Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ki4got]

mine doesn't particularly like being picked up but once he's caught settles down and enjoys the attention... same for my dorking roos.

then again I don't really make pets out of them either, since they're all potential freezer meat. (but only if they decide to go after people).

excess roos are usually just sold off, not eaten, primarily because hubby hates picking bones and the dog won't eat homegrown chicken. yeah they're picky.

 

[pebcrb]

This is Mabel my sfh pullet, at least I hope pullet, I am sure my other chicks would have a not so sweet name for her as she is kind of a bully

 

[TarheelBirdy]

I love my Swedish hens. There so lovely and tame but I hold all my birds. Anyone shipping eggs for hatching?
Thanks. Julie

I ship hatching eggs, we are NPIP certified.

 

[OHfarmerswife]

I ship hatching eggs, we are NPIP certified. 

How much do you charge for your eggs, Ohio here. Myfirst hatch of SFH was last Thursday & Friday.....and I am in love!!!!!

 

[Bulldogma]

Now Ginger is broody too! So 2 out of my 3 SFH girls are broody. Bad timing, girls! Or maybe good timing as the cockerels aren't really doing their "job" yet. I'm looking at getting a few marans eggs to put under them. (Roos will go to the freezer and hens will join my laying flock eventually.)

very excited, as i finally have two SFH girls! picked up two 6-8 week old pullets from Deann at Just Struttin Farm today -- they are so beautiful!
once they grow up, i'm sure they'll be very happy with my lovely boy Max:

Lovely birds!

And ki4got: good thing you kept records. LOL. Sounds like you solved your own mystery.

 

[PugBug]

Guess who is broody?

Right in the middle of egg-selling season?

Nothing I do can break this broody.....as we speak, she is sitting on a frozen bottle of water. Besides being inconvenient, it is starting to break my heart for her....she is determined to be a mama.

She is so pretty! I love her markings

 

[PugBug]

I'm curious... I tend to have a few who simply like attention, but the rest just don't want to be held (I'm talking about all breeds).
That said... the SFH do seem more curious than the others (but of course mine are only a few weeks old so it's hard to really compare).

I have found that handling the cockerels a little is helpful as they mature, but making them "pets" can have distinct disadvantages later on... almost like an alpha dog kinda thing.
Have other folks found this to be true?

So... I tend to spend a lot of time with mine, and they come running when they see me, but in general I rarely pick them up. Right now I have a LOT cockerels under 3 months of age... 10 SC HRIR, 6 RB, and an undetermined number of SFH. Those are in addition to my older roo (who may find himself in the freezer this fall if he doesn't shape up). I have no reservation about culling a roo for bad behavior, no matter how nice he is. So I will only keep 5-6 roos through the winter... they have to be nice to me, and they have to play well with others in the rooster pen over the winter.

I mention all that because I know of several folks who carry their roos around and they are just as friendly as the hens... Are my roos just abnormal in that they are rather "aloof" and prefer to not be picked up? or is there something I can do at certain ages to make them less aloof? Keep in mind, I don't know who my culls are yet, so carrying around 2 dozen cockerels each day is NOT likely. But I do sit with them, etc... sometimes rub under the chin of one or two, simply don't make a habit of picking them up. Should I? would this help?

I don't carry mine around and rarely pick them up unless I need to check something on them- when I have had to they have no problem with me doing it. And mine are constantly under foot when I have them out free ranging. They all tend to sit in chairs next to me, on the arm rest of the chair I'm in & even sit on the swing with me or under ii. They are very social with people.

 

[Bulldogma]

OK - so my Silkie (Darth 'Bator) got the very last of the Gunnar eggs - most laid a week or more after he died (the rest were sold to help cover the vet bill) and only one started to develop. Well - 'Bator's last brood of 5 chicks kept trying to help their mamma brood the egg, and it was getting knocked all over the place and pooped on by mamma's little helpers. Finally I put 'Bator in one of the isolation areas in my trailer coop (thank goodness for those!).

Anyhooo, I figured there was a good chance the egg wasn't going to hatch after all it had been through. I hadn't seen any movement when I candled it... but I left it under her and now I have located some BCM chicks locally that I can slip under Mamma so she has some babies to raise (and I'll get eggs for my 3 other broodies - yeah - you read that right).

So on a whim I went out in the dark tonight and candled that poor, pooped-on, beaten up, rolled around, well loved egg... and saw an internal pip and the chick breathing!!!

I am REALLY hoping that Gunnar's last chick will be the Mille Fleur-colored SFH pullet I've been wanting so badly. (The last one turned into a cockerel - LOL!) Like a dummy I sold his other MF babies. So everybody keep your fingers crossed for a healthy Mille Fleur Gunnar daughter! She'll be cherished!

 

[HaplessRunner]

Bulldogma,

I have three of Gunnar's babies here. They hatched on May 26. One absolutely acts like a roo - jumps up on everything and out of the brooder whenever it gets the chance. Also seems to be the leader of the pack. It will be a MF and Ginger is its mother. The other two are more laid back and demurring. Astrid is the mother of one and it will be a MF. The last one has lots of white with some mottling and blue tipped tail feathers. Ginger is its mother. I am hoping that these last two will be pullets. But with SFH, they could be anything since they take so long to mature and show the gender. They are currently with 5 just over two week old wheaten/blue wheaten ameraucana chicks (Kat LaDue line). These eight will be the next wave growing.

Gotta get some pictures for you!

 

[chickendeal]

I would love a son of gunner but how to get him to missouri? ?