Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Bulldogma]

I don't know if I have any that are book worthy, but you are welcome to go through the albums on my profile page and let me know if you would like copies of any of them. I think the SFH are in the SFH, Default, and Upload albums.

I would love for you to send me the following:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/5111554/sort/display_order/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/5154758/sort/display_order/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/5174669/sort/display_order/ (are all the chicks in this brooder SFH? Love the way this shows all the different color babies!)
and
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/4911419/sort/display_order/

I also like the following, but would need copies without the names on them
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/4888344/sort/display_order/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/4888351/sort/display_order/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/4911379/sort/display_order/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/4936944/sort/display_order/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/4936962/sort/display_order/

And by the way - I LOVE your painted roosts!

 

[Cynthia12]

I said I would post pictures today, just getting them..had family over, nice day.

This is the one I was wondering about coloring. It still looks to have a blue hint to it
on it's back. Light yellow/cream on the sides, head, and neck..there is a spot of blue
on the very top of it's head.


Here's the little black and yellow one. It's marked pretty cute.

A little "Bandit" with those black eye markings. Guess it doesn't need to be said, I'm hoping
for girls. We will see..oh the waiting.

These little Swedish Flowers..make me smile.

 

[funnmomm]

I love those sweet baby pics. I c an't wait to hatch my own. Have any of you heard about sexing chickens by there eggs.

 

[ki4got]

I love those sweet baby pics. I c an't wait to hatch my own. Have any of you heard about sexing chickens by there eggs.

sexing by egg shape/color has been discussed for generations, some claiming they can but for the most part nope not gonna work. you can sex chicks sometimes at hatch depending on color if the sire carries a sex linked mutation that the mother does not, (barred for example) but for sfh, I don't think that's in the mix. so unless you get really good at vent sexing day old chicks, you're better off waiting.

 

[Bulldogma]

Actually a number of us have had great luck with wing sexing! All mine were named by day 3, and all have been able to keep their names... but keep in mind I only raised 3 from chick-hood.

Gently spread the wing out and look at the feathers near the end of the wing. The girls will usually look more like this: lilili and the boys like this: llllll.
It works best between day 2 and day 5 in my opinion. After that, the boys may get more staggered growth and the girls feathers are starting to even out a bit. It's not 100% accurate, but as I said, a few of us on here have had luck with it.

 

[ki4got]

Actually a number of us have had great luck with wing sexing! All mine were named by day 3, and all have been able to keep their names... but keep in mind I only raised 3 from chick-hood.

Gently spread the wing out and look at the feathers near the end of the wing. The girls will usually look more like this: lilili and the boys like this: llllll.
It works best between day 2 and day 5 in my opinion. After that, the boys may get more staggered growth and the girls feathers are starting to even out a bit. It's not 100% accurate, but as I said, a few of us on here have had luck with it.

yes, wing sexing does work on many breeds like that... the cochin is another, though i have one that was sent to me as a cockerel because she grew so slowly, but wasn't, and i've got 2 self blue cochins right now i feather sexed as one of each, i ended up with 2 cockerels... so it's not 100%. but gives you a good idea.

 

[Cynthia12]

Actually a number of us have had great luck with wing sexing! All mine were named by day 3, and all have been able to keep their names... but keep in mind I only raised 3 from chick-hood.

Gently spread the wing out and look at the feathers near the end of the wing. The girls will usually look more like this: lilili and the boys like this: llllll.
It works best between day 2 and day 5 in my opinion. After that, the boys may get more staggered growth and the girls feathers are starting to even out a bit. It's not 100% accurate, but as I said, a few of us on here have had luck with it.

This is a great way to show how to look at the feathering..I have feathered sexed many chicks, many times, right, once in a while ~ wrong!

But yes, the ones with the long and short feather usually indicate female on some chicks..glad to hear that these are some I can do that with. Plus, I also noticed..that the little boy chicks, will have a tight end to the wing feathering in the beginning.

 

[Bulldogma]

This is a great way to show how to look at the feathering..I have feathered sexed many chicks, many times, right, once in a while ~ wrong!

But yes, the ones with the long and short feather usually indicate female on some chicks..glad to hear that these are some I can do that with. Plus, I also noticed..that the little boy chicks, will have a tight end to the wing feathering in the beginning.

I noticed Gunnar's feathers were very tight and uniform from a very young age - unlike my pullets whose feathers were looser and more staggered.I was a little surprised just how clear the difference was in mine - of course at that point I figured I must be doing it wrong because certainly it couldn't be so easy - LOL. Nope - all three were right on target. I'm sure it won't work for every SFH, but I think the odds are pretty good with this breed.

Oh - and in the high-resolution, up-close head shot photos, Gunnar's comb was noticeably larger right from the beginning. May just have been him, but it's worth a look-see!

Gunnar:


Inga:

 

[vickiw]

Hi and good evening everyone!
hope you don't mind a stranger jumping in here with a question. I am considering getting SFH's if I am unable to acquire (or maybe in place of) Hedemora hens. Are SFH's good layers? I live in northern WI and am seeking nice cold hardy hens that are reasonably good layers (or even better, great!) Don't care about the meat part. My girls are strictly eggs and entertainment

thank you in advance for any wise words you might share

 

[LazyQ]

I mentioned before that the eggs I got from Betharrived in good shape except for one that was crushed. I let them sit over night and p[ut in the incubator on Tuesday the 25. When I candled them at 10 days I found one that was cracked on
the bottom, I also found 4 clears. I took them out and fed to the pigs. Pigs do like eggs. Mine are wild stock and if they can catch a chicken they will eat it.
Anyway I put the rest in lock down Saturday. Looking for them to hatch Tuesday the 16. I did put the cracked one in there too, because it did look fertile. 2 of them looked like they had bacteria, so that left 4 eggs out of the 12 sent that MIGHT hatch. I just went in and checked and GUESS what I have a new Swedish Flower Hen chick. Still wet BUTT looks like a pretty Strawberry blond.
Fingers crossed on the rest hatching.
BTW I finally got the nest box mounted on the back of my SFH girls coop Saturday and picked 3 eggs out if it this morning. So now I don't have to get off my wheelchair and stumble around in the coop raking in the sand looking for covered up eggs. The girls and their new BOSS are getting along great, I am gonna give them a couple more weeks and start setting some of their eggs.
Baby chick pictures tomorrow
Wish me luck.
Y'all great people.
Big Jim