Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[CackleJoy]

We got an EGG!!

 

[KYTinpusher]

We got an EGG!!

Congrats!

 

[FeyRaine]

We got an EGG!!

YAH!
& Me TOO!!!
I still haven't been able to move all the birds around, but while checking on the baby goat I heard a lot of noise & noticed that the SFH pullet was trying to snuggle between the crazy-broody-mutt-pullet & the SpSux in the overly lg nest box. So I grabbed 2 cat carries, put hay in them & SpSux in 1 , SFH pullet in the other and left them be for 2 hrs. (The SpSux had been sitting on 3 eggs so I popped those in the bator to stay warm to keep all options open). Well I returned to find SFH HAD LAID in the "trap nest" which is the 1st I've been able to confirm she was even laying at all. Her egg is a very light pinkish tan sort of cream, the same color as the SpSux & BuffOrp (so we assume those two show should lay med-brown go back to hatchery stock who lay super light eggs due to Leghorn in their ancestry). Meanwhile I have a _For certain_ SFH egg and it is very very narrow on the pointy end, really easy to tell apart by SHAPE. And it went into the bator immediately, still warm from being laid!

I'm hoping the extra pointy shape clears up when she gets past her first run of pullet eggs, as I know these super pointy ones are hard to hatch.

Anyone else ever had super pointy shaped SFH eggs? & if so was it just the pullet eggs or did the hen eggs stay pointy?

 

[KYTinpusher]

Quote:

Yea for SFH egg!

Some of my SFH lay an egg that are pointier on the end than my other breeds like the Rhodebar and Orpington (when I had those), but I don't use it as a method to tell them apart since I have noticed that the same hen can lay different shaped eggs on different days depending on how much stress they are under to lay that day. Your pullet's eggs should round out a little as she gets older and starts stretching out a bit.

 

[FeyRaine]

Yea for SFH egg!

Some of my SFH lay an egg that are pointier on the end than my other breeds like the Rhodebar and Orpington (when I had those), but I don't use it as a method to tell them apart since I have noticed that the same hen can lay different shaped eggs on different days depending on how much stress they are under to lay that day. Your pullet's eggs should round out a little as she gets older and starts stretching out a bit.

I'm still going to move the other birds, when it stops storming tomorrow hopefully, but I think I can safely say the 3 or so very very pointy eggs already in the bator & under the broody would be from the sfh, vs the nearly pingpongball round ones which are ever so slightly darker in good light & are certainly mutt chick from those 2 pullets (SpSux & Orp)! I won't count on her egg continuing to be ID by shape but I'm thinking the one I held the known egg up to & they were identical color AND Shape, that would have been her yesterday egg Under the Zombie like broody who I rolled to the side and had to roll back over the eggs when I was done checking!

& the practically white white egg I found in there today, I'm saying that was Flo (SFH Hen) so the new question is where oh where has she been laying her eggs, b/c her comb has been bright red for weeks and this is the 1 & only white egg from that pen ever. But I will trap nest her each am the next few days to confirm -- b/c I gotta get to the bottom of this mystery now...

 

[CackleJoy]

YAH!
& Me TOO!!!
I still haven't been able to move all the birds around, but while checking on the baby goat I heard a lot of noise & noticed that the SFH pullet was trying to snuggle between the crazy-broody-mutt-pullet & the SpSux in the overly lg nest box. So I grabbed 2 cat carries, put hay in them & SpSux in 1 , SFH pullet in the other and left them be for 2 hrs. (The SpSux had been sitting on 3 eggs so I popped those in the bator to stay warm to keep all options open). Well I returned to find SFH HAD LAID in the "trap nest" which is the 1st I've been able to confirm she was even laying at all. Her egg is a very light pinkish tan sort of cream, the same color as the SpSux & BuffOrp (so we assume those two show should lay med-brown go back to hatchery stock who lay super light eggs due to Leghorn in their ancestry). Meanwhile I have a _For certain_ SFH egg and it is very very narrow on the pointy end, really easy to tell apart by SHAPE. And it went into the bator immediately, still warm from being laid!

I'm hoping the extra pointy shape clears up when she gets past her first run of pullet eggs, as I know these super pointy ones are hard to hatch.

Anyone else ever had super pointy shaped SFH eggs? & if so was it just the pullet eggs or did the hen eggs stay pointy?

Happy Happy Happy! This raises a question. I was going to wait a few weeks for the eggs to get a little bigger. Do people successfully hatch these little pullet eggs?

 

[FeyRaine]

Happy Happy Happy! This raises a question. I was going to wait a few weeks for the eggs to get a little bigger. Do people successfully hatch these little pullet eggs?

Personally, I have hatched a few, (no sfh other stuff as in mutt EE mainly).

The success rate is low, & the chicks are tiny tiny so you have to baby them by crushing even the crumbles, so dealing w/ them is a pain.

But on the other hand, in a few cases I just couldn't help myself b/c I _really_ wanted what would hatch from the little egg. & of course ppl raise banty birds from those nutty small eggs all the time (not me, but lots of ppl do). I know a lot of ppl won't set pullet eggs and certainly selling them is at least frowned on, but unless someone else knows something I don't, then setting them for one's own (like to check fertility) is ok.

 

[KYTinpusher]

Happy Happy Happy! This raises a question. I was going to wait a few weeks for the eggs to get a little bigger. Do people successfully hatch these little pullet eggs?

I don't hatch the first few eggs if they are really small, but some people do. I usually wait a month or so for them to get a little bigger. Many find that pullet eggs are easier to hatch than older hens' eggs.

 

[wlhtx]

I just hatched several small pullet eggs from TXFlowers. (It was kind of an experiment for me.) Every single one hatched and the chicks really aren't THAT much smaller than the regular egg sized chicks. I also haven't had to do anything different for them... At 5 days old they are playing keepaway with the June bugs, just like the others!

In fact, two of the four eggs I had that made it to lockdown but DIDN'T hatch were the larger, rounder eggs... The other two were average sized.

 

[TRUE5]

I just thought I would check in and see if any of you could play the guessing game with me on what my SFH kids are. I just had an obvious cockerel with a larger red comb I sold and I didn't put any others in with him because none of them had the same obvious characteristic. So maybe if you all more experienced with this breed could give it a go and tell me what gender your leaning towards that would be great! I would appreciate it! Here are my SF kids.

Kid #1

kid #2

kid #3

kid #4

Kid #5
I'm guessing MAYBE 1 and 3 are boys possibly. I'm only hoping they arnt! #1 has the most interesting color with white, black and like a creamy brown in the mix. #5 has a lot of blue. I do see some green sheen on a few black tail feathers on a couple of them. I will know for sure in a couple months for sure! These all I hatched and were purchased from a breeder in NW Arkansas. I don't think she is on the BYC.