Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[wildhorseannie]

Posting updates of my 'Bazinga son' -- Sheldor. Got him at 13 weeks old back in July. He's filling out nicely, no split wing or curled toes. Now if only the EO rooster would leave his new tail feathers alone!





and the young cockerel 'Eld' a GFF July baby. Definitely looks like he's going to be mille.


Thanks so much for posting! He looks great! I have mentioned Sheldor to a lot of folks, they love the name as much as I do!
Lets see some pictures of the other GFF babies!

 

[SunnySkies]

Maybe you could find one of those children sized  folding lawn chairs that will fit in the coop and get her laying closer to proper nest box as an intermediary step

That is an idea...I could move her chair too...

 

[Spifflove]

I am still getting eggs. I am in a warm clime though; anyone in a cold climate still getting eggs?

 

[SunnySkies]

I'm getting some, and it's chilly here (chilly defined as time to turn the heater on, which we did November 2 and gutted it out before that, lol) and averaging 20's at night. Will be in the teens tonight. But I have at least 4 SFH ladies not laying, along with all my layer flock. But we get a few Silkie eggs and a couple SFH eggs daily, so we have enough eating eggs. I had hoped to start hatching SFH this month but guess they had other plans. Oh well.

 

[Leahs Mom]

None here. Only one laying consistently is a hatchery red bird. Like clockwork.

I have a whole flock of roost potatoes.

 

[HaplessRunner]

None here. Only one laying consistently is a hatchery red bird. Like clockwork.

I have a whole flock of roost potatoes.

LOL - "roost potatoes"

I have got to remember that one!

 

[Ms Jellybean]

I am in the process of choosing which breeds I want to have for my small (4) flock of chickens. I thought I had them all picked out but I am back to looking again. I came across the SFH hen on another site and ....

Are these a good bird for warm (hot) areas? Cold kind of goes without saying. Do they go broody very much? Are they an average or above average layer? Do they 'play' well with others?

I don't know if they are available in my area, but I am not against mail order as long as they aren't really expensive.

Right now the only birds I know that I am getting for sure is a Welsummer and some sort of Maran. A black Australorp may be in the mix too.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I am in the process of choosing which breeds I want to have for my small (4) flock of chickens. I thought I had them all picked out but I am back to looking again. I came across the SFH hen on another site and ....

Are these a good bird for warm (hot) areas? Cold kind of goes without saying. Do they go broody very much? Are they an average or above average layer? Do they 'play' well with others?

I don't know if they are available in my area, but I am not against mail order as long as they aren't really expensive.

Right now the only birds I know that I am getting for sure is a Welsummer and some sort of Maran. A black Australorp may be in the mix too.

Here are a couple of articles that may be helpful:

Here are a couple of her articles on the SFH
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/09/breed-overview-skansk-blommehons.html
http://southernvapoultry.weebly.com/swedish-flower-hens.html

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Thank you. They sound like a bird I would like to try. Now to find some chicks for the spring....

 

[SunnySkies]

I am in the process of choosing which breeds I want to have for my small (4) flock of chickens.  I thought I had them all picked out but I am back to looking again.  I came across the SFH hen on another site and ....  

Are these a good bird for warm (hot) areas?  Cold kind of goes without saying.  Do they go broody very much?  Are they an average or above average layer?  Do they 'play' well with others?

I don't know if they are available in my area, but I am not against mail order as long as they aren't really expensive. 

Right now the only birds I know that I am getting for sure is a Welsummer and some sort of Maran. A black Australorp may be in the mix too.

Well. I love them. I'll give you my take on them.

It gets hot and very humid here in the summer, and they did fine. Someone more north of me said they lost their crested ones last summer, but none of mine seemed to suffer unduly in the heat. They did better than my meaties and seemed more comfortable than my Marans. Cold...well, where they are from is actually rather moderate weather. The roosters have a good sized comb, but all of mine did well here last winter. We do not heat coops, but as long as they can stay dry and out of drafts, they will be fine. They were out there foraging in the snow!

I have not had any go broody yet. I would not say they are like Silkies in that regard, but they seem to go broody more than a Leghorn. A couple people here have had some broody hens of this breed. They lay ok. My red sex links and Australorpe crosses lay better, but they lay very well.

My roos are aggressive to the other roosters and very randy but are so good with their ladies. I had some very nasty roosters, like attacked people nasty. They got culled. But the girls are consistently wonderful with fun personalities and are very bold. My girls like visiting the house and will come inside if someone leaves the door open.

Cost. They are expensive. Chicks (straight run) are $19 each plus shipping, or thereabouts, and you end up ordering a minimum of 6 or more, depending on where you order from. Hatching eggs are averaging about $40/dozen. Some of us are finding they are extremely difficult to hatch. You might be able to find a couple chicks depending on where you live or tack onto someone else's order. I saw some week olds offered on CL here in my area some weeks ago when someone ordered the minimum but did not have enough space to keep them all. Finding an adult hen will be virtually impossible. It happens once in a while, and your best bet is to ask here or watch CL, but not very often. I am definitely not parting with hens or pullets any time soon.