Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ashtree]

One of my handsome young boys.

Beautiful! I love the splash

 

[Leahs Mom]

A question for those of you that have had the Swedes for awhile.

I have a SFH hen that will be 2 yo around Jan. 1. She has always been very compact and not quite as large as the hatchery red girls I have.

The new girls are much larger than she is even at 24 weeks old and look more like the large fowl.

Was there variation in size in the SFH? My older girl isn't stunted or tiny...just not as big as the new girls.

 

[TxFlowers]

A question for those of you that have had the Swedes for awhile.

I have a SFH hen that will be 2 yo around Jan. 1. She has always been very compact and not quite as large as the hatchery red girls I have.

The new girls are much larger than she is even at 24 weeks old and look more like the large fowl.

Was there variation in size in the SFH? My older girl isn't stunted or tiny...just not as big as the new girls.

I can tell you that in the Swedes I have had in building my flock over the last nearly 2 yrs, I have seen considerable difference in size among them. One day while talking to her on the phone, I asked Jenny ( GFF ) about these size differences I was seeing ( most of my birds came directly from GFF) and she did tell me that they "have one line that is noticeably bigger than the rest". She didn't elaborate more but she did say that they liked to "breed them all together" so you would get likely get a variety of sizes from this method. Although some of these smaller birds did lay eggs with good size, I prefer to breed from the larger birds primarily.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@TxFlowers

Thanks. That makes sense. I do notice that my smaller girl seems to be very solid - like she has some meat on those bones.

Do you think that the larger ones carry more "meat" if someone was prone to process the extra cockerels or use the older hens for stewing? I know that seems like it would be obvious, but sometimes my larger hens in other breeds don't have as much meat on their bones as the smaller, more hefty build birds.

 

[Bulldogma]

Finally was able to get some pics of my free range boys today!

Nickname -
Larry:

I had been keeping this boy in case I lose my other blue boy. He's just about as nice as they get and sadly the pictures just don't do him justice. Perfect comb, lovely build, bigger than the others his age, standoffish but very polite. He was broody raised and knows how to be a chicken. Very balanced and nicely flowered. Good, wide tail and deep, wide body.

(An older rooster recently removed some of his hackles - his neck usually appears much wider.


Young Black-Based Mille Fleur:
I think he's around 14 weeks, but I'm not for sure. He was also broody raised, but much more friendly and up in your stuff! No sprigs, wide & deep body. Right now his back seems a bit flat, but he hasn't even started to fill out yet so that could change a lot. As you can see, he is nicely flowered, but somewhere right in the middle of the range from minimal to maximum flowering in my opinion. A very likable boy, for sure!


Olaf:
BIG. BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG! And have I mentioned this boy is big? He may not be the tallest SFH you'll ever meet, but he's one of the tallest in my yard... and his WIDTH... sheesh! If this boy didn't have sprigs, he'd be perfect in my opinion. He'd be great for a project bird or for putting size and more flowering into a SFH flock. He is Black based and has LOTS of flowering - even flowering throughout his saddle and hackle feathers which isn't as common. He's polite and helped bring up 3 chicks recently... which was really cute!




Nickname -
Mo:
Mo is very nicely put together. Nice comb, and well built. he's very well mannered. And yes - Larry and Mo have a brother (who looks more like Larry) nicknamed Curly. Curly got his name because he was the survivor of a power outage during lock down and (you guessed it) has curled toes as a result. It's a pity because otherwise he's as good quality a bird as Larry. Now don't get me wrong - Mo isn't a poor cockerel by ANY stretch of the imagination. He's going to be one heck of a stud some day. LOL! (If anyone ever wanted Curly as a flockwatcher, he would be free to a good home. He does roost and gets around really well, but I can't guarantee how he'd be able to breed with his funky feet.




Snape:
Snape is an absolute angel! See?

Snape is a crested Splash. He's super wide and super deep, and a real gentleman with hens, adults and children alike. He does have comb sprigs.

But look at that chest! And look at that flowering!




So - there they are.
We're not allowed to sell birds in this thread, so I'm just sharing photos of my boys.
If anyone has any questions about my flock, send me a PM.

These is mah wimmin!! - Sebastian (I love his eyebrows!!)

Very handsome!!

Okay, y'all.

When do your roosters start crowing generally? (Age-wise that is.)

Dominant boys will crow sooner and boys lower in the pecking order crow later. Your two boys were raised with a LOT of older roosters. LOL! Could be a while before they realize nobody is going to beat them up if they crow.

