Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ki4got]

Ok I truly believe the fates do not want me to have SFH!

I ordered 2 dozen eggs from an eBay person, box arrived with eggs smashed, ones I cleaned and incubated started but died by 5 or so days. Set the dozen she sent me to replace, 2 hatched, one has feathered legs and both started crowing this weekend.

Ordered another dozen from a BYC'er and one hatched but had to be helped out of egg and is crippled (she laid in incubator for 2 days before moving and then I fed with a syringe for 4 days) her neck is very kinked and it looks like her head comes out of where a wing attaches, can feel the vertebrae is out of place, she is mobile and does normal chicken things but isn't and never has been as active as a normal chick.

Gave up on hatching and ordered 13 chicks from Fisher Farm. All arrived and are healthy and thriving. They are 4 weeks old and I am thinking 11 of 13 are roosters! Argh!

All I want are a dozen nice hens and a couple Roos, heck even 6 hens at this point

don't give up... i'll have more growing out and will be selling/shipping sexed/older pullets later this summer / early fall. it'll be too hot during the summer to ship IMO...

 

[ki4got]

Chicks and how they grew up:

Thanks Leigh! To the person who was asking about pink leg colors in younger chicks, check out some of these chicks and their adult counterparts. not all sfh start out yellow, but they all end up yellow legged.

 

[dbarjacres]

I'm located in WI so no breeders near me aside from a small hatchery with a very bad reputation 2 hrs away. I have no choice but to ship.

 

[Bulldogma]

Ok I truly believe the fates do not want me to have SFH!

I ordered 2 dozen eggs from an eBay person, box arrived with eggs smashed, ones I cleaned and incubated started but died by 5 or so days. Set the dozen she sent me to replace, 2 hatched, one has feathered legs and both started crowing this weekend.

Ordered another dozen from a BYC'er and one hatched but had to be helped out of egg and is crippled (she laid in incubator for 2 days before moving and then I fed with a syringe for 4 days) her neck is very kinked and it looks like her head comes out of where a wing attaches, can feel the vertebrae is out of place, she is mobile and does normal chicken things but isn't and never has been as active as a normal chick.

Gave up on hatching and ordered 13 chicks from Fisher Farm. All arrived and are healthy and thriving. They are 4 weeks old and I am thinking 11 of 13 are roosters! Argh!

All I want are a dozen nice hens and a couple Roos, heck even 6 hens at this point

I'm so sorry it's been such a rough road!

Do you remember what her down color was?

I believe she looked like most of the black-based MF chicks, but with less pronounced red... though I think there was *some* reddish on her head. No - she didn't stand out as a little chick - it wasn't until she developed a bit of a zebra appearance when she started to feather out that we realized she was different.

Thanks Leigh! To the person who was asking about pink leg colors in younger chicks, check out some of these chicks and their adult counterparts. not all sfh start out yellow, but they all end up yellow legged.

And predominantly black SFH may have black mottling on the legs.

 

[CackleJoy]

Just set 22 of our own eggs. This is very exciting!

 

[Country Squire]

Howdy! New member here. I just bought these two two-month old chicks. They are the same age. I think the crested one is a cockerel (Olaf) and the other one is a pullet (Anna), but I'm unsure. Both have pinkish combs and wattles. Olaf is a larger bird, has a bigger wattle, more tail feathers, and a much longer neck. But the fact that Anna has wattles at all, and pinkish yet, concerns me. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Bulldogma]

Howdy! New member here. I just bought these two two-month old chicks. They are the same age. I think the crested one is a cockerel (Olaf) and the other one is a pullet (Anna), but I'm unsure. Both have pinkish combs and wattles. Olaf is a larger bird, has a bigger wattle, more tail feathers, and a much longer neck. But the fact that Anna has wattles at all, and pinkish yet, concerns me. Thoughts? Thanks!

Two very lovely birds! If they are in fact only 8-ish weeks old, I'd say you might consider renaming Anna Kristoff... or Sven.

 

[Country Squire]

Shoot! A boy, huh? Pretty sure?

 

[KYTinpusher]

Shoot! A boy, huh? Pretty sure?

Yup.

Welcome to the thread!

Oh. and

 

[CackleJoy]

Howdy! New member here. I just bought these two two-month old chicks. They are the same age. I think the crested one is a cockerel (Olaf) and the other one is a pullet (Anna), but I'm unsure. Both have pinkish combs and wattles. Olaf is a larger bird, has a bigger wattle, more tail feathers, and a much longer neck. But the fact that Anna has wattles at all, and pinkish yet, concerns me. Thoughts? Thanks!

Some of my girls had big pink combs and wattles at a young age too. Don't give up hope! All good cockerels need a harem though, so it is a good excuse to start hunting down pullets. Just in case - you know.