well, and I always stipulate that they should not be used for producing more SFH unless they are going to someone else with SFH; I worry, because the coloration is rather dominant, that someone will be making "Swedish Flower Hens" that are really crosses, so I prefer to process my extras. Same thing with crossed eggs...we eat them or I give them to someone who just wants to hatch eggs and raise a few chicks.

 

[TurnipTruck]

TurnipTruck....I let them grow out quite a bit before making decisions on who to keep. Some lines seem to take a little while to decide to really indicate gender, as well as faults such as split wing, comb sprigs, etc. Most, if not all, of those chicks will be crested, so I would only keep non-crested roosters. I have processed quite a few SFH roosters, and 3-3.5 lbs is what they average at 6 months, so they are soup birds really. Those chicks have nice friendly daddies, but any mean ones go. You can sell or give away extra roosters as well, and I always stipulate that they should not be used for producing more SFH unless they are going to someone else with SFH; I worry, because the coloration is rather dominant, that someone will be making "Swedish Flower Hens" that are really crosses, so I prefer to process my extras. Same thing with crossed eggs...we eat them or I give them to someone who just wants to hatch eggs and raise a few chicks.

It sounds like we're on the same page.

 

[ancientoaks]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone has seen a Swedish flower hen rooster that was marked like a light Sussex? A friend bought eggs to hatch and the only egg to hatch looks like a white Columbian marked rooster.

thanks for any information

 

[Bulldogma]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone has seen a Swedish flower hen rooster that was marked like a light Sussex? A friend bought eggs to hatch and the only egg to hatch looks like a white Columbian marked rooster.

thanks for any information

If you can post a photo or two, we'd be better able to judge if he were a SFH or not.

 

[ki4got]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone has seen a Swedish flower hen rooster that was marked like a light Sussex? A friend bought eggs to hatch and the only egg to hatch looks like a white Columbian marked rooster.

thanks for any information

a pic would help greatly... some splash-based birds do look nearly white with just occasional splash markings, but they should still have mottling which should be visible on any feathers that do have color to them. sometimes it might show up under a black light too, the difference between pure white and very pale grey...

body type is also going to be different between a Sussex and a SFH, IMO too, so that is something else to go by as well.