Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ki4got]

Quote: I did a bit of research afterwards, and found that there seems to be a correlation between crest size and comb size... the larger the comb the smaller the crest (not always but quite often). so that may be why roos with very large combs have very small crests...

the (informal) reasoning being that there's only so much skull to go around, so if the comb is taking up a lot of 'acreage' then the crest can only have so much more...

there were a couple breeds cited where only the hens have visible crests while the roos have extremely large combs and to have a visible crest is considered a fault. (a Belgian breed i'm not familiar with, and don't remember the name but it had a brief blurb on feathersite).

in another paper I read, it explained that the crested gene affects feather length, causing the head feathers to grow longer than normal. obviously it has been modified by selection for larger or fuller crests in some breeds, or smaller ones in others. but my understanding of some of the technical lingo was that the gene is most active when the chick is developing and cells are differentiating into their specialized components.

since we know that some developmental things can be affected by incubation problems, it would stand to reason (to me) that possibly the 'crest' cells can also be affected during incubation and possibly be limited in their expression for that reason. I have no basis on that theory, just supposition from what I have read and my knowledge of embryology and genetics from college...

 

[ki4got]

for the heat thing, if you're not on strict water rationing, build a low-roofed area for shade, using metal roofing. put a soaker hose across the high spot and cut the faucet on to a trickle. the water running across the metal will evaporate quickly bringing the temp underneath down to tolerable levels. then you could put a piece of culvert at the bottom and divert into a water tub or barrel...

thinking as I type, another possibility... if you've got a larger water tub/barrel, get a pond pump and do the same thing. you'd have to fill it up periodically but that way you really wouldn't be 'wasting' water.

 

[TxFlowers]

I did a bit of research afterwards, and found that there seems to be a correlation between crest size and comb size... the larger the comb the smaller the crest (not always but quite often). so that may be why roos with very large combs have very small crests...

the (informal) reasoning being that there's only so much skull to go around, so if the comb is taking up a lot of 'acreage' then the crest can only have so much more...

there were a couple breeds cited where only the hens have visible crests while the roos have extremely large combs and to have a visible crest is considered a fault. (a Belgian breed i'm not familiar with, and don't remember the name but it had a brief blurb on feathersite).

in another paper I read, it explained that the crested gene affects feather length, causing the head feathers to grow longer than normal. obviously it has been modified by selection for larger or fuller crests in some breeds, or smaller ones in others. but my understanding of some of the technical lingo was that the gene is most active when the chick is developing and cells are differentiating into their specialized components.

since we know that some developmental things can be affected by incubation problems, it would stand to reason (to me) that possibly the 'crest' cells can also be affected during incubation and possibly be limited in their expression for that reason. I have no basis on that theory, just supposition from what I have read and my knowledge of embryology and genetics from college...

That is really interesting! It makes sense if you think it through. IF the crest is truly dominant even in SF then you just couldn't get crested out of two truly noncrested parents. IF GFF is getting crested out of birds that they believe to be non crested, there is something going on to inhibit the expression of the crest in a genetically crested bird, making them outwardly appear to be non crested. If a large comb can inhibit crest development, that certainly could "hide" the crest on some large combed birds and the idea of the "crest cells" being retarded in some way during incubation is another plausible idea! Great research! I too took genetics in college and am an RN and have been breeding several species of animals for 30 yrs!. This kind of stuff Is really interesting to me! lol

 

[Leahs Mom]

1 baby so far!

 

[Bulldogma]

Congrats, LM!!!!

 

[KYTinpusher]

1 baby so far!

Very cute and a black one!!!

Congrats!

 

[SunnySkies]

Oh my garwsh...my run of insanely crazy luck with these birds hasn't gone away. Dozens of that won't hatch, roosters that are completely bonkers, raccoons taking my best birds, but here is the best story yet... And NO, I do not make this stuff up (who would have time?!)

So like 2 days ago, one of my four youngest SFH decided to go on an adventure and bailed from his coop. He had been on the injured list, so I had stashed him in with my bantam Cochin babies (I got a whole mess of cuckoo colored ones! but that is a different story) to recover. He apparently felt well enough to jump out when I turned away to fill their waterer, and I didn't see him. But my six month old roosters spotted him and decided to come see him. He panicked, I went to catch him....and the dogs got in on the action, but made it all worse.

I turned away to send them off, and turned back...and Bad Boy was gone! I thought I was losing my tiny little mind. Looked around...no little rooster...looked under the truck..looked in the bushes...looked in the greenhouse...looked under the deck...looked in all the coops...drove myself near insane looking for the rooster. Looked all day long. Figured he would appear in the morning, but nope, no rooster. Figured maybe he ran far enough some neighbor might find a cute little rooster (he would have to traverse a forest, a creek, another forest and a road to get to another neighbor, but I was hoping). Or...sigh..he was eaten by a coon. Quit making myself nuts and decided he was gone, never to be seen again.

I didn't feel well for 2 days, and I spent most of Thursday and most of Friday on the sofa. I had to get up today, and headed off to work. When I got to work, I noticed something smelled funky when I got out of my car, but I thought it was some rotting garbage from the restaurant near the hospital (they have had some disgusting garbage in the past). When I got in my car this evening to come home, I noticed the smell in the parking lot was horrible. And smelled like a dead body. Gross.

