Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Trooper Man]

That would be him Leigh. He looks like he will grow up to be real nice. The little white one with the crest is that a pullet?

 

[redhen689]

Okay everybody, I have a question. Actually I already know the answer to this but I need others to verify what I already know for someone else's knowledge.
The question is do you have any swedish flower hens that lay a white or nearly white egg? Thanks!

I have one that does. She has white earlobes. My other two hens have red earlobes and lay light brown eggs.

 

[TxFlowers]

Thanks to everyone that has posted so far saying they have a SFH that lays white eggs. I have one myself. So I know that some SFH DO in fact lay white eggs. What I needed was some others to say they also had a white egg laying SFH. A friend knows a lady that doesn't believe that it's possible if it's a "pure" SFH and supposedly was even told by Jennifer at GFF that they only lay tan eggs. My own white egg layers are direct GFF birds. Most are a very light tan however but there are these few exceptions that are a chalky white. Anyway, if anyone else has a white layer(s), please let me know as I plan to pass this information along.

 

[FeyRaine]

Thanks to everyone that has posted so far saying they have a SFH that lays white eggs. I have one myself. So I know that some SFH DO in fact lay white eggs. What I needed was some others to say they also had a white egg laying SFH. A friend knows a lady that doesn't believe that it's possible if it's a "pure" SFH and supposedly was even told by Jennifer at GFF that they only lay tan eggs. My own white egg layers are direct GFF birds. Most are a very light tan however but there are these few exceptions that are a chalky white. Anyway, if anyone else has a white layer(s), please let me know as I plan to pass this information along.

What about ppl posting some pictures of the range of egg colors from the SFH?

I've gotten shipped SFH hatching eggs several times and there was a mix of colors , what your are calling chalky white sounds like the ones I looked at and thought "oh that is what they mean by cream colored eggs" and I got some that were about the same light brown tan as my H. BR so I think the variety in egg color might be about as wide as the variety in feathering! I'm sure it would be interesting to see what everyone is getting this spring, and maybe find an objective color chart (like the Maran folks do w/ the dark shades) so we can communicate what the actual color range is we are getting. I'll be happy to join in w/ my 1 (or 2) pullets when they start laying, course I'll mostly be happy about them actually finally laying ;>

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Different topic- someone on a FB group said that the cresting gene in SFH is a "fatal gene" meaning that when you breed two crested birds together you have a much higher chick mortality rate from skull deformities. That's a new one for me. I know it's not true for silkies, Polish, and Cream Legbars so I assume they are just full of it. I know silkies in particular are more susceptible to blows to the head though due to the skull shape. Have any of you with crested flocks experienced higher mortality rates in your chicks?

 

[ki4got]

Different topic- someone on a FB group said that the cresting gene in SFH is a "fatal gene" meaning that when you breed two crested birds together you have a much higher chick mortality rate from skull deformities. That's a new one for me. I know it's not true for silkies, Polish, and Cream Legbars so I assume they are just full of it. I know silkies in particular are more susceptible to blows to the head though due to the skull shape. Have any of you with crested flocks experienced higher mortality rates in your chicks?

not necessarily fatal, some breeds have vaulted skulls and no problems, but they've been bred and selected for it...

I haven't had any vaulted skull sfh survive beyond a couple weeks.

also possibly fatal if they have a huge crest and free range, but thta'ts a side effect of not seeing the predator that ate it. LOL

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

Regarding egg color- most of mine lay a light tan egg. The eggs are definitely lighter in color than any other brown egg layers I've had including production RIRs, sex links, Australorps, and Jersey Giants. I rather like the SFH color and it might make for some nice pysanky closer to Easter.

 

[SunnySkies]

Thanks to everyone that has posted so far saying they have a SFH that lays white eggs. I have one myself.  So I know that some SFH DO in fact lay white eggs. What I needed was some others to say they also had a white egg laying SFH. A friend knows a lady that doesn't believe that it's possible if it's a  "pure" SFH and supposedly was even told by Jennifer at GFF that they only lay tan eggs. My own white egg layers are direct GFF birds. Most are a very light tan however but there are these few exceptions that are a chalky white.  Anyway, if anyone else has a white layer(s), please let me know as I plan to pass this information along.

I have a crested hen I got from GFF that lays a creamy white egg. It isn't white like that of a Leghorn, but it is not tan colored.

Different topic- someone on a FB group said that the cresting gene in SFH is a "fatal gene" meaning that when you breed two crested birds together you have a much higher chick mortality rate from skull deformities.  That's a new one for me.  I know it's not true for silkies, Polish, and Cream Legbars so I assume they are just full of it.  I know silkies in particular are more susceptible to blows to the head though due to the skull shape.  Have any of you with crested flocks experienced higher mortality rates in your chicks?

I set 6 eggs from a crestedxcrested cross on accident for the NYD hatch...I didn't know which hen was laying large, beautiful creamy-white eggs. Half didn't hatch; they were fully formed but had crazy vaults. I saw one hatch, and knew instantly it had a vault but it did well..I also raise Silkies... A second one hatched with a vault and that one didn't do well and died. The last one did not have a vault. Until I can separate that crested hen to run with just a noncrested rooster, I pull her eggs...a 50% hatch rate plus a 33% chick death rate is too much for me. I would not call it a lethal gene, but it is not conducive to healthy offspring. It's totally preventable, so I will keep it from happening in my flock.

Interestingly enough, the crested birds originated from a totally different area in Sweden than the noncrested imports.

 

[ked0835]

Does anyone have a crested SF that seems to have trouble seeing? My crested SF is always behind the pack...always the last one to seek a treat...and has a lot of trouble finding a treat in my hand. He 'whiffs' when trying to get a treat.

 

[Bulldogma]

That would be him Leigh. He looks like he will grow up to be real nice. The little white one with the crest is that a pullet?

Karen thinks it's a cockerel, but I think it might be a pullet. It is very hard to tell at this stage with crested birds. If you start seeing dark coloration coming in on the wings, it's a boy.

Range of color in Swedish Flower Hen eggs:



"E" is Elinor - and she lays a lovely almost-white egg.