Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[gootziecat]

I've noticed the eggs are a tad small for their size, as I eye them disapprovingly. While I suspected they weren't a meat bird, some times a smaller carcassed bird will fill out very nicely in a shorter amount of time than a larger sized bird.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

[TheGeekySheep]

Just locked down my 3 remaining SFH eggs, here's hoping for something!

 

[Melabella]

Just locked down my 3 remaining SFH eggs, here's hoping for something!

Good Luck one those 3, my first attempt gave me three beautiful babies, now coming 9 weeks old. I have 6 growing wonderfully in my little mini bator, just starting their second week.


Keep us posted!
Good Luck!

MB

 

[Bulldogma]

I've noticed the eggs are a tad small for their size, as I eye them disapprovingly. While I suspected they weren't a meat bird, some times a smaller carcassed bird will fill out very nicely in a shorter amount of time than a larger sized bird.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

How old are your birds? This breed starts out laying small pullet eggs, but in a few months they should be Medium - XLarge eggs (depending on the bloodlines). Of my mature hens, the smallest eggs are medium sized.

 

[Alpine Chicken]

Now I have some questions for you.

Do you have any of the history of how the Swedish Flower Hen breed came to Austria? Did the bloodlines come from Germany or the UK? Do you happen to know who brought them to Germany? How long have they been there and who imported them?

I collect any and all information I can get on this wonderful breed!

Thank you for ANY information you can give me!!
Leigh

Hello Leigh!

I´m sorry, but I don´t think I can be of much help to you here. I bought hatching eggs from here: www.rassehuehner.at (unfortunately in German). This breeder has a lot of different breeds. I had bought my Brahma from him, and happened to see pictures of the Swedes on his website and fell in love with them. It doesn´t say anywhere on his site where he got them from, but most breeders here of the more exotic breeds get their stock from Germany. I´ve tried getting hatching eggs from other sources in Austria, so I´d have two different blood lines, but I haven´t found any. They´re just starting to catch on here; I´m hoping I can contribute to their numbers. There also isn´t any standard here yet. I´ve had a few people ask me about them already, but since I only had 11 out of 20 hatch, I need all of them myself and haven´t been able to sell any yet. Hopefully next year it´ll look very different! I´m currently on a hatching-egg waiting list of a breeder from Germany, although I´ve tried ordering Brahma-eggs from there before, and it didn´t turn out well (20 eggs each from 2 different breeders, and I got exactly one chicken, most of them were scrambled). Sorry I can´t help you more.

 

[gootziecat]

Leigh, my pullets are too young to lay. I got a couple of eggs from a local breeder that were med-med lg sized eggs from her flock of SFHs. The SFH eggs I have seen thus far have been on the small size and it was my understanding that was "normal". I doubt I would get into this breed unless I could obtain birds or eggs that laid at least large, preferably, x-lg eggs.

 

[Bulldogma]

Hello Leigh!

I´m sorry, but I don´t think I can be of much help to you here. I bought hatching eggs from here: www.rassehuehner.at (unfortunately in German). This breeder has a lot of different breeds. I had bought my Brahma from him, and happened to see pictures of the Swedes on his website and fell in love with them. It doesn´t say anywhere on his site where he got them from, but most breeders here of the more exotic breeds get their stock from Germany. I´ve tried getting hatching eggs from other sources in Austria, so I´d have two different blood lines, but I haven´t found any. They´re just starting to catch on here; I´m hoping I can contribute to their numbers. There also isn´t any standard here yet. I´ve had a few people ask me about them already, but since I only had 11 out of 20 hatch, I need all of them myself and haven´t been able to sell any yet. Hopefully next year it´ll look very different! I´m currently on a hatching-egg waiting list of a breeder from Germany, although I´ve tried ordering Brahma-eggs from there before, and it didn´t turn out well (20 eggs each from 2 different breeders, and I got exactly one chicken, most of them were scrambled). Sorry I can´t help you more.

No worries - I'll see if I can contact some of the German breeders for some history.

Leigh, my pullets are too young to lay. I got a couple of eggs from a local breeder that were med-med lg sized eggs from her flock of SFHs. The SFH eggs I have seen thus far have been on the small size and it was my understanding that was "normal". I doubt I would get into this breed unless I could obtain birds or eggs that laid at least large, preferably, x-lg eggs.

XL is the exception, but L is pretty common - especially from birds from the 3rd GFF import. You can ask around and see who has large egg layers and get some of those bloodlines. (But I warn you - and others will back me up - this breed is dangerously ADDICTIVE! You have been warned!)

 

[NM Chicks]

I'm thrilled to find this thread. At 945 pages long, it will take awhile to get through, but I've learned so much just in the first several pages. About five weeks ago, two local farmers gifted me some eggs and loaned me an incubator, letting me know that it is pretty challenging at our altitude and with our lack of humidity so I would have been very content with one hatching, given the learning curve and the challenges even experienced people have here. Three weeks later, 11 chicks hatched (two struggled for a long time to hatch and didn't make it) and nine are thriving, growing so fast that I think they get larger as I'm sitting there watching. I asked the egg donors what kind of eggs they gave me and some of these are swedish flower hens. I have 36 more SFHs in the incubator. The other chicks are turkens and now that I understand not all chickens are alike, I'll be keeping the eggs separate during incubation. Anyway, I'm thrilled with them all (they are so cute!!), but am especially pleased to be contributing to the flocks of this breed in the US and particularly here in the west where hatching is a bit trickier -- or so I hear. All I did was keep a consistent humidity and temperature and watched the miracle of egg hatching 19, 20 and 21 days later. Hoping for a good hatch in ten more days. They will go to the farmers who gifted me the eggs in the first place. Ok maybe I will keep one... or two. Nice to read all of your posts and see your pictures.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm thrilled to find this thread. At 945 pages long, it will take awhile to get through, but I've learned so much just in the first several pages. About five weeks ago, two local farmers gifted me some eggs and loaned me an incubator, letting me know that it is pretty challenging at our altitude and with our lack of humidity so I would have been very content with one hatching, given the learning curve and the challenges even experienced people have here. Three weeks later, 11 chicks hatched (two struggled for a long time to hatch and didn't make it) and nine are thriving, growing so fast that I think they get larger as I'm sitting there watching. I asked the egg donors what kind of eggs they gave me and some of these are swedish flower hens. I have 36 more SFHs in the incubator. The other chicks are turkens and now that I understand not all chickens are alike, I'll be keeping the eggs separate during incubation. Anyway, I'm thrilled with them all (they are so cute!!), but am especially pleased to be contributing to the flocks of this breed in the US and particularly here in the west where hatching is a bit trickier -- or so I hear. All I did was keep a consistent humidity and temperature and watched the miracle of egg hatching 19, 20 and 21 days later. Hoping for a good hatch in ten more days. They will go to the farmers who gifted me the eggs in the first place. Ok maybe I will keep one... or two. Nice to read all of your posts and see your pictures.

We better be getting some photos

 

[gootziecat]

"(But I warn you - and others will back me up - this breed is dangerously ADDICTIVE! You have been warned!)"

I hear you loud and clear. I only have 3 and can already see where you're coming from.