Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[OleMissChic]

you might also check out this link for the SFH Breeder's Club website -

I will definitely do that. I can't believe that hasn't pulled up yet with all the google searches I've done. Thank you!

 

[ki4got]

ha! I asked my friend and she said they were from two breeders. GFF in FL and someone else near the Gulf so it could very well be the same breeders. They have had these birds for over 2 years now. Some of them are absolutely gorgeous. I'm very curious about color combinations with these. I don't want all of their roosters but I dont' want to limit myself with potential color combos either.

i'm not a huge fan of splash, so I chose a rooster that was black-based mille fleur pattern, my girls have all the color variations. that is most likely where your variety will come from. but I would recommend 2 roos, as they do act as flock protectors quite well, and if something happens to one, you have a backup. those varieties I didn't have spare roosters in, I currently have NO roosters now. those I had extras in, I still have plenty of extras. go figure.

Quote: motting in most breeds seems to increase as the birds get older. in my experience with sfh, (and mille fleur bantam cochins are the same colors genetically, for the most part) they start out with a lot of white, lose it in the next moult then start getting more back again with each moult...
my bantam cochin roo Kepiru as an example


about 4 weeks old


about 12 weeks old


as an adult

 

[OleMissChic]

i'm not a huge fan of splash, so I chose a rooster that was black-based mille fleur pattern, my girls have all the color variations. that is most likely where your variety will come from. but I would recommend 2 roos, as they do act as flock protectors quite well, and if something happens to one, you have a backup. those varieties I didn't have spare roosters in, I currently have NO roosters now. those I had extras in, I still have plenty of extras. go figure.

motting in most breeds seems to increase as the birds get older. in my experience with sfh, (and mille fleur bantam cochins are the same colors genetically, for the most part) they start out with a lot of white, lose it in the next moult then start getting more back again with each moult...
my bantam cochin roo Kepiru as an example


about 4 weeks old


about 12 weeks old


as an adult

Wow, I love him! Great photo examples. Now I have to consider the roos they have. lol Do roos get along well? I have one Marans roo that is dominant and so he is pretty gentle. Some of my other roos are stinkers and don't last long if they don't settle down. I'm trying to settle on focusing on a few select breeds and this is one I'm very drawn to...despite not being an official breed. lol

 

[HaplessRunner]

Interesting. It seems similar to the frizzle x frizzle breeding... How does the cresting breed with them? Can two non crested throw any crested? Is there a breed standard? I have been unable to find this so far.

SFH are a land race breed that developed in Sweden over hundreds of years. Because of the variability in their color patterns and colors, they will never be recognized by the APA. The APA insists upon repeatable. consistent varieties that breed true. While SFH breed true, consistency is NOT in their genetic makeup.

For history and other info check:

http://greenfirefarms.com/store/category/chickens/swedish-flower-hens/

http://sfhusa.com/page.php?5

 

[Bernie56]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this breed and thread. A friend is giving me their flock and I'm wondering if they are quality specimens or not. There are a few color variations that they have and I know they purchased their starter birds from a breeder a few years ago (but I also know some "breeders" aren't on the up and up. Some of their birds have a "top hat" or somewhat of a wig of extra feathers on their heads.

Can anyone tell me a bit about these specimens? Do they look full bred or decent? Here a couple pics I took:

First let me say welcome! The birds in the photos look like nice specimens, and do look like pure Swedish Flower Hens. I guess I should say "in my opinion"! Everything I say in this post is "in my opinion", and not meant to be offensive to anyone. I love this breed and highly recommend it. I do however feel that there is a lot of misinformation, or information that unintentionally affects the breed in a negative manner. I will try to address a few of my concerns here just because I feel strongly about it. I will not quote anyone because I am not directing any comment at anyone in particular. Just concerns that I have. My main goal is to preserve, and promote these beautiful birds.

My #1 concern is the idea that they are not a breed. While they are certainly not a breed recognized by the American Poultry Association, or other such body. They certainly are a recognizable breed, that consistently breed true. The fact that they originated as a Landrace breed doesn't make them any less a breed than a Barred Rock, or a Crested Cream Legbar. It just means that they became a breed, over hundreds of years, in a free breeding population that was confined by region rather than in human confinement. The breed was not lost when they were existing as a free breeding, unmanaged flock. The breed was very nearly lost when new," modern" breeds became more available, and these breeds were introduced into existing flocks. In other words the flocks were "managed" differently. I am concerned that if people think that they are not a breed it promotes the idea that you can breed /interbreed/cross breed with any other "breed". And lets face it the cost of new birds certainly would encourage people to just get an unwanted roo from someone, and toss them in with some hens......after all they're not really a breed. Unfortunately I feel that there are now a lot of mixed breed birds being offered as pure SFHs. I feel very fortunate that a few people realized that the breed was in danger of being lost completely and made it a priority to gather specific individuals that were a good representation of the breed, and begin a managed breeding program, to preserve this breed! The ONLY reason that we have this breed today is because there were people who began a selective breeding program, with the intention of preservation of the breed. We were fortunate to have Greenfire Farms join with those breeders, and thus give us the opportunity to enjoy these lovely birds. It is now our responsibility to do all that we can to preserve, and promote them as a breed. How we choose to do that is certainly up to each of us individually. I just feel that to promote, and preserve the breed, we need to get beyond the whole "landrace" concept. Yes they did originate as a landrace, over hundreds of years...This is today, how will we preserve them for tomorrow?


