Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[TarheelBirdy]

Question about crested chicks. THe crest is not as noticeable as a polish or other top at birth correct? I had a yellow chick hatch with a very distant puff on its head. The other that I hatched 12weeks ago weren't noticeable until 2 weeks. Do you think swedish or a mistake on the sellers part?

I have some that show their crest right away (within the first day or two) and others that don't grow their crest til they're a couple of weeks old. Love these Swedish - they keep you guessing.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I lost Gunnar. Monday he was fine and today he passed away on the ride to the veterinarian. Yesterday he became a bit lethargic and disoriented. No respiratory symptoms - clear eyes/nose... but the top of his comb started turning a purple/black color... and today he died. His body is at the vet for testing. It could possibly have been a black widow spider bite on his comb, but I won't have answers for a couple days. I'm pretty torn up over this loss... and I don't have another SFH roo of breeding age. Once I get the results back and am sure this was not something contagious, I will be looking for another SFH roo to spoil. This was taken only 4 days ago:

I'm so sorry Leigh! I loved Gunnar. I was hoping to get some of his eggs one day from you. Such a handsome roo. I'll be anxious to hear what the vet says. Hope they come up with an answer for you.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

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!

What?! I'm so sorry for the loss of your feathered friend

 

[jbarrett]

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

He was being picked on by the other swede brothers and I separated him to help him come back good for a few days then died one morning when I went to feed I saw he was down so I held him till it was all over....I have 4 of your eggs that look like they are going to hatch the others made it half way and quit (the shells were not even half full....bummer it was nothing wrong on your end they were packed so well! so i am not sure what happened this time I put a few RIRs in as well and same thing half of them I have a still air I think I need a better quailty incubator

 

[Bulldogma]

Gunnar died of liver failure. Chances are it was some sort of poison - either he ate a mouse or some bugs that came out of our neighbor's house after the exterminator sprayed, or a black widow bite (we have a lot of black widow spiders here).

We miss him terribly!

 

[RedRidge]

Gunnar died of liver failure. Chances are it was some sort of poison - either he ate a mouse or some bugs that came out of our neighbor's house after the exterminator sprayed, or a black widow bite (we have a lot of black widow spiders here).

We miss him terribly!

Oh sooo sorry! But am glad it was nothing genetic for your sake.
One of the dangers of free ranging I guess...

I spend a lot of time being concerned about what some neighbors may do to their gardens since we have so many honey bees. I worry they'll use something like Sevin Dust and we'll loose our bees.
I have found that taking them honey each year is a good opening to thanking them for not using these products.
Not sure how that would apply to exterminators, but on the off chance it helps someone I thought I'd share.

 

[SunnySkies]

Bulldogma, I am pretty sure I'll still have these guys....I can't seem to bring myself to slaughter SFH, and I hate to just sell them on CL to anybody. So I'd be happy to give one to any of my fellow breeders.

Alien's last eggs are in the incubator, but I'm not sure he fertilized any....I never saw him actually mount the ladies. I'll incubate them alongside some of my EE eggs and see if anything develops.

I'm in the same boat as you, Bulldogma. No backup BQ Silkie roo. I have two pet quality ones in a different pen, and while they are very good with the hens, they cannot be used for breeding. I was going to sell them on CL and move Alien and his girls into that pen when the SFH move on to a different coop, but alas. I'm still broken up over him too I hatched some Silkie eggs in January in hopes of getting a backup BQ roo, but they are all pullets. He was so amazing with the chicks. I have a group of chickens he raised like a broody hen back in October; he sat on them to keep the chicks warm after they hatched.

On a happy note, I'm picking up some black chicks tomorrow from H & H Poultry in PA. They are out of a black hen with a dark roo as a daddy, so I hope they stay black. Then I'm done getting chicks and just waiting for mine to start laying....I am fairly sure I have three pullets from the February and March shipments, but I'm not sure of the April lot yet.

 

[tommysgirl]

I have a single SFH that I picked up as a same sized companion for an OE. They are both two weeks old and this is what I have noticed so far about the Swede.

It seems to be slow feathering, do you think that means it's a cockerel? It is bold and doesn't seem to know it is smaller than the three week olds, some of whom are HUGE by comparison. It's like a little whirlwind, running around getting into things but not sure what it is doing. I was cracking up at yogurt time because it was running here there and everywhere but never took a bite of yogurt.

Are these typical behaviors?

ETA when can I expect to be able to tell if this is a pullet or a cockerel?

 

[Bulldogma]

I have a single SFH that I picked up as a same sized companion for an OE. They are both two weeks old and this is what I have noticed so far about the Swede.

It seems to be slow feathering, do you think that means it's a cockerel? It is bold and doesn't seem to know it is smaller than the three week olds, some of whom are HUGE by comparison. It's like a little whirlwind, running around getting into things but not sure what it is doing. I was cracking up at yogurt time because it was running here there and everywhere but never took a bite of yogurt.

Are these typical behaviors?

ETA when can I expect to be able to tell if this is a pullet or a cockerel?

LOL - yup - you have a Swede! They are the most friendly and curious birds and they run everywhere they go.
You should be able to tell sex around 7 weeks. Boys will become more red and the wattles/comb will be larger. That said, if you have a crested SFH, the comb may not be as noticeable, so just keep checking the wattles.

 

[tommysgirl]

fingers crossed for a pullet! This baby is so pretty! Thanks for responding. I have a mixed flock of babies right now and the Swede stands out with very distinctive and very funny behaviors.