Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[CackleJoy]

Hi. I also got my flock started from 2013 GFF chicks and mine too are laying very large eggs. So I would have to agree that GFF was successful in breeding for larger egg size in the last year. Most of the eggs from that group are xlg eggs. I also have birds from GFF earlier imports that I got from a couple of other breeders and they lay more of a med/lg egg. I am also working on retaining the egg size by hatching only the biggest, best shaped eggs and also working towards increasing the overall average size of the birds in my flock, hoping I end up with SF that are a little better for the table than what most are.

I don't have enough hens

to be that picky right now. I'm hoping next year I can choose which eggs to hatch. One of my hens lays a really ovoid egg, it's big but a strange shape. I'd like to not hatch those. I kind of think I need a solid dozen hens so that I can be choosy. We have plans to make a duplex this fall. The duplex will have a side for a crested cockerel over uncrested hens and the other side will be opposite. At that point I can keep 12-18 hens.

And 3 or 4 roosters. Really, I love these roosters. They are total eye candy for the yard!

Have you kept track of rate of lay on these...how many do you estimate you are getting per year per bird?

I havn't tracked for an entire year because the birds are young (10 months now). I hope to track starting in January.
I have a broody

(crazy bird - doesn't she know she isn't a broody breed?). When all four are laying I get an average of 3 eggs per day with the odd 2 or 4 egg day. We plan to use solar lights in the hen house so we can get a few more through the winter. Our winters are mild and the hens tend to reduce laying but don't totally quit. I hope to keep them laying all winter so I can hatch more chicks for ME. I've had a hard time keeping them on the farm this summer.

 

[CackleJoy]

Long question prefaced with explanations

We have outdoor broody boxes that work really well. Each section is a 4 x 4 and I can empty one section into the grow out pen just in time for a new hatch. I love the system. However, it is on the ground. Our broody hens have really healthy chicks so I figured this couldn't be all bad. I've even had a reduced (over-all) chick mortality since I've gotten the broody pen outdoors. The only chicks I have a perpetual problem with are the Swedes. They just like to die. We hatch Cream Legbars, EE's, Ameraucana's and EO Basque with the SFH. This last hatch I've lost 3 SFH and not a single other kind of chick. They all get the exact same treatment, even the food in the breeding pens is the same.

I did read somewhere that medicated feed may be the problem with the Swedes. We live in the central valley where Cocci lives EVERYWHERE. I can't escape it so medicated feed is the only way to go. Unmedicated and the chicks die of Cocci. Is there one type of medication that works better than another in the feed? Something they are sensitive to?

I can send to have necropsy done on the next ones that die. I've been gone a lot over the summer and caregivers have reported the deaths to me. When I was home I was too busy to take the chicks in. Usually the lab comes up with something like Cocci or Ecoli in the yolk sac. How does that effect only one breed and what can I do to make the SFH stronger?

I'm trying to trouble shoot here and welcome input. The hatch rates have more than doubled since I got the wooden cabinet incubator. Even with the deaths, I'm getting more chicks but the cockerel/pullet ratio is terrible. I think the pullets must be the weaker ones. How else can one explain a 4 to 1 cockerel/pullet ratio when there is death involved?

@Bulldogma you may not want eggs from us until we get this sorted in case it's a genetic issue. I seriously think it's a care issue but I could be wrong.

 

[Bulldogma]

Long question prefaced with explanations

We have outdoor broody boxes that work really well. Each section is a 4 x 4 and I can empty one section into the grow out pen just in time for a new hatch. I love the system. However, it is on the ground. Our broody hens have really healthy chicks so I figured this couldn't be all bad. I've even had a reduced (over-all) chick mortality since I've gotten the broody pen outdoors. The only chicks I have a perpetual problem with are the Swedes. They just like to die. We hatch Cream Legbars, EE's, Ameraucana's and EO Basque with the SFH. This last hatch I've lost 3 SFH and not a single other kind of chick. They all get the exact same treatment, even the food in the breeding pens is the same.

I did read somewhere that medicated feed may be the problem with the Swedes. We live in the central valley where Cocci lives EVERYWHERE. I can't escape it so medicated feed is the only way to go. Unmedicated and the chicks die of Cocci. Is there one type of medication that works better than another in the feed? Something they are sensitive to?

I can send to have necropsy done on the next ones that die. I've been gone a lot over the summer and caregivers have reported the deaths to me. When I was home I was too busy to take the chicks in. Usually the lab comes up with something like Cocci or Ecoli in the yolk sac. How does that effect only one breed and what can I do to make the SFH stronger?

I'm trying to trouble shoot here and welcome input. The hatch rates have more than doubled since I got the wooden cabinet incubator. Even with the deaths, I'm getting more chicks but the cockerel/pullet ratio is terrible. I think the pullets must be the weaker ones. How else can one explain a 4 to 1 cockerel/pullet ratio when there is death involved?

@Bulldogma you may not want eggs from us until we get this sorted in case it's a genetic issue. I seriously think it's a care issue but I could be wrong.

OK - get them OFF medicated feed and keep some Corid or Sulmet handy. Only treat them with the meds when they start to look fluffed up. You'll likely continue to lose chicks to a thiamine deficiency if you continue to use medicated chick feed. Try only giving treatments if they are actually sick and let us know what happens.

So sorry you are having this issue!

