Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ki4got]

Quote:
he appears to have the same dilute gene that Leigh's Snoleopard girl has... now whether this proves to be a dominant or recessive we still have to see. but since it's not a common color I'm starting to think it might be recessive... the trick would be to breed him to some non-dilute black based girls and see what you get. (black to make sure that it isn't the blue gene that's causing a faded red)

 

[CackleJoy]

I agree with ki4got in that it's best to avoid crested to crested and if you have crested as well as non crested hens, just use only non crested roosters. That way you'll never have to worry about double crested offspring and you will still get both crested and non crested chicks.

That is the plan! I have one uncrested that I just love. Hoping to get one crested just like her but going to need new blood for that. Breeding her to an uncrested cockerel will only result in a 25% chance of a crested chick. That's IF they both carry the crested gene.

 

[TRUE5]

he appears to have the same dilute gene that Leigh's Snoleopard girl has... now whether this proves to be a dominant or recessive we still have to see. but since it's not a common color I'm starting to think it might be recessive... the trick would be to breed him to some non-dilute black based girls and see what you get. (black to make sure that it isn't the blue gene that's causing a faded red)

I know I wont get the breeding thing right so I will have to find him someone who knows what they are doing. So if he is put to another of the same color, would that produce offspring that is Snoleopard as well? It sounds like a lot of work for who ever takes this on! Im going to try to contact the breeder who I got him from and see if she knows which parents in her flock that produced him.

 

[TxFlowers]

That is the plan! I have one uncrested that I just love. Hoping to get one crested just like her but going to need new blood for that. Breeding her to an uncrested cockerel will only result in a 25% chance of a crested chick. That's IF they both carry the crested gene.

If a bird doesn't actually have a crest, it shouldn't carry the crested gene at all. I say shouldn't because if it's truly a non crested bird, it will not have the crested gene. The crested gene is dominant and you should see a crest in the bird if it's present. I understand there are some birds that are crested that have such a small crest they APPEAR non crested but they are indeed crested and carry the crested gene. But those birds that appear not and are would likely be few and far between. If you bred a non crested to a crested that was a double crested ( homozygous for crested gene ), you would get only crested chicks. A breeding between a non crested and a heterozygous crested would result in 50% chance of getting crested.

 

[CackleJoy]

If a bird doesn't actually have a crest, it shouldn't carry the crested gene at all. I say shouldn't because if it's truly a non crested bird, it will not have the crested gene. The crested gene is dominant and you should see a crest in the bird if it's present. I understand there are some birds that are crested that have such a small crest they APPEAR non crested but they are indeed crested and carry the crested gene. But those birds that appear not and are would likely be few and far between. If you bred a non crested to a crested that was a double crested ( homozygous for crested gene ), you would get only crested chicks. A breeding between a non crested and a heterozygous crested would result in 50% chance of getting crested.

I'm not trying to be dense but that doesn't make sense to me. I'm just hung up on that 2nd sentence. Of course, it's late and I'm tired so I could be missing something. This is my thought process, please feel free to correct me or tell me how the crest genetic differs from color or feather legged genetics.

In my mind a crested x uncrested pair should net in all offspring carrying the crested gene even if it doesn't show.

I realize this analogy is off but it's kind of like the lavender black split birds, even though they might look black, when bred to a lavender, their genetics will show with more lavender offspring. I'm not a chicken geneticist so I am quite willing to stand corrected. It just doesn't make sense that a chick can NOT carry the parental genetics. I realize that only 50% of crested x non crested chicks will show the crest but 100% should carry the gene. Meaning that next generation of uncrested can still be bred together and 1 in 4 has a probable odds of showing a crest.

I'm told that it takes 7 generations to create a true genetic again so it would stand to reason that once the crested gene was bred into the SFH, it would take 7 generations of breeding only non-crested to get rid of the crested gene. So any time in 6 generations you could see a crest thrown from uncrested parents because the crest genetic was still there.

For example my very pure Wheaten Ameraucana with feathered legs. Sometime A LONG TIME AGO, Favarolles had been used to make the Wheaten color of Ameraucana. The parents of my feather legged pullet both had a hidden feather legged gene but neither showed it - even though feathering on the legs is a dominant gene. My pullet was the only one out of probably hundreds to show. But the genetic was there.

I love learning from discussion. I've some background in people science but people and chickens are nothing alike so the learning curve is big!

 

[CackleJoy]

yes, there is only a 25% chance of having a homozygous crested offspring, that may or may not have a vaulted skull. and those vaulted skull chicks may or may not have problems down the road, same as the huge crests, but why take that chance?

personally, I will NOT breed crest to crest. for each crest to no-crest breeding you still get a 50/50 chance of getting crested chicks. the other 50% will be uncrested and unaffected by any associated (potential) problems.

just my 2c.

glad to hear you had a successful hatch ancientoaks.

I'm only keeping non-crested cockerels and hoping to build a flock of all crested pullets. That way I don't have to worry about the breeding.

 

[fintuckyfarms]

Update to my pair... These are hands down the sweetest birds I have ever owned. My girl is so pretty with some blue shading, but my guy, bless his heart is still in that teenage UGLY stage and he crowed for the first time yesterday. I have more hatching eggs ordered...

 

[shelbydog]

I bought this hen at an auction. Her cage tag said SFH but the auctioneer just sold her off as a regular ol' hen. Is she SFH or Heinz57? I like her whatever she is.
she's the spotted/mottled one on the left. She does have gold in her hackles.

 

[Gonetothebirds]

I bought this hen at an auction. Her cage tag said SFH but the auctioneer just sold her off as a regular ol' hen. Is she SFH or Heinz57? I like her whatever she is.
she's the spotted/mottled one on the left. She does have gold in her hackles.

I want to say no. Her body type isant right. Color looks off. Legs don't look yellow.

 

[shelbydog]

I want to say no. Her body type isant right. Color looks off. Legs don't look yellow.

should they be a strong solid yellow? Hers are light yellow and black.