Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ki4got]

hello all, I haven't been on in a while- just wondering if anyone else has had same experience with their SFH. mine started laying @ 5mo, got eggs pretty consistently for 2 wks, then 1 went broody, she hatched 2 chicks- since then NO eggs! It's been 4 mo, not a single egg from 5 hens? they all have been finished with their molt for over a month- still nothing... I'm about to give up on them!

I already gave up on mine. LOL tossed em all out of the breeding pens to range for a while. maybe they'll kick back in.

 

[PugBug]

I already gave up on mine. LOL tossed em all out of the breeding pens to range for a while. maybe they'll kick back in.

well with as many birds as I have I can't let them free range all the time, but I do rotate 'days out' with each pen- the sfh get out atleast 2 times a week- ugggghhh!

 

[ancientoaks]

hello all, I haven't been on in a while- just wondering if anyone else has had same experience with their SFH. mine started laying @ 5mo, got eggs pretty consistently for 2 wks, then 1 went broody, she hatched 2 chicks- since then NO eggs! It's been 4 mo, not a single egg from 5 hens? they all have been finished with their molt for over a month- still nothing... I'm about to give up on them!

I have two hens and both of them have raised chicks. Both hens started laying again when the chicks were about 3 weeks old and have continued to lay right through their molt and are still laying. maybe your hens are eating the eggs. what are you feeding them? Do you have dogs that can get to the eggs and eat them?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
When did your broody mamma quit taking care of the chicks? I have a girl (not sfh) that broods and she takes care of them for about 12-13 weeks before she ditches them. Doesn't lay during the whole time and won't have anything to do with the rooster either.

 

[wildhorseannie]

PugBug, I've had pullets go broody very young. In fact fact 3 of the seven I have now went broody right after starting to lay. I did not let them have eggs to hatch, though. Of my first 4 Flowerhens, one girl went broody right away and I let her hatch 4. Like ancientoaks, my girls seem to be done with babies at around 3 weeks.

 

[MeatMyChicken]

I have one (so far) SFH that goes broody - 2ce this year so far. She'll keep her chicks as long as I let her. She'll let them roost with her when they are older and they come offer her moral support when she is laying. She's one of my best hens, so I took her last chicks away from her at about 8 weeks. She was depressed for a few days but started laying about 10 days later. They are all different and do their own thing with their kids.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Question for y'all.

All my Swedes have been broody-raised so far. I did not pick them up much or interact with them individually; just as I was interacting with the flock.

All my Swedes are skittish and totally freak out if I come near them. They may come up near me if I'm sitting, but the definitely keep their distance.

My older birds (not sfh) were brooder raised (the first ones with no older birds present). They don't particularly want me to grab them, but they're much less skittish and if I do catch one they don't usually scream bloody murder. They come around close to where I sit and will watch and sometimes jump up and sit right next to me. One of them actually jumped into my daughter (adult) lap when she sat down out there one time. 2 of them will try to jump up to take food from my hands if they think I have any.


So here are the questions:
-Is skittishness a SFH trait or is it more because they were broody raised?
-Do you think it's possible for me to "tame" a year-old girl by picking her up daily and just holding her for a minute or 2? (Or is it too late?)
-I have a 13 week old. If I started handling her more now, do you think she would "tame"?

I'm not looking for lap chickens. What I'd like to accomplish is that they are more at ease around me and not feeling like I'm a predatory threat. I don't want them to lose that wariness toward preds however.

 

[OHfarmerswife]

So excited!!!! My first SFH egg today. Ingrid is not quite 6 months, she was born on June 13.

 

[Bernie56]

Question for y'all.

All my Swedes have been broody-raised so far. I did not pick them up much or interact with them individually; just as I was interacting with the flock.

All my Swedes are skittish and totally freak out if I come near them. They may come up near me if I'm sitting, but the definitely keep their distance.

My older birds (not sfh) were brooder raised (the first ones with no older birds present). They don't particularly want me to grab them, but they're much less skittish and if I do catch one they don't usually scream bloody murder. They come around close to where I sit and will watch and sometimes jump up and sit right next to me. One of them actually jumped into my daughter (adult) lap when she sat down out there one time. 2 of them will try to jump up to take food from my hands if they think I have any.


So here are the questions:
-Is skittishness a SFH trait or is it more because they were broody raised?
-Do you think it's possible for me to "tame" a year-old girl by picking her up daily and just holding her for a minute or 2? (Or is it too late?)
-I have a 13 week old. If I started handling her more now, do you think she would "tame"?

I'm not looking for lap chickens. What I'd like to accomplish is that they are more at ease around me and not feeling like I'm a predatory threat. I don't want them to lose that wariness toward preds however.

My SFHs are the least skittish of my flock. They are very curious, and the first to come to investigate anything outside their normal routine. They are the ones underfoot, or picking at your shoelaces, or spots on your clothes. I generally don't use broodies, but I do have some that were raised by a broody hen and I don't see any difference in temperament from those that were raised in the brooder. I don't try to "tame" my birds, and don't handle them much, but they don't "freak out" unless you are actually trying to catch them. My pure Ameraucanas, and EEs, are much more skittish than my SFHs.

 

[ki4got]

I'll agree with Bernie... my SFH are pests! they will avoid my hands like the plague, unless i'm handing them the FF dish, but will do their best to get stepped on, kicked, shoved, etc by my feet/legs.

as for broodie babies, I don't have any sfh that were brooded, but I've had other breeds with broodies, and I think it entirely depends on momma and how she trains her chicks. the ones brooded by my bantam brahma were totally schizoid and wild while my buff orp girl's chicks were a bit aloof and indifferent and my bantam cochin girl's chicks are about as underfoot as anyone else has been. and these have been assorted breeds/sizes, of roughly the same mixtures each time, so you can't really say it's a breed/size thing in any of the cases.

the chicks have all been dorking/'dotte/EE/bantam cochin, both pure and mixed.

I've also made a decision. all the sfh roos will be free rangers as soon as they're ready while i'm no longer going to range the girls until they've started laying like good little egg machines. LOL that is, once the babies are big enough to sex and go in the big hoop coop (and not escape thru the 2x4 wire on it). I'll just have to evict the dorkings before then. maybe they just want a bigger house and pen... we can hope.