Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Jake Levi]

I am in my seventh decade.

Born and raised on an upstate NY general livestock farm.

Our farm flock, started from my grandmothers flock was RC RIRs, that she had since she was first married. Previously they had Dominiqes. There were also real honest bantams around, our farms and others, bantams, not feral chickens of any breed, most probably descended from Old English Games. That was their coloration most often, tri colored red,bown black roos and various shades of brown on the hens.

The closest relative I can find for the Icelandic is the Norwegian Jaerhoun, which would make sense. But the Icelandic is a breed, it reproduces itself, in great variety, but recognizeably the same type and colors, no others.Combs are also varied. NO selection pressure has been made for color or comb or any fancy points, only for hardiness, and steady egg production.

The Icelandic was the chicken of Iceland for over a thousand years, arguably the oldest recognized chicken breed in the world after the Junglefowl.

 

[saladin]

Quote:
Jake,

The Asil has that beat by around 2000 years; since, it is mentioned in text dating to around 1500 BC.

 

[Jake Levi]

Okay, European breed

 

[saladin]

Quote:
The Roman C. (can't spell worth a lick: but Yellow House can!lol.: public school education in the South: you gotta love it) mentions a 5 toed fowl (Dorking) around the time of Christ. Of course, I think you've already mentioned this, we have evidence of the Game being in England by the time of Julius Ceasar too.

Apologize for seeming argumentive. If the fowl has been in Iceland for 1000 years, and I believe it most likely has been, then it is certainly an old fowl. A fowl I would classifiy as a Medieval Fowl.

Ancient Fowl would be:
Old English
Dorking
Asil
possibly the Malay

I'm sure there are others too.

 

[saladin]

Yellow,

A lot depends on who is using a word. Same word by different folks means different things.

When cockers (now and from the past) use the word Dunghill. They mean any fowl that is not a Game. It was/is meant to be a demeaning term; though many cockers kept 'dunghills' for hatching, eating or just plain egglaying.


What the old writers you have been refering too mean by it would depend on whether or not they were coming from or quoting a cocking background.

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
Toe punches and nostril cuts would be much easier to use in your situation Yellow House.

We use toe punching and wing bands. Nostril cuts? Do explain!

X2 I have never heard of this (have you already? I may have missed it).
I am going to guess you cut the nostils

punky

 

[cybercat]

Quote:
I personally like leg bands because observing the birds moving and their daily habits and personalities is important to my selection. I like to take mental notes on which ones dominate the pen, which ones are bullies or protective, which ones have that "extra sparkle" in their bearing and composure.

Also, think of it this way...handling the birds more frequently to change out leg bands means you are actually putting your HANDS on them to feel what's going on in development under those feathers. If selecting towards a somewhat earlier maturity (we're not talking CX here, folks, just not a six month grow out!) then the more frequent handling could be very valuable.

Of course, that becomes impractical with larger scale operations, but perhaps it could be considered in planning how many birds you can manage at a time.

Here is an article the BYP put out awhile ago. It has some good info on IDing .

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/3/3-4/identifying_poultry_in_a_backyard_flock.html

I like the bandetts as I can put adult size on younger chicks and they can grow into them. They expand since band over laps so they do not dig into leg. The only ones I have lost are those hens that got taken by fox or hawk and we did not find hen after wards.

 

[saladin]

Nostril cuts: just as it sounds. Old, old practise used by some cockers. I've never done it myself; only seen it and then in the hands of some fellows that would be ancient now if they were still on this side of the sod.

I think, if I remember correctly, but I'm getting old, that it was done to Juvenile birds. They used a pen knife and just notched out one side or the other.


Like if you were running two families of the same breed: one would carry a notch on the left nostril and the other would carry one on the right. Then toe punches could be used to identify a particular hen. The nostril cuts/slits simply doubled the toe punches!

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Quote:
Thanks, Saladin. And have you every heard a term like "mean game" to refer to less than game games?

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Quote:
The Roman C. (can't spell worth a lick: but Yellow House can!lol.: public school education in the South: you gotta love it) mentions a 5 toed fowl (Dorking) around the time of Christ. Of course, I think you've already mentioned this, we have evidence of the Game being in England by the time of Julius Ceasar too.

Apologize for seeming argumentive. If the fowl has been in Iceland for 1000 years, and I believe it most likely has been, then it is certainly an old fowl. A fowl I would classifiy as a Medieval Fowl.

Ancient Fowl would be:
Old English
Dorking
Asil
possibly the Malay

I'm sure there are others too.

It wouldn't make a lot of historical sense for them to be the oldest breed, considering both available info on ancient poultry and the time period of Icelandic colonization. Demographically speaking, Iceland isn't old the way France is old. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it were not one of, if not the most isolated population of poultry genetics in Europe, and maybe rank among the world's most isolated fowl bases, which is cool in and of itself.