Olandsk Dwarf Chickens

BLaBauve

Songster
10 Years
Jun 14, 2009
1,059
16
163
Georgia
I acquired this pair of Olandsk Dwarfs from Greenfire Farms very recently. They've taken to me very quickly and aren't the least bit flighty. I've noticed they are very social and seem to love being around other birds, we've really enjoyed having them so far - they are excellent lawn ornaments.
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I can't wait to see what they grow up into. I thought I'd share a description about them and a few pictures. The cockerel is a month of so younger than the pullet. Still working on names. . .
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Is anyone out there familiar them?

Olandsk Dwarf:

Giant pandas, viewed by most people as the very symbol of endangered animals, currently number about 2,500 adults in the wild. Take half that number –about 1,300 individuals—and you have the global population of blue whales. Halve that number again and you’re describing the remaining population of mountain gorillas; about 650 secretive apes living deep in the forests of Rwanda. But, mountain gorillas are almost common compared to the number of Olandsk dwarfs –a beautiful little chicken from Sweden-- remaining in the world. In 1989 there were 54 of these birds on the planet, and today there are fewer than 200.

Olands is the second largest island in Sweden; a strip of land about 85 miles long and 10 miles wide anchored near the mainland along the southeast coast. Here, centuries ago birds simply known as British garden hens (a literal translation of the Swedish word for this precursor landrace) were brought to the island, and from these birds the Olandsk dwarf emerged as a distinct breed. Olandsk dwarfs are cold-hardy birds that lay smallish white eggs. Their feathers are a wild, splattered canvas drawing from a palette of red, black, white, and gray. Dwarfs are active foragers and socialize well in a flock.

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This is a comparison of an Olandsks egg with a regular large egg from the supermarket. They lay approximately every other day but sometimes the next day (a pleasant surprise). But I have found that it may be directly related how much daylight/outdoor time they get. (Mine are primarily indoors unless someone is home to let them out for monitored outdoor time). :)
 
i have read this thread and somewhere in it is information about reduced humidity at lockdown or something similar which is a key to their hatch.
(consider the environment they are acclimatized to)
at least 2 people who have been on this thread sell eggs on ebay and they do it weekly so they have to be having reasonable reuslts.
at 40 to 50 a clutch i am sure they must be...p.m. them from here or email any of them through their websites. they will have the answer.
i have not seen them post here in a while but watch ebay 'olandsk hatching eggs' for a week or so and you will see them.
one of them has a large flock and will know.

if you are giving olandsk any consideration at all - i would recomend trying them if you can. i have seen nothing that compares
to all of their qualities in a natural dwarf or bantam. they should be good survivors as well as productive and friendly.

also, the northern european land races seem to have a much broader spectrum of genetics than an 'apa' standard breed.
those such as the jaerhon (norway) seem to be impervious to inbreeding problems and are vigorously fertile.
(the whole race in america comes from one import of eggs - they are all inbred)
i havnt spent 2 years studying the olandsk like i have the jearhon but the icelandic has similar vigor so i am making an assumption
about the olandsk. initial inbreeding followed by line breeding may not be a problem at all. it will take me a while to figure that out
but i am looking in that direction.

they are really worth the effort of trying to those who can.
 
These are 3 of my extra cockerels. Such cute lil guys! That's a smooth Silkie to the left of them for size reference. Excuse all the mud - we've had a ridiculous amount of rain this season!

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Congrat's on joining the 'Dwarf' club! This is a very special breed full of personality. You didn't mention how old the pair you acquired is, but I would assume somewhere around 5-7 weeks if the cockerel is just beginning to show signs of wattle's. Most breeders, myself included, do give away excess cockerels and roosters. One only needs so many.
As long as your pair are fully feathered, near or over 8 weeks old, they should be fine.....even without a heat lamp. Heat lamps scare me and I can't count the times I've heard of coops burning down because of them.
They are very cold hardy and miles from being 'delicate'. My adult flocks endure -10 degree winter temps, here on the Maine coast, with no heat lamps or heat source. Just solid, well ventilated coops. I do put plastic around the runs, if only to keep the snow out so they have some bare ground to scratch in.
Here's some photos of some juveniles of mine for comparison of male to females wattles.






 
This is my handsome roo, Prince. He's about 3.5 months old. He is the size of a small dove right now. He has the cutest little crow! I was very lucky my straight run purchase of 5 resulted in 4 girls and only 1 roo! These are absolutely gentle souls and are beautiful to look at. They are currently housed with 13 large fowl in a huge coop but my flock free ranges so the pecking is kept to a minimum. I have a French Copper Maran rooster who is head honcho and so far he has not picked on any of the little ones.

I found this land race by accident and now owning some- I think everyone needs to have at least 3! They are really sweet, graceful souls.

 

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