Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[OHfarmerswife]

I was sure this family was a good one.
After taking to the mother, the 5 yr old was carrying her pullet to the pen & the pullet got spooked & bolted.
They called & called her. The mother even called me to ask how I called my chickens.
The kids love their rooster....these are some of your eggs that I hatched.
Funny I didn't really want to sell them, but I knee they were going to a good family!

Sorry to hear about your loss subhanalah.

Hubby relax me I need to get a tougher skin.
He's a farm boy, born & raised, I'm a city girl living on a farm, an animal lover.

 

[TxFlowers]

I am just sick!!!!
Sold 3 SFH pullets (3 mos) to a sweet family with 4 kids.
Apparently they let their 5 yr old carry one of the pullets around & the pullet ran into a cornfield.
They never found her

I hatched her & its hard to think that just 24 hrs shoo she was safe & sound with her sisters, and was most likely dinner some animals dinner lay night. *sigh*

Few weeks ago I sold 4 adult SF hens to a guy along with a roo. I had gotten the hens direct from GFF last year but they weren't exactly what I wanted to keep so decided to sell them. Within couple of wks after getting them, 3 of the 4 had been killed by something. It's makes you feel bad but you do the best you can in re homing them. Even though I didn't sell them cheap, most people still think a chicken is just a chicken and easily replaced. To us on here, members of this breed become so much more than "just" chickens.

 

[Bulldogma]

Pics.

 

[Leahs Mom]

A few photos of the 8 week olds. It was noon when I took these so they really just wanted to be laying in the shade. Next photos I take will be in the evening when they're more active and I can get more "stance" shots.

@KYTinpusher
Please be sure to show your daughter!!


Brown








2 Blacks
I believe black with the band is on the right or to the front.








Black w/band

 

[TRUE5]

I posted this same question o tge Facebook page "Sweedish flower hens USA" but only had others say to cull (don't sell) or put in my laying flock. I'm wondering about the leg coloring. I have three crested. One roo with yellow legs and two hens with pink. Their parents are from GFF. With such a variety of colors in this breed is that possible to have two colors of legs in one breed? How are pink legs treated in flocks in where they are from since they are a landrace? Or does being a landrace have anything to do with leg color? I'm just curious to why pink legs are so frowned upon and why they arnt considered as the "standard". I kind of also wonder if this is just the breeders in the U.S. Sorry fir so many questions. I'm just trying to understand on a breed thy has no SOP yet already leg color is determined. I understand things like split wing or sprigs but I'm curious about this.

 

[ki4got]

I posted this same question o tge Facebook page "Sweedish flower hens USA" but only had others say to cull (don't sell) or put in my laying flock. I'm wondering about the leg coloring. I have three crested. One roo with yellow legs and two hens with pink. Their parents are from GFF. With such a variety of colors in this breed is that possible to have two colors of legs in one breed? How are pink legs treated in flocks in where they are from since they are a landrace? Or does being a landrace have anything to do with leg color? I'm just curious to why pink legs are so frowned upon and why they arnt considered as the "standard". I kind of also wonder if this is just the breeders in the U.S. Sorry fir so many questions. I'm just trying to understand on a breed thy has no SOP yet already leg color is determined. I understand things like split wing or sprigs but I'm curious about this.

pink legs are NOT the norm for SFH, though some youngsters develop the yellow pigment later than others, and some adult hens may lose it some. but they are not supposed to be pink. do you have pictures of the parent stock? yellow is recessive to pink and would not be the norm if left to it's own devices. population genetics tend toward one or the other but rarely have a recessive more than a dominant for the same feature, within the same mix.

even the accepted standard in Europe is for yellow legs.

the SOP is determined by the breed club (which we're trying to get established, slowly) and then presented to the APA for recognition (normally). since the feather colors of the SFH are entirely variable, all we can do is set a standard for type and those points not controlling the feather color. this has been laid out and pretty much accepted for well over a year, since I started writing up the rough 'standard'. it can be found on the SFH breeder's website.
http://www.sfhusa.com/page.php?4
GFF does sometimes include 'packing peanuts' of other breeds, and unless the person receiving them is aware of the difference, crosses can happen.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Pics.

The little ones look fantastic... great pics as aways.

 

[cutipatooti]

I am thinking of getting this breed. I need a free range flock for insect control. I also want them to be friendly towards people but able to be weary of predators. I was thinking of getting 8 to 10 of these. I recently got some bielefelders and black Bresse from Greenfire Farms and am happy with them and shipping. I saw a few other places selling them but most are in California. I'm in NY and feel that's a long way to ship birds in the heat of summer. Anybody get theirs from GFF and what did you think of them. Any other recomendation of placed to order from?

 

[ki4got]

I am thinking of getting this breed. I need a free range flock for insect control. I also want them to be friendly towards people but able to be weary of predators. I was thinking of getting 8 to 10 of these. I recently got some bielefelders and black Bresse from Greenfire Farms and am happy with them and shipping. I saw a few other places selling them but most are in California. I'm in NY and feel that's a long way to ship birds in the heat of summer. Anybody get theirs from GFF and what did you think of them. Any other recomendation of placed to order from?

at this point, I think all the sfh originated with GFF, in one or more of their importations. mine trace back to 2 separate gff importations, possibly more, but I'm not sure about the lines on one of my roosters. I haven't ordered directly from GFF, but do hatch chicks pretty regularly from my own stock and Leigh's (when I can snag some from her!

)

if you want to wait a few weeks, I've got some hatching now and I will ship started chicks, but feel the day olds are just too fragile to subject to the rigors of shipping. also with the summer heat, shipping towards the end of august or early September would be better for the chicks IMO. between Leigh and I, we would be able to easily fill an order for how ever many you want, at that point. LOL

in a standard single stall shipper (designed for adult birds) we could probably easily fit 6-8 youngsters between 3-5 weeks old, and from here, NY is usually next day express mail.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Okay...the "eternal" what sex is it question....

Do you all still think my brown kiddo is female? (I have my doubts...) 8 Weeks old. More red and more wattle than the other 2 kiddos but... I looked back at my crested roo's photos at this age and his comb was much redder and much larger. Not sure how to compare on non-crested.