I think they should have all those things. sorry, just my little joke.
I was wonder that too. I'm hoping that the birds themselves are unusual enough to be recognized as Flowers. Meaning that if their is crossbreeding that they birds will not look enought like Flowers to be passed off as flowers.
So, really, what makes a Flower? Mine all are different colors. My roo is crested. One has grey legs. They all carry their tails really high. They seem smaller that some of my heritage breed, except for the roo. They are very upright in their stance.
I would love not to have the whole snafu that has occurred around the Aracauna/Ameracana/EE. Would really like to keep these birds whole.
Knock Kneed Hen, i don't know what "not a breed means" Can you explain it to this noobie?
I'm not good with biology, so in layman terms, a breed is a chicken bred from parents chosen for particular traits ie: color, shape, body type. Examples of these are Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Wyandottes, etc.. All are recognizable from their appearance. There has been a Standard of Perfection written for them so that they must have certain traits to qualify.
Landrace fowl came about really by chance. The birds were living in a remote geographical area. Over years and years, they bred only with others in the area. Not all landrace fowl evolved the same. Junglefowl didn't have farmers tending over them. BUT in the case of the SFH it is likely that farmers traded stock from time to time. Birds ultimately started looking similar, sharing some traits most of the time. The healthiest, most disease resistant birds survived. Farmers most likely let the hens that they liked best set on her eggs, while maybe a nasty hen ended up in the stew pot. Over time the nicest, and often prettiest birds, remained in the farmers flock. Landrace fowl include Icelandics (very similar to SFH's), Junglefowl, Norwegian JÆRHØNS, etc...
That's a basic explanation. I have seen (and even have gotten some myself) SFH's that were mixes. A few have popped up here on this thread. It seems that it is apparent when they are mixes. So far I have not seen where a breeding of 1/2 SFH with 1/2 something else results in flowering. I don't have the space to work with mixes, but I know that there are people experimenting. The findings will definitely be interesting for all of us that are learning about these birds. I'd encourage people to post pictures of mixes so that we can all learn to recognize them.
I agree with your description of the "type" of birds that come from the pairing of SFH to SFH. I will eventually only be keeping SFH's. I do have a bantam NN rooster but he's in a bantam pen, not free ranged. I think it would be apparent in his case if he fathered any SFH chicks.
Mixing chicks in brooders is not recommended. I'd make sure that chicks are kept separate or have a leg band on. Like I said, I have some birds that the seller was adamant could no way have been anything else...yet they are solid black and solid red, clearly not pure (dang, cause I selected 3 pullets and am so stoked that I got THAT right!! ).
Anyhow, I'm no expert, just a fan of this bird and would like to make it my pet project. I'd love to hear what others have discovered and their take on it.
