Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[lcatty]

Yes- I love that hen's coloring too!

 

[salunra]

Very friendly except first thing in the morning when I go to feed them they attack!!!

Na.. actually they hover over me so much I can't walk, I have to scoot along so I don't step on anyone. I actually have a few juvies that fly in my hands as soon as I open the door.

LOL! That sounds like mine too.

I have one cockerel we named Punt because I kept accidently kicking him! He is so underfoot!

 

[SunnySkies]

So sorry to hear of Inga's loss.

Something got Bronze, one of my three roos, a couple nights ago. He would sometimes get a wild hair and not go to bed with the rest but sleep somewhere on the farm. Guess it caught up with him. I found a few random feathers behind the Silkie coop. I was totally bummed. He was big, beautifully built, lovely comb, and had gorgeous plumage. I was toying with the idea of exhibiting him, honestly, just to show him and this wonderful breed off, and then using him as my primary rooster. I'm left with his two brothers. One has similar plumage but is not as well built. The second is red, but he is skittish and isn't as substantial as I would like.

I culled almost everything over the weekend. We still have the bantams, but the only big birds are my SFH. The place, within hours, was a much calmer place. I don't worry about the roosters killing Silkies now. The barnyard mixes would and almost did. These boys won't. I wish I could find some girls. I would pay good money for a couple SFH ladies. I'm trying to get some Marans or EE ladies for now, so I can easily pull crossbred eggs and eat those, because the boys seem a bit depressed since the rest of the gang left for freezer camp.

 

[Bulldogma]

Sad news - lost Inga and now Frederic to what I believe was Marek's disease. Has anyone else heard of a SFH getting Meriks, or am I the unlucky first? It was reasonable to think Inga had an injury, but when Frederic started losing the use of his leg... just like she did... Yikes!

Knock on wood, but the rest of the birds seem to be fine... and I hope and pray they stay that way! (All prayers, well-wishes, finger crossing, etc. is appreciated!!)

 

[Dahlisgrams]

Sad news - lost Inga and now Frederic to what I believe was Marek's disease. Has anyone else heard of a SFH getting Meriks, or am I the unlucky first? It was reasonable to think Inga had an injury, but when Frederic started losing the use of his leg... just like she did... Yikes!

Knock on wood, but the rest of the birds seem to be fine... and I hope and pray they stay that way! (All prayers, well-wishes, finger crossing, etc. is appreciated!!)

Oh no!!!!! Did you have a necropsy done? I believe that's the only way to determine with certainty that it's Mareks. I have not heard of any with the disease, but there's a first time for everything unfortunately.. Big hugs and all my fingers and toes crossed that it isn't!!!!!!

 

[KYTinpusher]

Sad news - lost Inga and now Frederic to what I believe was Marek's disease. Has anyone else heard of a SFH getting Meriks, or am I the unlucky first? It was reasonable to think Inga had an injury, but when Frederic started losing the use of his leg... just like she did... Yikes!

Knock on wood, but the rest of the birds seem to be fine... and I hope and pray they stay that way! (All prayers, well-wishes, finger crossing, etc. is appreciated!!)

So sorry to hear about your loss.

I thought a couple of my young ones had it last year, but after treating them and reading this thread and some of the Marek's threads, I decided it was probably a vitamin deficiency. Both of them were from the same hatch and back then I used the medicated feed. One was about 4 weeks old when it came down with it, the other was about 17 or 18 weeks. I lost the younger one before I learned about the vitamins, but the other pulled through and is doing fine. I now use only non-medicated organic feed from hatch on and have not had any more problems.

How old were yours? Did you start them on medicated feed and were you giving them vitamins?

 

[BHep]

So sorry to hear about your loss.

I thought a couple of my young ones had it last year, but after treating them and reading this thread and some of the Marek's threads, I decided it was probably a vitamin deficiency. Both of them were from the same hatch and back then I used the medicated feed. One was about 4 weeks old when it came down with it, the other was about 17 or 18 weeks. I lost the younger one before I learned about the vitamins, but the other pulled through and is doing fine. I now use only non-medicated organic feed from hatch on and have not had any more problems.

How old were yours? Did you start them on medicated feed and were you giving them vitamins?

So sad..

I was thinking the same thing... since hearing of this loss, I did some research myself. I have seen several post regarding vitamin deficiency. I saw that vitamin deficiency also is one of the causes of wry neck. HMmmmmmm Learn something new everyday.

 

[KYTinpusher]

It makes me wonder if there are vitamins and/or minerals that are in good supply in the soils of Sweden that are lacking here in the states.

 

[lcatty]

It makes me wonder if there are vitamins and/or minerals that are in good supply in the soils of Sweden that are lacking here in the states.

I had wondered that myself.

 

[SunnySkies]

Oh no! If he dies, have a necropsy done so you know for sure. I'm so sorry you are going through this.