Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[lcatty]

Thanks for the feedback, Knock Kneed Hen!

Most of my birds have wings like that.

Here's Gabriel, my avatar rooster:



And Danilo:




This mille fleur hen isn't so bad:




This girl looks better when her wings are folded up but when you hold the wing out you can see the split:



Well, I don't know what to do because all of my Swedes have this trait, with the exception of the mille fleur above and one white/red crested hen. Some are so bad their primaries just hang down. I may have to live with it. Don't have enough coop room at the moment to get so many chickens at once, wait until they grow out and cull. Too bad because I really like Gabriel's coloring and he has a beautiful comb, decent tail carriage. He turned one year old around Thanksgiving, 2012, so probably nothing will change.

 

[johnlogan]

Well, I don't know what to do because all of my Swedes have this trait, with the exception of the mille fleur above and one white/red crested hen. Some are so bad their primaries just hang down. I may have to live with it. Don't have enough coop room at the moment to get so many chickens at once, wait until they grow out and cull. Too bad because I really like Gabriel's coloring and he has a beautiful comb, decent tail carriage. He turned one year old around Thanksgiving, 2012, so probably nothing will change.

This is a beautiful breed. I've never posted on this thread before and don't have any of the birds yet, but I've read thru it and would just like to post my opinion to your dilemma. If you are serious about breeding and improving this breed you should cull and find better stock. Even if you do not intend to show your birds selecting against the basic disqualifications will improve the appearance and overall health of your flock. Here is a link to some informative reading I seen posted in another thread that might help someone when trying to select birds. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:tEhdjvCfnbUJ:mysrf.org/pdf/pdf_poultry/p10.pdf+crow+head+on+chicken+drawing&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjRZ54Q_wPbr1r-dCxHwJQvgTtfYs6RiamM0hoAmg8f9XIe6CPr-_fYZhVRJS7DKiq_s583TWlaZss-xTUUmLhMfCKPMpayg7MGJKgdWHpZRvMmPiSZ3fjQkfFvvs5f0cUihoe1&sig=AHIEtbSXesn-N8uJH7QUTzmvJVhVY5YHTQ

 

[lcatty]

This is a beautiful breed. I've never posted on this thread before and don't have any of the birds yet, but I've read thru it and would just like to post my opinion to your dilemma. If you are serious about breeding and improving this breed you should cull and find better stock. Even if you do not intend to show your birds selecting against the basic disqualifications will improve the appearance and overall health of your flock. Here is a link to some informative reading I seen posted in another thread that might help someone when trying to select birds. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:tEhdjvCfnbUJ:mysrf.org/pdf/pdf_poultry/p10.pdf+crow+head+on+chicken+drawing&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjRZ54Q_wPbr1r-dCxHwJQvgTtfYs6RiamM0hoAmg8f9XIe6CPr-_fYZhVRJS7DKiq_s583TWlaZss-xTUUmLhMfCKPMpayg7MGJKgdWHpZRvMmPiSZ3fjQkfFvvs5f0cUihoe1&sig=AHIEtbSXesn-N8uJH7QUTzmvJVhVY5YHTQ

Thanks for the link!

I agree with your take on this issue. Unfortunately for me that means culling most of my Swedish flock and starting over. Right now I have 19 Swedes. All my birds (with the exception of 7 of them that hatched last year from my original stock) came directly from Greenfire. I only put in two orders for a small amount of birds at a time, and for the most part I just culled roosters.

It breaks my heart about Gabriel because in all other respects he is so beautiful.

Nevertheless, I do not under any circumstances want to perpetuate a disqualifying trait. I'd love to see these birds as a recognized breed one day. They are worth the time and effort.

 

[johnlogan]

Thanks for the link!

I agree with your take on this issue. Unfortunately for me that means culling most of my Swedish flock and starting over. Right now I have 19 Swedes. All my birds (with the exception of 7 of them that hatched last year from my original stock) came directly from Greenfire. I only put in two orders for a small amount of birds at a time, and for the most part I just culled roosters.

It breaks my heart about Gabriel because in all other respects he is so beautiful.

Nevertheless, I do not under any circumstances want to perpetuate a disqualifying trait. I'd love to see these birds as a recognized breed one day. They are worth the time and effort.

I don't know enough about genetics to know if you could breed the split wing out or not. I'm sure it would be a long and costly process if you could. It would be much easier to cull your split wings and start with new birds from a reputable breeder. "Came directly from Greenfire" really shouldn't hold much value. They are doing what they do to make money, not necessarily a bad thing, we wouldn't have Swedish Flower hens if it wasn't for them. But you shouldn't take it for granted that you are getting top quality birds from them either.

