Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[TarheelBirdy]

Five hatched! Thanks for asking!!!

They are beautiful. Here are two of them. I will post a group pic as soon as I know everyone is good and sassy.

ETA: Adding pics and captions.

Could someone help with info please? Like, what are the colors called? Anything else that comes to mind when you look at them would be helpful. Thanks!

#1 of 5


#2 of 5 This one has a gray spot on its back:



#3 of 5

 

[TarheelBirdy]

#4 and 5 of 5 - Had to hold #4 - FEISTY!

 

[Contrastphoto]

Adorable!!!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

TarheelBirdy, great pictures! It's hard to say how they'll feather out. I was wrong on most of mine. I had two yellow ones, one turned out to be mille fleur and the other a red splash. The fun is seeing what you're gonna get! Thanks for sharing

 

[hipeatall]

I have some pictures here http://froggybogfarm.weebly.com/swedish-flower-hens.html showing how my 12 Swedish Flower Hen chicks are feathering out.
According to the GreenFire Farms site "the colors associated with this breed: black, gray, white, and red".

Five hatched! Thanks for asking!!!

They are beautiful. Here are two of them. I will post a group pic as soon as I know everyone is good and sassy.

ETA: Adding pics and captions.

Could someone help with info please? Like, what are the colors called? Anything else that comes to mind when you look at them would be helpful. Thanks!

#1 of 5


#2 of 5 This one has a gray spot on its back:


#3 of 5

 

[kiltednerd]

This weekend i had only one out of 12 ebay sfh eggs to hatch.All of my other eggs are doing good.Sometimes i wonder about shipped eggs.

My shipped SWF eggs, I got 7 out of 12. My last shipped hennie eggs I hatched 12 out of 13. I picked up some local eggs and hatched 3 out of 21..... I am not sure what the magic factor is when hatching shipped eggs. I do like to let them settle for about 12 hours before I put them in the bator.....

 

[Chicken Coach]

I let my shipped eggs set for 24 hours and i have a 300 egg GQF that i hatch weekly.Maybe the eggs where old when i got them.

 

[lcatty]

Icatty, none of my birds had the split wings. (I know what you're talking about because I currently have an NN with it.)
Regarding the sprigs. I have one single combed and 2 crested cockerels. Both of my crested boys have a sprig, but just on one side.
I decided to keep these boys for breeding for several reasons. I don't see it as a fault. They're a land race fowl and no standards have been set for these birds. There aren't many birds in the breeding pool. I chose the roos that were larger, had a nice body type and color. I'm not bothered by the sprigs and they don't affect their ability to do their job.
I love seeing all these birds as they feather out! So beautiful! Thanks for sharing all these wonderful pictures

ETA: I wouldn't breed a bird with crooked toes. That can be genetic and something that could get worse with each breeding. That would affect a birds well being, whereas side sprigs wouldn't. Just my opinion.

A thoughtful post. I guess I have to agree that the most important question regarding "faults" is this: is it a fault from the perspective of the ability of the bird to function as a bird? One could say that crests might be problematic, for instance, if they hinder the bird's ability to see and thus escape predators, find food. So far these guys have little crests so maybe it won't be an issue, but it does have me thinking about whether I want to breed against the trait. I have had a hard time trying to take a picture of a (possibly) split wing- need DH's help and he's been working a lot of hours. I do think I will reserve judgment on the split wing, though, until the birds are more mature. Maybe I am seeing something that is not there. I still think I might keep the roo with lighter hackles but no sprigs and no crooked toes. He is the biggest of them, and he seems nicer to the hens than the red guy with sprigs but coloring I prefer. Finally, the four Swede hens follow the light boy around- he seems their chosen leader.

I was sorry to hear about Rancher Hicks' predicament. I myself have four hens out of the original seven hens, seven roosters (one hen I think was killed by my Marans, one died of a disease and another I sold to a very nice person who really needed a SFH hen and also did me the favor of taking three roos off my hands).

Still, has anyone else thought of out-crossing to get fresh genes into these birds? And if so what do you think would be a good breed to out-cross with? We want to keep the beautiful mottling, the single comb, the yellow legs, the lovely disposition- the sine qua non of this breed or perhaps more correctly, this "type." I might eventually use an "Aloha" chicken.

Sorry to ramble, folks! Thanks to people who posted pics- it is so fun to look at them. Here, btw, is a group shot of mine. The only one missing is the small crooked toe rooster:


Hens, from left to right, are Millie, Vangie (crested), Voli, and Rosa.

 

[Contrastphoto]

Icatty, the Aloha chickens sound like a good choice for crossing. I also think a mille flour leghorn or speckled sussex might work. Your gang is adorable!

I just set my first batch of eggs from my SFH... I also set a few BBS Orp/SFH cross eggs.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

The Swedish gang free ranging. The roosters are great at keeping a watchful eye on the girls.
How about a Spitzhauben for crossing? They're about the right size. Pictured hereare 2 SFH pullets,
my Spitz and of course, the handsome cockerel "Sorrel".