Swedish Flower Chickens (Skånsk Blommehöna)
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We are really excited to announce the addition of a new breed of chicken to Sweet Meadows Farm - the Swedish Flower (SF). We knew we wanted to bring chickens back to the farm, after not having them for a year, and after doing some research, we decided to focus on one very special endangered breed....the Swedish Flower!
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A little history on the Swedish Flower Hen. Originally from Sweden, there were very few left by the 1970's and so the government found a few isolated flocks and established the Swedish Genetic Project to help bring the breed back and also to raise awareness about other endangered heritage breeds. The SFH, or Skånsk Blommehöna, has only been in America since 2010 with the first importing of a few birds. They are named for the various beautiful and unusual "flowering" they have in patterns, producing many different colors and patterns. They are a landrace, which means that they were not engineered by man, but rather evolved and adapted naturally to their environment over the centuries. They are super hearty and healthy, lay really large eggs regularly, do very well in super cold climates (like Sweden...and Vermont!), have amazing funny personalities (more on that below), and rarely get sick They are known as the "compost" chicken, foraging with such tenacity that they are always busy looking for things to eat! The perfect permaculture and homesteading chicken!
Personality wise, they remind me so much of the cute chirping Speckled Sussex (one of our favorite past breeds) with such a super friendly, endearing personality, and a chirping little sing-song they make when they are happy (which is all the time). It's been bizarre actually as they are SO different than other chickens we have had in that they actively want to sit on your lap, climb on your back, and sit on your shoulder/head! At first, it was a little creepy because it was so unexpected to have them literally crawling all over you (I've never seen anything like it before, and mind you we did NOT raise these from chicks - we got them at 3-4 months old!). It is so funny and sweet, and now I can't imagine having any other breed! What a special breed of chicken, and we can't wait to share them with others!