 

[ki4got]

Thanks for the feedback, Knock Kneed Hen!

Most of my birds have wings like that.

This mille fleur hen isn't so bad:


Well, I don't know what to do because all of my Swedes have this trait, with the exception of the mille fleur above and one white/red crested hen. Some are so bad their primaries just hang down. I may have to live with it. Don't have enough coop room at the moment to get so many chickens at once, wait until they grow out and cull. Too bad because I really like Gabriel's coloring and he has a beautiful comb, decent tail carriage. He turned one year old around Thanksgiving, 2012, so probably nothing will change.

yes, split wing is a fault... once in a line it is difficult to eliminate, but not impossible. I would say whenever possible cull them, or at least don't use split wing birds in breeding.

and the girl above, i agree has the best wings of any that were posted... i'd definitely use her, and if your roo's split winged, then you could just cull the split wing chicks and keep the best from that hen. if it's possible to separate her and the roo i would do that for sure.

 

[sfh11]

yes, split wing is a fault... once in a line it is difficult to eliminate, but not impossible. I would say whenever possible cull them, or at least don't use split wing birds in breeding.

and the girl above, i agree has the best wings of any that were posted... i'd definitely use her, and if your roo's split winged, then you could just cull the split wing chicks and keep the best from that hen. if it's possible to separate her and the roo i would do that for sure.

I would agree it is absolutely a fault. Johnlogan has some good advice. Find a good trio and keep your nonsplit wing hens. Or at least a rooster to breed to your good hen. There has been several people rehoming roosters.

 

[Cynthia12]

So, I guess my girl has a split wing? She was a brat chicken, doesn't like to be held/touched..still a pullet. split wing, oh well, I'm not breeding, I don't think.

Need to find out about getting roosters over..or if I take the girls to them. ? Anyway, she's pretty. To me.

She wouldn't hold still. But it splits right there in the middle. I thought that was
what most chickens wings do?





Ha, she would hold her tail up so I could show the white in it
so I put it up against the coop door. She was ticked! Hoping
she will lay in March..do they start around the norm of 5 months?

 

[Leahs Mom]

I want to revisit this again (hope that's okay...?) I was asking about sex on these 4 week old photos but I now have a little more info than before. New notes in RED.

I'm still thinking it will be awhile before they're discernable. I have also had a female RIR with a HUGE comb and wattle that I wondered about until she started laying eggs

so...I know from experience that the "norm" doesn't always hold true. I am curious about the "s" shaped comb, however!

Little Yellow. I examined a little closer today and see this one will have a crest. The comb is very straight.

The Next 2 photos are Little Gray. This one will also have a crest as BDM pointed out. However...the comb is "s" shaped. I think BDM said that might indicate male due to the "s" shape? Is it always male if it has the "s" shape?






This is Little Orange . No visible crest; straight comb.











Little Black . No visible crest. straight comb.

 

[Spifflove]

Hi all! I am seriously considering replacing my flock with Swedish Flower Hens. However, since nothing should be done in haste I was wondering if anyone could provide the following information:

1. Egg size and color
2. Egg prolific ability, with ranking compared to a White Leghorn, Barred Rock, White Rock, Buff Rock, Speckled Sussex, and Buff Orpington (rank in that spectrum or Prolific, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Average)
3. Size of grown Roosters and Hens in pounds
4. Heat hardiness if known
5. Feed conversion or at least a rough comparison.

Thanks in advance!

 

[dlarimer]

Hi all! I am seriously considering replacing my flock with Swedish Flower Hens. However, since nothing should be done in haste I was wondering if anyone could provide the following information:

1. Egg size and color
2. Egg prolific ability, with ranking compared to a White Leghorn, Barred Rock, White Rock, Buff Rock, Speckled Sussex, and Buff Orpington (rank in that spectrum or Prolific, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Average)
3. Size of grown Roosters and Hens in pounds
4. Heat hardiness if known
5. Feed conversion or at least a rough comparison.

Thanks in advance!

1. 2 1/4oz light brown Hen is 12 months old
2. Good This past year I gathered 1,164 eggs out of a pen of 8 hens. Age of hens when started counting was 8 months. May do better this year. Average time to start lay is 171 days.
3. Roosters 8 1/2 lbs Hens 6 1/2 lbs These are averages, I have a rooster that weights over 9 lbs. and these are weights at 12 months.
4. They handle 100 - 105 degree weather fine
5. 1.5 lbs per week This is an average for a pen of 10. 8 hens and 2 roosters. Another pen averaged just under 2lbs. and another averaged 1.4lbs per chicken.

I have other statistics if you would like. 63% of hatched eggs are male.