Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[nicole63021]

So my other half and I are in love with this breed, and have been hatching eggs, only to find out the city (because of a neighbor not liking it) is not allowing us to build the 12ftx30ft coop/run that we started, and is forcing us to do smaller, and just for the 7 larger birds we have! It is so sad for us, as even the chicks are great. We just don't feel right keeping this breed in a large tractor (6ftx16ft) with our other girls.

We want acreage in the next 2-3 years, so thinking we will hatch more then, and at that point all of our birds will be able to free range, and we would be able to have several roosters to help keep them a bit safer. For now, I guess we'll live vicariously through all of you!

 

[Leahs Mom]

In St. Louis? What's up with that? I know a lady in St. Louis that has about 5 goats and a chicken coop with at least 20 chickens right in the city limits in a yard less than an acre. She sells her goat milk and teaches cheesemaking classes too.

 

[nicole63021]

Our city is really starting to restrict now, so planning on moving further out west in the next couple of years, getting some land since we would like some sheep or goats as well. We are also in the west county area right now because of work, so it's the suburbs, and it's a nightmare!

 

[nicole63021]

Most importantly, one neighbor is a self appointed "neighborhood watch", and wants to keep it all homogonized.

 

[SunnySkies]

Most importantly, one neighbor is a self appointed "neighborhood watch", and wants to keep it all homogonized.

That is probably the real issue We were living in a semi-rural subdivision before we moved to our farm, and one of the neighbors was like this. My BIL lived with us for the last year we were there, and he drove him nuts with the feeling of being watched all the time. She complained constantly about the kids' games, noise, toys, etc and would report you to the HOA in a heartbeat. She took one of my sons' scooter, claiming it had been left in her driveway, but I had put it myself in our yard. I said something about maybe getting a couple hens, as a joke, and she immediately ran off to the HOA. When I was looking for our farm, I made sure to tell the neighbors before closing I was getting chickens and asked if that bothered them, even though we are unrestricted here. I send over eggs periodically.

 

[HaplessRunner]

That is probably the real issue

We were living in a semi-rural subdivision before we moved to our farm, and one of the neighbors was like this. My BIL lived with us for the last year we were there, and he drove him nuts with the feeling of being watched all the time. She complained constantly about the kids' games, noise, toys, etc and would report you to the HOA in a heartbeat. She took one of my sons' scooter, claiming it had been left in her driveway, but I had put it myself in our yard. I said something about maybe getting a couple hens, as a joke, and she immediately ran off to the HOA. When I was looking for our farm, I made sure to tell the neighbors before closing I was getting chickens and asked if that bothered them, even though we are unrestricted here. I send over eggs periodically.

That is exactly why I love this sign.

 

[SunnySkies]

That is exactly why I love this sign.

Yep, I have always loved that one too. Fortunately, our new neighbors don't care what goes on over here, lol. That is a good thing, as our youngest son runs around naked, the kids are noisy and leave junk everywhere, we have a lumber pile that is half hidden by weeds, my garden got taken over by weeds, and we don't mow and care for the yard like we could (I mow once a week and don't edge or any of that nonsense). LOL

 

[DeltaBluezTess]

When we lived in the city, we had a noisy neighbor who told us or any heard a one else, what we did in out back lawn. Like, I see you worked in your garden, you dogs loves to fetch, everything, so one day as he was telling us and our other neighbors about what he saw us doing over the weekend (He also did the same to the other neighbors), I said in a curt voice to him, "I am going to report you as a peeping tom. I hear a peeping tom is one step away from being a rapist. I bet the police would like to hear that you are spying on the neighbor young girls"

He quit and never said another word and I never saw him watching us again. He never spied on the other neighbor either.

 

[nicole63021]

Yeah, we talked with all of the neighbors first, and none of them said they had any objections other than to a noisy rooster (which I can understand in our setting). Two of my neighbors are great, and even said they didn't mind if the hens wondered onto their property, but I will be penning because of the predators and because this one neighbor would report me for animals at large, she mentioned once while they were first free ranging as chicks and one of the 2 week old brahmas slipped through the fence into her yard for about 30 seconds before coming back to the flock. Needless to say, we are looking to get some farm property in the next couple of years after we have a bit of time to save up for it again (my oldest dog had cancer and it cost over $20,000 all told to get him straightened out, but he's perfect again, and our savings has been rebuilding), we are thinking 5-10 acres for chickens, goats or sheep (for milk), and possibly llamas or alpacas (for wool).

 

[TxFlowers]

I have a question for those of you getting eggs from your SFHs. Have any of you had white eggs? I mean actual white eggs, not slightly tinted. I know someone that has a flock of SF where two of her hens are laying white eggs. This has caused some concern that maybe these particular hens aren't "pure" SF. I know that I have never seen a white egg in all those I have recv'd for hatching.