 

[alohachickens]

I have a hen who is half Swedish and she has marbled pale blue and orange eyes. Kind of like what I've seen on some Australian Shepherd dogs. Has anyone on here had a Swedish with part or full blue eyes? Her vision is fine, by the way. Here's a good pic:


And a bunch more photos on this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/915666/my-chicken-has-blue-eyes-does-yours

I just want to know if anyone else has had this happen. Please share a pic if you have one like this! Thank you!!!

 

[Bulldogma]

I have a hen who is half Swedish and she has marbled pale blue and orange eyes. Kind of like what I've seen on some Australian Shepherd dogs. Has anyone on here had a Swedish with part or full blue eyes? Her vision is fine, by the way. Here's a good pic:

And a bunch more photos on this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/915666/my-chicken-has-blue-eyes-does-yours

I just want to know if anyone else has had this happen. Please share a pic if you have one like this! Thank you!!!

How neat!
While many Swedes hatch with greenish-blue eyes, they almost always change to orange/yellow by maturity. You have something really special there!

 

[alohachickens]

I thought they were going to change, too, and instead they became lighter! This didn't really stand out to me until she was about six months old. (She is now 8 months.)

Both sides have the blue color. I have her with three other hens, and have already hatched out five chicks, and getting ready to set about 18 more eggs. Hatch rate is low right now, because of our heat, but I'm still hoping I might hatch out a few of her peeps. Hoping for a rooster with blue eyes!



Everyone go check your flocks - I'm so curious to see if any others have these eyes!

 

[subhanalah]

My cockerel has a severely deformed beak, it only recently became apparent. It's like his lower beak has grown in linger than his top and now it's starting to cross as welll.

If I had an experience to compare to, I could have told you how they dress out at a rather young age. I'll have to go back in my records and see when these guys hatched.

 

[Bulldogma]

Aloha - none of my flock has this..

I thought they were going to change, too, and instead they became lighter! This didn't really stand out to me until she was about six months old. (She is now 8 months.)

Both sides have the blue color. I have her with three other hens, and have already hatched out five chicks, and getting ready to set about 18 more eggs. Hatch rate is low right now, because of our heat, but I'm still hoping I might hatch out a few of her peeps. Hoping for a rooster with blue eyes!



Everyone go check your flocks - I'm so curious to see if any others have these eyes!

Aloha - none of my flock has this... but I find it fascinating and very beautiful!

 

[CackleJoy]

OK - get them OFF medicated feed and keep some Corid or Sulmet handy. Only treat them with the meds when they start to look fluffed up. You'll likely continue to lose chicks to a thiamine deficiency if you continue to use medicated chick feed. Try only giving treatments if they are actually sick and let us know what happens.

So sorry you are having this issue!

So you feel the medicated feed is an actual issue with the SFH? I was reading that it might be and that made me wonder if I'd have the same results using Corrid in the water. Makes me wince because I know we have Cocci in the soil.

I also wonder if I got new sand for the bottom of the brooder if that would delay the exposure to Cocci as well. The way I see it, if I go off medicated feed I have to really work at building their immune systems to fight of the Cocci. The trouble with the chicks is that they are all such fierce little diggers that they go through the sand and turn it over pretty fast so we are only talking - at best - a 24 hr delay in exposure.

Have you tried bulking their systems with probiotic to counteract the bad bacteria? Next hatch I will water them in the house with some heavy probiotic water and see if it helps build their systems before going outside. I have a one yr-old and all the babies had to go outside when she became mobile. I can probably manage a few hours in the house.

I hesitate to change the entire broody system because I've seen Cocci wipe out a brooder pretty quickly. I didn't use it last year - but then I had an entire hatch die in about 24 hrs due to Cocci and that made a believer out of me. They were 6 weeks old and out on grass when it happened. Anyway, I'm kind of afraid to try not using the medicated feed but I'm certainly game. I hate losing chicks - especially the Swedes! I don't think I'd care as much if it were the EE's.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Just my .02 on the medicated feed...

Cocci is a parasite rather than a bacteria. Research shows that if they are exposed to it in their environment from hatch they will be able to handle it better as they grow. Many folks don't put their birds on the ground until around 6 weeks and the incident of cocci is pretty high at that age since they haven't been exposed early.

I think that the sand may likely your be your issue as it harbors more bacteria and parasites than a wood shaving base does. It's even been shown that using a deep litter that comes from your other pens with your chicks can help with cocci immunities. And...as counterintuitive as it sounds, a little ammonia in the bedding has actually been shown to keep the cocci down. NOT EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS... just "enough".

I always get sod plugs from the yard in which the chickens are running and add to the brooder within the first week for them to dig through if they can't be outside. Switch them out after they've had them awhile as they destroy them quickly! If I'm brooding inside, I always put a hand full of litter from the regular hen house on the floor of the litter as soon as I add wood shavings.







Quote: http://www.plamondon.com/faq_deep_litter.html There is a lot more info in that article. They recommend lime in the litter but I DON'T recommend the use of lime in any form in the litter. It can burn little legs and feet if used improperly.


Also - a deep litter in your outdoor runs keeps the ground extremely healthy and makes the best garden soil in the spring. Tree services will often drop off wood chips free for you if you call around and ask. I let the piles sit to cure until I see worms and other life in them - usually within 6 months and often sooner depending on your weather - before I put them onto the runs. Keep building it up by putting it down in a pile from time to time. The birds will spread it for you. No more slick, nasty, unhealthy, disease-breeding ground! It's probably one of the best things I've done for my chicken runs...no...it IS the best thing I've done for them.

My daughter took some of that soil that had composted under the deep litter this spring and has the best garden ever. Full of worms and very healthy for the birds - and for us!