Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Country Squire]

It's the difference in body size, the dramatic difference in neck shape, and the larger wattles that made me think Olaf is a cockerel and Anna a pullet. Two questions:
1. When will more pronounced sex indicators, like hackles, tail feathers or saddle feathers, appear?
2. If I want to keep one SFH roo for breeding, should I keep the crested or uncrested? I have read some of the posts in this thread about genetic issues with oversized skulls.

Thanks!
CS

 

[ki4got]

Howdy! New member here. I just bought these two two-month old chicks. They are the same age. I think the crested one is a cockerel (Olaf) and the other one is a pullet (Anna), but I'm unsure. Both have pinkish combs and wattles. Olaf is a larger bird, has a bigger wattle, more tail feathers, and a much longer neck. But the fact that Anna has wattles at all, and pinkish yet, concerns me. Thoughts? Thanks!

wow, if they are truly only 8 weeks old, they're well developed... typically I have a hard time telling cockerels from pullets before 12 weeks old (tho I've been lucky this year, knock on wood).

to give you a comparison, these 2 boys were hatched early December 2012, the pic taken 3/5/13, so I'm guessing they're 3-4 months old (but yes, most likely both roos unless they're closer to 4-5 months old)

 

[Country Squire]

My mistake! I went back and read the Craigslist post of the nice lady I bought them from. She received them from Greenfire as days-old chicks in "early February." Sorry about that!

With the amended knowledge that these two birds are three months old, not two, how does that affect the thoughts of whether Anna (and Olaf for that matter) is a boy or girl?

 

[ki4got]

It's the difference in body size, the dramatic difference in neck shape, and the larger wattles that made me think Olaf is a cockerel and Anna a pullet. Two questions:
1. When will more pronounced sex indicators, like hackles, tail feathers or saddle feathers, appear?
2. If I want to keep one SFH roo for breeding, should I keep the crested or uncrested? I have read some of the posts in this thread about genetic issues with oversized skulls.

Thanks!
CS

that depends on what you want to produce... personally I keep spare roos, since I've lost some to predators and had to waste nearly a whole year looking for replacements last year. (but I never had spares for them either).

a crested roo, with uncrested hens, will produce roughly 50% crested offspring. so if you keep him, search for uncrested hens. if you keep the uncrested roo, doesn't matter what hens you put with him. (IMO, others vary).

I just picked up a cute little crested boy (splash) to help increase my number of crested birds. I also have one chick growing out from my own crested girl, about the same age. hopefully this time next year, I'll have all crested girls in one pen with an uncrested boy, one mixed pen (my current adults) and one pen of clean girls with the crested boy. but you know how plans change between now and then. LOL

 

[KYTinpusher]

My mistake! I went back and read the Craigslist post of the nice lady I bought them from. She received them from Greenfire as days-old chicks in "early February." Sorry about that!

With the amended knowledge that these two birds are three months old, not two, how does that affect the thoughts of whether Anna (and Olaf for that matter) is a boy or girl?

Olaf is definitely a boy and Anna probably is, but there is a slight chance she is an early developing pullet. Look under the feathers on her (I'm trying to be optimistic

) back to see if there are any saddle feathers developing. They would be shiny and pointier than the other feathers.

 

[CountryHen19]

it's easier said than done... I hatch so many, take pics, etc. but I don't usually get adult pics since they sell so quickly.

typically tho, a mille fleur type chick (blue or black) will have a golden head, ones like your blue or black girls will typically be what I call penguins (all blue or black as a chick, with white/yellow belly.

I totally understand thanks for the explanation-- not creatively, our black hen is named "penguin"

Chicks and how they grew up:

Thanks so much for this! :)

 

[Bulldogma]

Thanks so much for this! :)

You're very welcome!

 

[dbarjacres]

Ok I think I may try hatching SFH one more time. Who here sells eggs? Needs to be from a healthy flock with no respiratory diseases (had to cull my flock 2x due to dishonest people). I'm in WI so will need shipped. Please email with pics or website that shows your birds to [email protected]

 

[Wilson Chickens]

Hello everyone. I was invited over by KYTinpusher who introduced me to the SFH breed a few minutes ago lol. Very beautiful chickens and I've decided to start my own backyard flock of SFH. I'll be learning as I go since I'm no chicken expert and the only chickens I've ever had were 4 Golden Comets last year.

 

[KYTinpusher]

Hello everyone. I was invited over by KYTinpusher who introduced me to the SFH breed a few minutes ago lol. Very beautiful chickens and I've decided to start my own backyard flock of SFH. I'll be learning as I go since I'm no chicken expert and the only chickens I've ever had were 4 Golden Comets last year.

Welcome!