I drove to the feed store and hopped out and noticed the smell was still there. Hrm. I got to looking, and there was a rotten egg on the hood of my car where the windshield wipers lay when inactive. I threw it away, and thought, ok, whew. Bought my feed and headed home.

Got home, and the stench was ..... Indescribable.

I popped the hood to start looking for the source, and that rooster was wedged between the radiator and the engine, dead...very...very...dead. He was not harmed by my car - the car ran perfectly -- but he had died there nonetheless.

We got him out, but the whole yard smells!!! My car reeks!!

OK, I would like this odd stuff to stop. What are the odds of a CHICKEN dying in an engine compartment? I have seen more than one cat injured or killed in such a manner....but a chicken?! Maybe I should go buy a lotto ticket...

He must have panicked when he saw the big boys coming toward him and jumped up into the bottom of the car and kept climbing until he couldn't get out. Stupid bird never peeped or called or I would have rescued him.

You can all laugh. We did, when we were over the shock of it. Utterly bizarre.

Not an experience I wish to ever repeat, extricating a very dead chicken from this very tight space.

ETA: yes. Egg on the hood. Also totally weird. No idea if a hen laid it there or if someone put it there or what. OMGosh.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: I think if they're getting 25%, then possibly just one roo is involved since he would throw roughly 50% normally and they may have more than one roo per pen. which leads me to think that either he has a very small crest, or if it truly was a developmental issue then it could be he was affected during incubation and nobody's ever known differently.

just because cells fail to differentiate properly doesn't mean the genetics aren't there... MOST mutations you see are ones that affect the entire bird, not just one small portion. what made me think of that though was another thread I remember reading, where someone had a chick hatch out partially bald that never did get feathers in that area (part of the back). again most likely developmental, the skin cells failed to further differentiate into feather cells for that specific part.

the article stated :
the full article is here if anyone wants to dig into it... http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0034012

 

[KYTinpusher]

Oh my garwsh...my run of insanely crazy luck with these birds hasn't gone away. Dozens of that won't hatch, roosters that are completely bonkers, raccoons taking my best birds, but here is the best story yet... And NO, I do not make this stuff up (who would have time?!)

So like 2 days ago, one of my four youngest SFH decided to go on an adventure and bailed from his coop. He had been on the injured list, so I had stashed him in with my bantam Cochin babies (I got a whole mess of cuckoo colored ones! but that is a different story) to recover. He apparently felt well enough to jump out when I turned away to fill their waterer, and I didn't see him. But my six month old roosters spotted him and decided to come see him. He panicked, I went to catch him....and the dogs got in on the action, but made it all worse.

I turned away to send them off, and turned back...and Bad Boy was gone! I thought I was losing my tiny little mind. Looked around...no little rooster...looked under the truck..looked in the bushes...looked in the greenhouse...looked under the deck...looked in all the coops...drove myself near insane looking for the rooster. Looked all day long. Figured he would appear in the morning, but nope, no rooster. Figured maybe he ran far enough some neighbor might find a cute little rooster (he would have to traverse a forest, a creek, another forest and a road to get to another neighbor, but I was hoping). Or...sigh..he was eaten by a coon. Quit making myself nuts and decided he was gone, never to be seen again.

I didn't feel well for 2 days, and I spent most of Thursday and most of Friday on the sofa. I had to get up today, and headed off to work. When I got to work, I noticed something smelled funky when I got out of my car, but I thought it was some rotting garbage from the restaurant near the hospital (they have had some disgusting garbage in the past). When I got in my car this evening to come home, I noticed the smell in the parking lot was horrible. And smelled like a dead body. Gross.

I drove to the feed store and hopped out and noticed the smell was still there. Hrm. I got to looking, and there was a rotten egg on the hood of my car where the windshield wipers lay when inactive. I threw it away, and thought, ok, whew. Bought my feed and headed home.

Got home, and the stench was ..... Indescribable.

I popped the hood to start looking for the source, and that rooster was wedged between the radiator and the engine, dead...very...very...dead. He was not harmed by my car - the car ran perfectly -- but he had died there nonetheless.

We got him out, but the whole yard smells!!! My car reeks!!

OK, I would like this odd stuff to stop. What are the odds of a CHICKEN dying in an engine compartment? I have seen more than one cat injured or killed in such a manner....but a chicken?! Maybe I should go buy a lotto ticket...

He must have panicked when he saw the big boys coming toward him and jumped up into the bottom of the car and kept climbing until he couldn't get out. Stupid bird never peeped or called or I would have rescued him.

You can all laugh. We did, when we were over the shock of it. Utterly bizarre.

Not an experience I wish to ever repeat, extricating a very dead chicken from this very tight space.

ETA: yes. Egg on the hood. Also totally weird. No idea if a hen laid it there or if someone put it there or what. OMGosh.

I'm speechless... . . (I think that about covers it though)

 

[SunnySkies]

I'm speechless... . . (I think that about covers it though)

Exactly. I stood there for a minute with my mouth hanging open. Now, I'm myself, like tears running down my face.

Why can't anything be normal around here??

If anybody is ever missing a chicken, check your engine. For realz

ETA: I hope nobody reported my car as a possible murder scene...wouldn't that be the icing on the cake to have the state police (we have no locals) show up. "Ma'am, where is the body?" um....the woods...in a plastic bag...