Icelandic Chickens

[NotAFarm]

Jóka and her five:




Three of Heppni's five:



They spent the whole day outside with everyone else. High was near 60F and there was a breeze most of the day. Everyone managed to stay alive and with the correct momma.

You can tell, in this next picture, that Jóka wasn't happy when Heppni brought her chicks over to where Jóka had called her chicks to eat mealworms. One of Jóka's chicks stayed behind (bet that one is a boy

) when she walked away all puffed up and "griping" at Heppni.



Four broodies still sittin'!! I'll candle Gula's eggs tomorrow night to see what she will get to keep.....better get my chainmail gloves out..........

 

[drumstick diva]

I don't think Mary or Kathy have icelandics anymore - no emus or fainting goats , or donkeys either.

 

[mlm Mike]

I know Mary does not have her flock anymore. I'm fairly certain Kathy also eliminated the breed in her continuing effort to downsize, and keep a much more manageable number of chickens.

 

[RJSorensen]

Hey, thank you diva/mike for the update… I enjoyed the donkeys, and other such. Makes it a 'real' thread and there is an understanding to the breed that I can see is only gained by reading the back story. BUT I need to be in the 'today' as well. So here I am, warts bruises and all. If you kind folks will allow me the muddling that comes with such a new endeavor, I would be pleased to be a rank & file member here.

Being Danish with some of Norway thrown in, this whole Viking thing makes these birds a lot of fun for me and my family. We love the four we have, and are waiting with great anticipation the arrival of our batch of chicks next week. This will of course be the first time we have had Icee chicks and we are just over the moon getting our chance to watch them grow into adult birds. Plus, we have 'no' idea what they will look like, which sounds sort of funny to write, but makes perfect sense with these birds.

Thanks everyone for the kind reply and posts,

RJ

 

[NotAFarm]

I have 10 eggs in the incubator (candling for the first time tonight after work!!!) and my wife is making fun of my "Viking" chickens. I told her to be careful because I'm going to make them helmets and little battle axes. They will rule the roost, literally!

Hopefully the eggs will be showing some development. I guess it's always kind of dicey after shipping.

How are these eggs doing?

How far did they travel?

 

[arconfederate]

I only have two that seem to be developing. I'll candle them on Sunday at lockdown but I'm not too hopeful. They arrived in 2 days from Wisconsin to Louisiana. I don't have any complaints about the packing nor the time for traveling. I think that the PO was a little rough with them. I had 2 broken eggs. One was in pieces and the other was cracked and leaking. Of the surviving eggs, I have about 4 clears and 4 with blood rings. I left them all since this is my first hatching and I didn't have a good light source for the candling. I'll post my update on Monday morning.

 

[drumstick diva]

Hope that something hatches for you

 

[NotAFarm]

I only have two that seem to be developing. I'll candle them on Sunday at lockdown but I'm not too hopeful. They arrived in 2 days from Wisconsin to Louisiana. I don't have any complaints about the packing nor the time for traveling. I think that the PO was a little rough with them. I had 2 broken eggs. One was in pieces and the other was cracked and leaking. Of the surviving eggs, I have about 4 clears and 4 with blood rings. I left them all since this is my first hatching and I didn't have a good light source for the candling. I'll post my update on Monday morning.

Traveling any distance is hard on them, but the shuffling that happens in postal processing facilities makes it almost impossible to get eggs without air cell damage if nothing else.

I hope the two you have developing hatch as a pair.

 

[NotAFarm]

I know everyone is probably getting tired of seeing Heppni and Jóka's chicks........so here is Gula squashed down on her nest. I didn't candle tonight since I was worn-out from doing yard work all day and didn't want to go out to the coop after dark....maybe tomorrow...




.....and now here is Heppni teaching her chicks to hide in an elderberry bush...


another angle showing her three blondes


...and Jóka teaching hers to hide in the stinging nettle

 

[RJSorensen]

Well NAF I am certainly not tired of your birds with chicks photos. I enjoy them a great deal and I have a bad case of chick envy. I know that as a beginner here, I will be asking 'that' again, but hey it is BYC and that is how it works. So how many birds do you folks keep that are Icelandic, and if you also have others, what are they. I would like to 'learn' the ropes here and be able to speak with some working knowledge of the posting group.

So I would be more than excited to see your birds, learn about them and your thoughts, listen to any insight you might wish to share and perhaps items that i do not even know to ask. I do know that I be loving me some Icee chickens.

Best to all and your birds,

RJ