The only issue that I have with them is that I have found that about half of the roosters that I have raised became very human aggressive at about a year old. I know that people say that it is because of how they were raised, but I have had chickens for many years and raise them all the same. I'm just saying that I have found it to be more common in my SFH. I don't find that to be a real problem, you just need to be aware that you MAY need to cull roosters for human aggression. I have been able to keep roosters penned together without too much aggression between each other IF they were raised together, and never separated, but I would not recommend putting two adult roosters together if they have been on their own, even if they were initially raised together.

As far as color goes. I have found the splash "gene" to be a bit of a problem. In my experience if you breed splash, or red/white to each other you don't get much else. I personally try to arrange pairing of individuals that will minimized the occurrence of splash. While I am not trying to do away with splash, I do want to have a more balanced color range in my flock. Its pretty easy to manage IF you have that gene present in your flock. Manage being the key word.

I hope that you enjoy your new birds, and once again, welcome to the flock!

 

[Kyzmette]

Went to an auction last night and somebody had actually put a pair of birds out they labelled as SFH. I wanted to go tell the buyer he was rooked, but I didn't feel as if I was positive enough about it to do so. The roo looked decent, but the hen was solid white and the body structure seemed too long and rounded. That led into a discussion of SFH coloration.

While I know there are chances of any kind of coloration in these birds, what are the odds of a true SFH having all white plumage? To me it just seems like a really long shot without crossbreeding with a white dominant line.

 

[warbirds]

While I know there are chances of any kind of coloration in these birds, what are the odds of a true SFH having all white plumage? To me it just seems like a really long shot without crossbreeding with a white dominant line.

I have a solid white-bodied hen that has grey hackles and a few grey feathers near her tail. No crossbreeding involved, she came from a pairing of a red/white male and a grey-based female. I've not set her up for breeding yet, but intend to this spring, real curious what she will produce.

Doc

 

[ki4got]

Went to an auction last night and somebody had actually put a pair of birds out they labelled as SFH. I wanted to go tell the buyer he was rooked, but I didn't feel as if I was positive enough about it to do so. The roo looked decent, but the hen was solid white and the body structure seemed too long and rounded. That led into a discussion of SFH coloration.

While I know there are chances of any kind of coloration in these birds, what are the odds of a true SFH having all white plumage? To me it just seems like a really long shot without crossbreeding with a white dominant line.

Leigh's got one girl that's NEARLY solid white but has some splash markings, and came from a known sfh flock... so it is possible but a pure white with absolutely no markings, that is highly unlikely.

splash gets its name for the fact that there are 'splashes' of color here and there (blue or black streaks)... you'll usually see those in the wing and tail feathers the most but also on body feathers here and there too... so it's possible to see the mottling as well, on a splash feather where the splash marking is cut off by the white tip, but personally, I would avoid all nearly white (or solid white) birds from unknown flocks...

that's one reason I don't have a blue based roo, but only blacks. they can breed all color girls and produce only blues and blacks, so the chicks will show their color and pattern as nicely as possible.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: blue gene is responsible for your 'grey' birds. sounds like your red/white roo is a splash, her mother a blue, which means that that pairing will produce only blue or splash birds... depending on her coloration, she could be a melanized splash (shows as darker hackles and splash markings on the body/tail) or just a light blue. but i'm leaning toward a melanized splash myself. if you look at her tail feathers, they would have streaks of blue or black showing... if you look at these pics you'll see the streaks I am talking about.


my blue laced red hen (splash laced) the arrows point to her splash markings, which are harder to see because of the red laced feathers.


Weeble, my EE roo is also a splash, but if you look closely at his tail feathers you can see it there as well.

 

[Bulldogma]

Went to an auction last night and somebody had actually put a pair of birds out they labelled as SFH. I wanted to go tell the buyer he was rooked, but I didn't feel as if I was positive enough about it to do so. The roo looked decent, but the hen was solid white and the body structure seemed too long and rounded. That led into a discussion of SFH coloration.

While I know there are chances of any kind of coloration in these birds, what are the odds of a true SFH having all white plumage? To me it just seems like a really long shot without crossbreeding with a white dominant line.

There is dirt on her beak from a recent dust bath, but Ali (Alabaster) is a mostly-white, pure SFH. You have to look very closely to see her faintly colored feathers. Interestingly, most of her chicks are nice, colorful, blue-based mille fleur.