Hey everyone! I've got 8 eggs in the bator, Day 20. Just went to check on the humidity, and imagine my surprise when I heard some very loud chirping! I looked through the window and saw a freshly hatched chick already! It looks fully developed (yolk sack is absorbed), but the others haven't even pipped yet. Being a little paranoid and hoping it's not a bad sign. That liitle guy sure is cute, though. Already telling myself I'm definitely gonna keep him, even if it's a boy...

Hooray! Congratulations!!!

One of my handsome young boys.

SO pretty!

A question for those of you that have had the Swedes for awhile.

I have a SFH hen that will be 2 yo around Jan. 1. She has always been very compact and not quite as large as the hatchery red girls I have.

The new girls are much larger than she is even at 24 weeks old and look more like the large fowl.

Was there variation in size in the SFH? My older girl isn't stunted or tiny...just not as big as the new girls.

I have definitely seen a variation in sizes and weights.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Melabella @Bulldogma

I was looking back through photos and noticed a "kind-of" stripe appearance on Emma when she was day-old. Unfortunately I don't have lots of photos but are these similar to your chick at all?


See the one in the foreground on both of these photos.

 

[Bulldogma]

@Leahs Mom
Yes - I can see what you're talking about. @ki4got says she believes the wild type gene is present in the SFH and this would cause the "racing stripes" as well as Cleopatra eyeliner.

Apparently from what we've seen, most chicks will just get faint markings, but some (Like @Melabella 's) will get distinctive markings.

This breed is so fun, different and unpredictable!

 

[TheGeekySheep]

Day 14! Just candled and it looks like I have one early quitter SFH (why you gotta keep breaking my heart, Swedes??) but everyone else is doing great. So I'm down to 5 SFH, two Legbars and 6 Dominiques for a friend (I predict they will be some big healthy chicks because the embryos are huuuge).

 

[gimmie birdies]

I have had trouble with SFH before- currently hatching 3 legbar/Isbar eggs day 12. eggs are 3/4th isbar, so heavy on the isbar.
below is my last batch only one SFH hatched the brown roo- but that is good because My gal friend who gave me the eggs said she only had one male. I plan on keeping him, and any of the above isbar roos I get.below the dark grey and black were straight 1/2&1/2 leg bar to isbar, and the 3 in front isbar chicks all eggs from same lady. my above was a combo from my own flock.

 

[redrooster99]

...

Finally was able to get some pics of my free range boys today! Nickname - Larry: I had been keeping this boy in case I lose my other blue boy. He's just about as nice as they get and sadly the pictures just don't do him justice. Perfect comb, lovely build, bigger than the others his age, standoffish but very polite. He was broody raised and knows how to be a chicken. Very balanced and nicely flowered. Good, wide tail and deep, wide body. (An older rooster recently removed some of his hackles - his neck usually appears much wider. Young Black-Based Mille Fleur: I think he's around 14 weeks, but I'm not for sure. He was also broody raised, but much more friendly and up in your stuff! No sprigs, wide & deep body. Right now his back seems a bit flat, but he hasn't even started to fill out yet so that could change a lot. As you can see, he is nicely flowered, but somewhere right in the middle of the range from minimal to maximum flowering in my opinion. A very likable boy, for sure! Olaf: BIG. BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG! And have I mentioned this boy is big? He may not be the tallest SFH you'll ever meet, but he's one of the tallest in my yard... and his WIDTH... sheesh! If this boy didn't have sprigs, he'd be perfect in my opinion. He'd be great for a project bird or for putting size and more flowering into a SFH flock. He is Black based and has LOTS of flowering - even flowering throughout his saddle and hackle feathers which isn't as common. He's polite and helped bring up 3 chicks recently... which was really cute! Nickname - Mo: Mo is very nicely put together. Nice comb, and well built. he's very well mannered. And yes - Larry and Mo have a brother (who looks more like Larry) nicknamed Curly. Curly got his name because he was the survivor of a power outage during lock down and (you guessed it) has curled toes as a result. It's a pity because otherwise he's as good quality a bird as Larry. Now don't get me wrong - Mo isn't a poor cockerel by ANY stretch of the imagination. He's going to be one heck of a stud some day. LOL! (If anyone ever wanted Curly as a flockwatcher, he would be free to a good home. He does roost and gets around really well, but I can't guarantee how he'd be able to breed with his funky feet. Snape: Snape is an absolute angel! See? Snape is a crested Splash. He's super wide and super deep, and a real gentleman with hens, adults and children alike. He does have comb sprigs. But look at that chest! And look at that flowering! So - there they are. We're not allowed to sell birds in this thread, so I'm just sharing photos of my boys. If anyone has any questions about my flock, send me a PM. Would the side sprigs be in there offspring with an EE.