Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[SunnySkies]

Not a SFH, but the Silkie roo I had in the SFH grow out pen apparently sacrificed his life today defending the young birds and his ladies from something attacking them in the pen (free range birds are all fine) while I was at work. He was a lovely boy from Glen See's lines and the very first chick I hatched here on our farm. The SFH are all fine and accounted for, so my brave, beautiful guy did not die in vain. I am hoping the eggs laid by the ladies I had in there are fertile; maybe I can hatch a replacement via broody, but the hens are not as good quality as he was.

Crying over a rooster

 

[PugBug]

Thank you, Tony. (Great avatar picture, by the way)
The general thought on the Natural Chicken Keeping thread and among other friends is that it was likely either poisoning or heart failure. I just found out today that our neighbors had an exterminator come a few days ago. It's possible a poisoned mouse was wandering about and Gunnar gobbled it up... but I should know more in the next few days from the vet.

The biggest piece of the puzzle was that Gunnar went from perfectly healthy to dead in less than 24 hours... and his comb and wattles turned bluish-purple and were cold to the touch. This would indicate a lack of oxygen - one of the most common side effects of poisoning... or heart failure. He was also unusually thirsty in the 12 hours before his passing.

It is also not altogether uncommon for roosters to die from heart problems at around 10 months of age - it's a noted phenomena that others have witnessed. It's generally not genetic - it's just one of those really weird things. That just might not answer the thirst thing, but who knows?

We shall see. The vet's first comment was that I had brought him the healthiest looking carcass he'd seen in a long time (aside from the oddly colored comb).

Taken on Sunday:


Taken this morning - an hour before he passed in the truck on the way to the vet.

Oh poor boy! He looks so sick here in the last photo, what a terrible thing to happen!

 

[PugBug]

He is the one in the back my only non crested boy

Oh geez, what's going on with these roos! JB, really sorry!!!

 

[PugBug]

Had to share -
DH took me to an estate sale today just for fun... to cheer me up. The man that passed used to run a country store than had been in his family for 100+ years, so the antiques there were just amazing! I took pictures.

We sat down to watch the auction (so fun!) and they brought up an item I hadn't seen while walking around... but when I saw it just before it went up, I had to have it. No, understand - I'm not the kind of girl who ever has to have knick-knacks or little dishes. I could only see it from a distance, but really, really wanted it!

I only bid up to $10 (which is about $10 more than I would normally spend on an item that wasn't a necessity) but when I stopped bidding, DH jumped in and won it for $15.

It wasn't until it was in my hands that I realized it looks just like a crested Swedish Flower Hen!













It seems to be an antique, and is hand-blown Jadite glass. My grandparents used to have some jadite egg holders (my grandmother is currently 104... and a quarter. LOL!)

So glad he got this for you- it is beautiful! And yes it does look like SFH

 

[PugBug]

Not a SFH, but the Silkie roo I had in the SFH grow out pen apparently sacrificed his life today defending the young birds and his ladies from something attacking them in the pen (free range birds are all fine) while I was at work. He was a lovely boy from Glen See's lines and the very first chick I hatched here on our farm. The SFH are all fine and accounted for, so my brave, beautiful guy did not die in vain. I am hoping the eggs laid by the ladies I had in there are fertile; maybe I can hatch a replacement via broody, but the hens are not as good quality as he was.

Crying over a rooster

Very sorry this happened! Poor little guy

 

[Bernie56]

Not a SFH, but the Silkie roo I had in the SFH grow out pen apparently sacrificed his life today defending the young birds and his ladies from something attacking them in the pen (free range birds are all fine) while I was at work. He was a lovely boy from Glen See's lines and the very first chick I hatched here on our farm. The SFH are all fine and accounted for, so my brave, beautiful guy did not die in vain. I am hoping the eggs laid by the ladies I had in there are fertile; maybe I can hatch a replacement via broody, but the hens are not as good quality as he was.

Crying over a rooster

Sorry for your loss. Hope everything works out hatching replacements!

 

[Bulldogma]

Bulldogma and jbarrett, so sorry about the losses of your favorites. Why is it always the best ones? Now I'm super bummed those eggs didn't hatch

If either of you need roosters, I have 6 roos direct from GF right now about ready to start crowing from my February shipment. There are 12 more chicks I can't be sure of yet. All colors except black.

I'm not NPIP yet, but if you need one, I'll do it and send you a bird. They aren't lapdogs, but they have shown no aggression.

I love the pressed glass hens on nests.

What an amazing offer! I may have friends driving from MD to this area later this summer if you still have them... I may beg one off of you. Still hoping to find a way to get wildhorseannie's roo down here too - I have learned the hard way that you should always have a back-up rooster!

Not a SFH, but the Silkie roo I had in the SFH grow out pen apparently sacrificed his life today defending the young birds and his ladies from something attacking them in the pen (free range birds are all fine) while I was at work. He was a lovely boy from Glen See's lines and the very first chick I hatched here on our farm. The SFH are all fine and accounted for, so my brave, beautiful guy did not die in vain. I am hoping the eggs laid by the ladies I had in there are fertile; maybe I can hatch a replacement via broody, but the hens are not as good quality as he was.

Crying over a rooster

Oh my goodness... I'm SO sorry for your loss. He was clearly a very, very good rooster! And I am no stranger to crying over a roo. Had to go pick up Gunnar's remains yesterday, and I was a mess all over again!

 

[ivyrash]

What an amazing offer! I may have friends driving from MD to this area later this summer if you still have them... I may beg one off of you. Still hoping to find a way to get wildhorseannie's roo down here too - I have learned the hard way that you should always have a back-up rooster!


Oh my goodness... I'm SO sorry for your loss. He was clearly a very, very good rooster! And I am no stranger to crying over a roo. Had to go pick up Gunnar's remains yesterday, and I was a mess all over again!

Were they able to tell you what happened to Gunner? I have been following along waiting for results. So hard when it is so sudden like that.

 

[ki4got]

Not a SFH, but the Silkie roo I had in the SFH grow out pen apparently sacrificed his life today defending the young birds and his ladies from something attacking them in the pen (free range birds are all fine) while I was at work. He was a lovely boy from Glen See's lines and the very first chick I hatched here on our farm. The SFH are all fine and accounted for, so my brave, beautiful guy did not die in vain. I am hoping the eggs laid by the ladies I had in there are fertile; maybe I can hatch a replacement via broody, but the hens are not as good quality as he was.

Crying over a rooster

it's amazing how those silly annoying noisy roosters steal our hearts... sorry to hear you lost yours.

if i were closer i'd offer to hatch the eggs for you, but i don't ship chicks. sorry.

 

[TarheelBirdy]

Well bulldogma, we can be upset together.....I just went out to check on everybody (feewd and water) My 100%faoirte SFH rooster Oliver just passed away in my arms.... I just sat out there and cried, Never cried about a chicken before but this was my buddy hed fly up on my shoulder like a parrot when I went in their enclousur

He is now burried in my flower bed I did last year...I loved that boy!

JB, I am SO SORRY to hear about Oliver! What happened??