Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[kefiren]

To those who have full-grown sfh... what size egg do they lay? At what age (relatively) do they start laying, and then how long do they lay pullet eggs? Farther back on the thread, I think someone said they lay sort of late-ish and lay pullet-sized eggs for an extended time. Is that true? So, are they supposed to lay for a long time in return? Or is it because they are growing meaty bodies? or both? Just trying to get a grip on the sort of bird they are. As we know, all dual purpose birds have a little different target usage. Perhaps someone could make it all clear by saying: oh, they are like a...<name typical breed here> because they develop slowly yadda yadda...

 

[jeremy]

My chicks will be a month old on, or a few days after February first. They've grown quite a bit.

Pam, almost all white with some blue splotches, I'm thinking Splash. I'm also thinking she is a he... so Pam may be renamed Eric.





Jessica, a mostly red chick with some blue highlights, I have no clue what color she's turning into. I think she is a beautiful pullet and she's already got a BIG crest! I can't wait to see her all grown up!







A close up of her feathers.



Little Arlene, my last chick that hatched on day 24. She's/he's mostly Blue and white, I think she/he might actually be a cockerel. She/he has crooked toes.







Her/his toes are very crooked, she/he is able to keep up with the others and doesn't seem to be hindered by her/his toes but she/he does sometimes wobble and trip when she/he runs around the brooder. Should I cull her/him?



Nan, as soon as she/he started to feather in I knew she/he would be Mille Fleur colored and my intuition was right, she's/he's becoming very pretty. I'm not sure if she/he is a pullet or a cockerel though... I'm hope she/he is a pullet. But I think I'm wrong.





See that comb...



Sookie, colored just like Pam. I'm pretty sure Sookie is a girl.







Last but not least is Lafayette, my Blue Mottled baby, I'm pretty sure he's a little cockerel. He is also crested. He also has 1 crooked toe.









What do y'all think? Are my gender guesses correct?

Does anyone have any similar chicks that are older? How do they look now?

 

[rancher hicks]

I contacted GF and they replied that since I didn't purchase my chicks from them they weren't interested. Not their exact words but basically .

I had contacted them too, because the Birchen Maran chicks I got are showing gold feathers and they are supposed to be silver. I got a bad deal IMO.

I would not buy from a private person again. I really disappointed.

 

[jeremy]

I contacted GF and they replied that since I didn't purchase my chicks from them they weren't interested. Not their exact words but basically .

I had contacted them too, because the Birchen Maran chicks I got are showing gold feathers and they are supposed to be silver. I got a bad deal IMO.

I would not buy from a private person again. I really disappointed.

Who did you purchase your chicks from?

 

[Contrastphoto]

Jeremy, looking good! I would be really surprised if Pam turned into a roo. I haven't seen an almost all white/splash male yet. Keep an eye on Jessica. Most of mine that had that real deep bright red coloring are males. The girls are more muted in color and the males are more colorful. Thanks for sharing!

 

[jeremy]

Jeremy, looking good! I would be really surprised if Pam turned into a roo. I haven't seen an almost all white/splash male yet. Keep an eye on Jessica. Most of mine that had that real deep bright red coloring are males. The girls are more muted in color and the males are more colorful. Thanks for sharing!

Oh! I really hope Jessica stays Jessica! I want her to be a pullet sooo much!!

Pam screams boy to me. Her posture and the way she's unafraid of me and the noises she's making already remind me of other baby roos I've raised in the past. I kind of hope I'm wrong though... this batch of chicks is looking pretty cockerel heavy, I wouldn't mind another pullet.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Oh! I really hope Jessica stays Jessica! I want her to be a pullet sooo much!!

Pam screams boy to me. Her posture and the way she's unafraid of me and the noises she's making already remind me of other baby roos I've raised in the past. I kind of hope I'm wrong though... this batch of chicks is looking pretty cockerel heavy, I wouldn't mind another pullet.

Ah Jeremy, this has been the year of the cockerel. I had two that up until last week I still wasn't sure what they were. Funny, some you can tell the day they hatch, others it takes longer. I have one that didn't develop a crest until much later too. If you see my cockerels side by side you'd think one was a pullet because he is much smaller and not as developed as the others, but the saddle feathers are coming in so I guess I can stop hoping. :/ I ended up with 5 cockerels and 3 pullets.

I also think that both white ones are pullets. Sad to see so many crooked toes. It's got to be genetic. I don't see crooked toes showing up in other breeds. With a small genetic pool you are bound to have an issue somewhere. I guess we should be glad that it's something so visible.

 

[daisyjack]

This is my theory on the toes but I am no expert so don’t take this to heart; it is just a hypothesis,
they probably have a genetic deposition to get crooked toes since they are a rapid growing chicken and they do have long toes to begin with.. That being said they are also probably not getting the proper vitamins/nutrition this breed need during their period of rapid growth. It would be interesting to find out if this breed had this issue before they where imported and investigate more on the feeding habits.

This breed is a beautiful and unique breed like many others out there and they do have there issues. we just need to be responsible breeder and select the strongest for our breeding programs. Also greenfire does an excellent job in importing rare breeds into our country. however there is know way they can predict what will happen generations down the road, also you need to consider there must be a reason why they are so rare. Ok I done rambling.

 

[anniesmom]

Oh! I really hope Jessica stays Jessica! I want her to be a pullet sooo much!!

Pam screams boy to me. Her posture and the way she's unafraid of me and the noises she's making already remind me of other baby roos I've raised in the past. I kind of hope I'm wrong though... this batch of chicks is looking pretty cockerel heavy, I wouldn't mind another pullet.

Jeremy, Great baby pictures. Thanks so much for sharing. I do think you have a nice looking crop of mostly boys there.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

This is my theory on the toes but I am no expert so don’t take this to heart; it is just a hypothesis,
they probably have a genetic deposition to get crooked toes since they are a rapid growing chicken and they do have long toes to begin with.. That being said they are also probably not getting the proper vitamins/nutrition this breed need during their period of rapid growth. It would be interesting to find out if this breed had this issue before they where imported and investigate more on the feeding habits.

This breed is a beautiful and unique breed like many others out there and they do have there issues. we just need to be responsible breeder and select the strongest for our breeding programs. Also greenfire does an excellent job in importing rare breeds into our country. however there is know way they can predict what will happen generations down the road, also you need to consider there must be a reason why they are so rare. Ok I done rambling.

You make an interesting point! I wonder if supplementing with vitamins during their growth period would help?

I once ordered some hatchery birds from our local feed store. I took my birds home and started them with vitamins in their water.. I don't even know why. I later visited the feed store and saw that they had a number of birds returned. The owner told me that people were returning birds or reporting them dead. I told her mine were doing great. She ended up taking 5 birds to be necropsied at UCDavis. It was discovered that it wasn't the chicks, but the feed. Were a small town and everyone was buying their feed from the same store owner. The feed was missing a decent amount of B12. Chicks were dying and showing up with growth deformities. Mine did well because of the extra vitamins. I didn't use vitamins this time around...didn't think of it. I don't think it would hurt them to supplement during the growth period.

I'm certainly not blaming GFF. They're only able to work with what's available. I'm glad they've brought these birds in. I agree that responsible breeding is really important. It's so hard because, well, we do have our favorites and it's so tempting to overlook a tiny flaw. BUT I think it's MORE important to the integrity of this breed to select only the strongest. I think we have a rather important role here and I hope that we will do right by this breed.