Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ancientoaks]

You can only relate to your own experience but can't make a judgment on just one lost chicken. The crest is easy to breed out so if they don't want the birds to have a crest it can be eliminated. We can only breed what we choose to or like for ourselves. I personally like the crested birds better and will breed both crested and noncrested. I will not hesitate to breed two crested birds together if I think they will produce the best young. If I ever do find the crest to crest breeding to have hatching problems in their young I'll stop doing it but until then I see no reason to not.

It would be nice if you post the sites that tell us what the Swedish breeders are using for the breed guide. I found it once but can't seem to find the information again.
It all comes down to breeding what we like and if there is ever a breed standard breeding towards that. I'm all for the Swedish flower hen becoming a recognized breed.

 

[CackleJoy]

Wow... I can see red, mahogany, white, blue, gold. So gorgeous!

I thought I could see mahogany too, and not just red. Amazing! I'm so excited to see the babies of these birds. I'm having a hard time waiting! I want to hurry up the growing process

as if. Since I won't attempt hatching pullet eggs, I probably have a few months left.

My SFH are 14 weeks. Do you think that they will be laying by 30 weeks?

 

[CackleJoy]

You can only relate to your own experience but can't make a judgment on just one lost chicken. The crest is easy to breed out so if they don't want the birds to have a crest it can be eliminated. We can only breed what we choose to or like for ourselves. I personally like the crested birds better and will breed both crested and noncrested. I will not hesitate to breed two crested birds together if I think they will produce the best young. If I ever do find the crest to crest breeding to have hatching problems in their young I'll stop doing it but until then I see no reason to not.

It would be nice if you post the sites that tell us what the Swedish breeders are using for the breed guide. I found it once but can't seem to find the information again.
It all comes down to breeding what we like and if there is ever a breed standard breeding towards that. I'm all for the Swedish flower hen becoming a recognized breed.

AMEN! I'd like to see a guide too. I have SO MANY questions! I realize that we couldn't narrow down colors to just a few for SOP but perhaps they could get judged by type?

 

[CackleJoy]

Long ago I figured out it's "murphy's law" that if something is going to happen to one, it will be your favorite! She really is pretty. Have been admiring her since the first picture you posted. At least animals generally recover easily from things we humans don't and I have no doubt you will be giving her the best care she could possibly get!

btw...those "hawk" pics were so cute! Good thoughts coming your way for her!

Oh that is tough! That is SO something anyone could have happen when dealing with such curious and friendly birds.

I'm forever stumbling over the Basque cause they are the worst at getting between my feet! So far I've managed not to with the SFH but it's a challenge.

She will probably be fine, even if she turns up gimpy. Most likely she will end up a brat. You know the ones that get spoiled by all the babying?

I have one that seriously thinks she belongs in the house now. NOT. I think she's secretly hoping for more bubble baths.

Let us know how it goes with her healing. I know how upsetting it is to have a cherished bird take ill or be hurt. It's always the ones most favored too.... wonder why?

 

[Bulldogma]

Oh that is tough! That is SO something anyone could have happen when dealing with such curious and friendly birds.

I'm forever stumbling over the Basque cause they are the worst at getting between my feet! So far I've managed not to with the SFH but it's a challenge.

She will probably be fine, even if she turns up gimpy. Most likely she will end up a brat. You know the ones that get spoiled by all the babying?

I have one that seriously thinks she belongs in the house now. NOT. I think she's secretly hoping for more bubble baths.

Let us know how it goes with her healing. I know how upsetting it is to have a cherished bird take ill or be hurt. It's always the ones most favored too.... wonder why?

Thank you, Cackle! I'll be soaking her feet in a little while. mostly just letting her rest now.

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

Leigh, I bet your Snow Leopard will be just fine. A couple of weeks ago my flock of SFH decided to boldly go where they'd ne'er gone before...into the pasture where our donkey lives. He's a guard donkey and can be aggressive towards small animals (he's chased dogs, rabbits, and even tried to corner a groundhog in the woodpile) and he straight up stomped one of the blue pullets that hatched from the eggs I got from you. How her back wasn't broken I'll never know. Her feathers were all ruffled and she immediately retreated to the coop and closed her eyes. I thought, "Oh, this is the end. She's surely got some internal injury." Nope, she hung out in there, laid her egg, and has been perfectly plucky since. Chickens are tough! That said, I do hope your little lady has a quick recovery.

My chickens are all sitting tight in their coops during the cold weather. I encouraged them to come out for a little while yesterday by tossing cracked corn and wheat in the run but for the most part they all just wanted to snuggle up against one another on the roost poles. It was about 12 degrees outside when I put out the 1 gallon waterers I use in wintertime and by the time I'd put one in each of the four pens, the first one I'd put out already had a film of ice in the basin!

 

[Bulldogma]

Thank you, OldChurch!

Ki4got - it appears the leg is broken - lower part of the leg between the hock and ankle. I bandaged it with VetWrap, cut an old , fat magic marker and put the plastic housing around the bone as a brace, and then wrapped over the top to try to stabilize it. I know you have dealt with a broken leg before. Anything else I should do in your opinion? Anything to watch out for? How often do you think I should change the bandage?

(You know - if it were a bird that belonged to someone else, I would be offering up advice, but when it's my own baby, I have to get other opinions to make sure I'm thinking clearly.)

 

[insanity]

 

[insanity]

This is my little roo Larry. Hatched in early Oct.

 

[TxFlowers]

Thank you, OldChurch!

Ki4got - it appears the leg is broken - lower part of the leg between the hock and ankle. I bandaged it with VetWrap, cut an old , fat magic marker and put the plastic housing around the bone as a brace, and then wrapped over the top to try to stabilize it. I know you have dealt with a broken leg before. Anything else I should do in your opinion? Anything to watch out for? How often do you think I should change the bandage?

(You know - if it were a bird that belonged to someone else, I would be offering up advice, but when it's my own baby, I have to get other opinions to make sure I'm thinking clearly.)

I had a barred rock pullet that had her foot fall through the boards on our porch. She panicked and snapped her bone. Found her still stuck in porch with a badly broken leg. You could totally fold the leg over at the break. I used one of those finger splints. left it on about 8 wks and she was totally healed. I wrapped her leg first in a telfa pad to prevent the bandaging from sticking then a layer of cotton wrap before the gauze. I didn't want to change it if I didn't have to cause it would possibly cause injury to the barely healed bone. I think I changed it about every 2 wks. You do have to watch where the bottom and top of the brace would come in contact with her leg and any place where rubbing or pressure might develop. Eventually I added more padding under those ends and any other place needed. Make sure the wrapping is firmly around enough to keep in stabilized but not so tight as to interfere with circulation. Check her foot often to make sure it's warm, not cold, or at least not colder than her other foot. Coldness could indicate impairment of circulation.