Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[ashtree]

I'm also curious @Melabella if you have any clue as to what your chicks are yet? I actually think of my 6 chicks I have 5 cockerels. As it is I have 3 beautiful boys destined for freezer camp this weekend it breaks my heart. I was hoping to keep 2 boys but I just don't have the girls.

 

[gimmie birdies]

boy top, Henry, (he has the flowered look more on his chest but it is hard to get him to pose.)he hatched in my incubator.
girl bottom.Sophia.Bought her from a local breeder.



I only have 2, 9week old SFH 2 secured heat lamps in pen for day, and at night I am going to start bringing them inside I have 7 other birds various ages with them all pullets.These 2 plus 3 other small 9 week old isbars will be in the house.. the girl is older than the roo. they are from diff breeders.

 

[KYTinpusher]

boy top, Henry, (he has the flowered look more on his chest but it is hard to get him to pose.)he hatched in my incubator. girl bottom.Sophia.Bought her from a local breeder. I only have 2, 9week old SFH 2 secured heat lamps in pen for day, and at night I am going to start bringing them inside I have 7 other birds various ages with them all pullets.These 2 plus 3 other small 9 week old isbars will be in the house.. the girl is older than the roo. they are from diff breeders.

Sorry to break it to you, but those are both boys. The crested cockerels take longer for the combs and wattles to become obvious, but that is a cockerel crest. :/

 

[gimmie birdies]

Thank You I am so happy! the lady who gave me the egg to hatch for henry was worried because she only had an older boy. and I thought Henry was my only boy. now she can have one!!!!

Or I can keep them both if they get along.

 

[Alpine Chicken]

Update on my latest hatch: had some pasty-butt problems with the one I had assisted, but it seems to be doing OK again. First wing feathers have come in:


Close-up of the one with the intersting marking on its head (pretty sure he´s a boy, since he walks around like he owns the place, but it could just be because he hatched 2 days ahead of everyone else. For now I´ve named him St. John, could become a Joan, though):


There´s one intersting thing about this hatch. The hatch rate was 40%. I had 6 freshly gathered eggs in the bator, and 4 that had been in the fridge for a few days. Of the 4 that were in the fridge, 3 hatched and 1 was an early quitter. Of the 6 fresh eggs 1 hatched, and it was the one that pipped at the wrong end and needed help. I´m wondering if it´s generally better with this breed to use eggs that have already been settling for a few days, or if maybe the coolness of the fridge was good for them. I know there´s something wrong with my bator, too, but I just thought that couldn´t just be coincidence, Anyone else have this kind of experience with hatching eggs?

 

[Bulldogma]

Update on my latest hatch: had some pasty-butt problems with the one I had assisted, but it seems to be doing OK again. First wing feathers have come in:

Close-up of the one with the intersting marking on its head (pretty sure he´s a boy, since he walks around like he owns the place, but it could just be because he hatched 2 days ahead of everyone else. For now I´ve named him St. John, could become a Joan, though):

There´s one intersting thing about this hatch. The hatch rate was 40%. I had 6 freshly gathered eggs in the bator, and 4 that had been in the fridge for a few days. Of the 4 that were in the fridge, 3 hatched and 1 was an early quitter. Of the 6 fresh eggs 1 hatched, and it was the one that pipped at the wrong end and needed help. I´m wondering if it´s generally better with this breed to use eggs that have already been settling for a few days, or if maybe the coolness of the fridge was good for them. I know there´s something wrong with my bator, too, but I just thought that couldn´t just be coincidence, Anyone else have this kind of experience with hatching eggs?

The babies are adorable!!

One of the reason many of us are having success with the dry incubation method is because it allows more moisture to evaporate out of the egg and increases the size of the air cell by the time the chicks internally pip. They are less likely to drown inside the shell (which seems to happen more often with this breed just before hatch).

Sitting a few days prior to incubation would also allow more moisture to evaporate - as would refrigeration.

Very interesting!!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

@TheGeekySheep


What's happening with that hatch?

 

[gimmie birdies]

These are Isbars not SFH, but since we are talking incubating I hope that is okay. I have 3 eggs I pulled out of fridge, (they were in for a short time), I had just lost my isbar roo is why I did this. I put them under a broody who was excited about them for about a week, but a bully hen would hop on the nest when she would get off to eat.Then the broody would sit in the wrong nest, and the bully hen would get bored and let the eggs get cold. I didn't have the option to move the broody to a new spot, and I don't like to move a broody I just mark the eggs then move her at the hatching date or I brood chicks myself. So after a week of this and since the weather turned colder I brought the eggs in the house. for my little incubator. and moved the hatching dates out a couple of days. so tues, or wed.the roundish egg has the day 18 look the other 2 do not have a day 18 aircell yet but the points are filled. and yes I am doing a dry hatch.

 

[ki4got]

@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.

@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!

Leigh, these chicks are not e+... they are eb (partridge). the e mutations do affect the adult patterns, but also influence the appearance of the chicks as well. E chicks are solid black with a yellow belly/neck, eB chicks are SOLID black, eWh are much lighter and tend to have intermittent striping that's hard to tell from the background color, eb are darker brown (that's what the b stands for btw) with slightly darker areas (stripes of a sort), and the e+ is the classic chipmunk striped chick. these can be modified by other genes that will affect overall adult coloration, but that's the gist of it.

 

[ki4got]

sorry, I read one page then lost my place when I replied... if anything is directed at me specifically (genetics & such) pm me please. I'm not able to get on every day anymore like I used to.