The Svart Hona (Swedish Black Hen) Thread!

[annagoodspeed]

Good to hear. It was down to -15 this winter and it was interesting to see the difference in how much frostbite the different breeds received. The Legbar was bad, the Langshan with the smallest comb had some, while the Black Marans had hardly any. Just have the Langshan now, he is a sweetie and not very dominant, so hoping that during non breeding times when they are all together he can coexist with the Svarts.

 

[terresav]

I have a beautiful pair of svart honas that are about 5 months old. The hen is perfectly black,just gorgeous! My rooster just learned to crow,gorgeous as well! My question is about my rooster. His waddles are turning mulberry,just the waddles and they are still super dark. Ear lobes are still black. Is mulberry waddles acceptable? His temperament is amazing,he is super sweet,coos constantly and now even crows when I tell him hello. I definately live this breed,I have 4 unrelated svart chicks in the brooder now that are just super lovey.

 

[birdman55]

Looks like one of my boys has some mulberry wattles. No mulberry on his comb though. I have another boy that is so far all black and another one with lots of colored feathers. The two girls are all black still. They turned 19 weeks old over the weekend.

Not to be mean but u have Hmong chickens.

The all black roosters u seen in pics are svart honas the colored ones are Hmong chickens. Please people understand that u will breed mostly imperfect svart honas and ayam cemani. N people to say they have all black svarts is a joke. Especially if u don't breed other fibromelenistic birds. The svart Hona for one is with the least amount of fibro traits compared to other fibro birds. The svart Hona is more grey with a purpleish/ charcoal meat. Misinformation is huge with fibro birds. Out of over 150 svart Hona roosters what u see is what made the cut so to speak. I would never speak the words all black in any fibromelenistic birds. Bc they are simply not always black. As with wattles n comes. Very rarely will u have all black. Especially with svart honas. There is prolly 1 out of 150 that I can say is close to perfect. N I brought direct from gff and ewe crazy farms.

 

[BohoAlly]

This is a lousy pic of my beautiful boy, haha. He came from BJ's Poultry along with five hens as day olds. Ordered Str. Run and got lucky. Not quite a yr. old. Gr8 little egg layers and so sweet natured.

 

[BohoAlly]

This one might be alittle better.

 

[gapey]

My 22 week old svart boy has decided he doesn't like my boots and has been attacking them for the last couple of days. I thought svarts were supposed to be kind and gentle. The two girls I have are sweeties. I had another cockerel that went to freezer camp a couple of weeks ago because he decided he was going to be a butthead to my adult hens which we don't tolerate. So far this one has been pretty gentle with the hens but my boots, not so much and am afraid it will only get worse. He's my last boy so I may have to go with a different breeder if I want more.

 

[gapey]

Not to be mean but u have Hmong chickens.

Thanks @birdman55 I didn't think you were being mean. This is my first time with "svart honas". I got them as hatching eggs from someone local that claimed her roo is from Ewe Crazy and the hens from GFF.

 

[campingshaws]

My 22 week old svart boy has decided he doesn't like my boots and has been attacking them for the last couple of days. I thought svarts were supposed to be kind and gentle. The two girls I have are sweeties. I had another cockerel that went to freezer camp a couple of weeks ago because he decided he was going to be a butthead to my adult hens which we don't tolerate. So far this one has been pretty gentle with the hens but my boots, not so much and am afraid it will only get worse. He's my last boy so I may have to go with a different breeder if I want more.

Mine are not sweet and gentle, but no human aggression. They are catlike, to me: not lap birds, don't enjoy being handled (but they'll tolerate it some), and keep to themselves. They like to observe the action from just out of arms' reach. They are not easy to sneak up on. They aren't bullies, but they definitely defend themselves.

 

[campingshaws]

This girl earned the name "Pancake" from being the flattest broody I've ever seen!

So far one chick is solid black, one has a pink toe tip.

 

[Kindercare]

My 22 week old svart boy has decided he doesn't like my boots and has been attacking them for the last couple of days. I thought svarts were supposed to be kind and gentle. The two girls I have are sweeties. I had another cockerel that went to freezer camp a couple of weeks ago because he decided he was going to be a butthead to my adult hens which we don't tolerate. So far this one has been pretty gentle with the hens but my boots, not so much and am afraid it will only get worse. He's my last boy so I may have to go with a different breeder if I want more.

I had a Svart roo do literally the exact same thing. One day he just decided that he had it out for boots, dark colored boots specifically. It lasted about a week and then he stopped. We also had a broody hatch chicks at the same time the behavior started, so I thought he was either just temporarily stressed or being protective. I made it a point to face him when he went for my boots and had other family members do the same. Never kick back or turn and run. Just face them and stand your ground. If you can grab them and hold them still for a while, do that for a bit and they usually settle down.