Chicken Breed Focus - Icelandic

[nordahlbunch]

Some of my David Grote birds

My Hlésey line icelandic babies

 

[yochickiemomma]

way too cute. mine are about 6 weeks old now. Im not sure what line mine are from. I purchased mine from a local breeder.

 

[yochickiemomma]

one of them is an Ice/EE mix.

 

[Chickbacca]

So, I live on 25 acres, mostly wooded, in the Arkansas Ozarks, and wanted to have some chickens that would be weather hardy and predator resistent. Looked like the Icelandics would be a pretty good breed for that. I have little to no experience with chickens. Tried to keep a couple Rhode Island Reds last year; but something got them one day. I suspect a dog. Anyway, I'm very new to keeping chickens.

Borrowed a still-air incubator from a freind at work. I ordered a half-dozen from David Grote in Wisconsin. David shipped a couple extras with the half-dozen order; so I got 8. They shipped to me in early May. They arrived on May 12th, and I put them in the incubator about 6 hours later.

Since then, I broke many "rules" listed in the egg-hatching tutorials on this site. Did not wait a full day before putting them in the 'bator. Did not allow the 'bator a day to "stabilize," whatever that means. Adjusted the temperature dial whenever I thought it was too hot or too cold. Did not rigidly control humidity - just put a little water in the bottom trays when it looked like it needed it. I DID turn them 3 times a day for the first two weeks, BUT on Day 14, I left home on a day trip and they didn't get turned for about 21 hours. On Day 17 I took my daughter on a camping trip, and the eggs got no attention for more than 24 hours.

On Day 18, I jacked the humidity up to 65% and closed it for the last time prior to hatch. According to all the guidance I've read, I should have had a disastrous hatching experience because I didn't "do it right." Even if I had "done it right," I should only have expected 50% hatch rate with mail-ordered eggs, right?

Well, guess what.

Try 75%

And yes, I DID help several of them widen their pip holes and I DID zip for one of them because it looked like the air sac was weirdly shaped and I wanted to make sure he/she could get out during the day when I was away at work. Apparently, opening the 'bator to assist with hatching didn't hurt these chicks one bit. I moved them to my $5 Rubbermaid Tote brooder about 12 hours after hatching. That didn't hurt them either.











I had one that apparently didn't start. It candled clear after a week, and I removed it on Day 10. Another one had a properly shaped and sized air sack, but it apparently didn't progress very far after the second week, and I gave up on it at Day 23. It was mostly yolk when I egg-topsied it.

Anyway, I'm pretty stoked that, of the 7 eggs that started developing, I got all but one of 'em to hatch.

Now, I'm working furiously on my coop, which is probably 3/4 complete. Lots of rain lately; but I'll have a few dry days this week to finish the work. (As it happens, I'm doing some renovations in my home, and I'm using old lumber and plywood from the house to build the coop. So I'm out almost no money for this coop.)

Happy to be here. I know I'm making fun, but the BYC forums have been very helpful for this first-timer. I'll show some pics of my coop a bit later during the summer.

Regards,
Chickbacca.............ROAARRRR!

 

[OldHen1974]

While I'm not new to chicken herding by any means, I AM new to Icelandic chickens. Being of partial Icelandic descent myself, I felt it was important to try raising these guys. Without much luck in finding a person who has purebred birds in Ontario (at least any they want to sell), I found a wonderful lady in Alberta (Carla Rhyant) who breeds Icies and ordered 36 eggs, some from all 4 lines, and the hopes are that a friend and I will be sharing whatever hatches. Its an incredibly long distance for fertilized eggs to go, and there were forest fires at the Ontario/Manitoba border that had be worrying my eggs would be getting a detour trip. But they made it finally! I'm so excited!

You know, getting chickens at a bird auction of dubious descent is much less stressful.

Its been 8 days so today, we're having a candling party to see whats going on there. Well, hopefully there will be a party. lol

 

[Cowboy777]

Hello All,
New member here, but have been reading these forums for awhile now. I am searching for Icelandic chicks in Western Washington. Specifically Kitsap County. I recently purchased a rooster from "Hlesey line" and have become obsessed with the breed. If you could please point me in the right direction that would be much appreciated! Thanks.

 

[Jenbel]

The Icelandic breed is a landrace fowl which are rare outside its native country of Iceland, after which it's named. They are a very old breed, having been present on the island since introduction by Norse settlers in the 9th century. However, the breed has barely survived in a pure form in the 21st century, largely due to the importation and popularity of commercial strains of chickens in the 1950s. The few thousand Icelandic chickens in existence today are the result of conservation efforts in the 1970s and a handful of flocks that have been exported abroad.
Icelandic Chickens are not firmly standardized in appearance and possess a wide range of plumage colours and patterns, skin colouration and comb types. Some will have feather crests. Despite this variance in appearance, Icelandics are uniformly hardy in winter, have white earlobes and lay white to light brown coloured eggs. They are also said to be docile in temperament, and hens will readily go broody. They are great foragers and skilled escape artists. If there is a way out, they will find it!




Detail Value
Breed Purpose Dual Purpose
Comb Single
Broodiness Average
Climate Tolerance All Climates
Egg Productivity Medium
Egg Size Medium
Egg Color White
Breed Temperament Flighty
Breed Colors/Varieties Many
Breed Size Large Fowl













**All pics by @Happy Chooks


BYC Breed Discussions:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/299038/icelandic-chickens/0_30

BYC Breed Reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/icelandic-or-viking-hen


Do you own Icelandics? Are you an Icelandic breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/

I was told these were Icelandic chicks. Is there any way to tell if that is correct? First pic is Faida at 5-6 days, 2nd pic is Faida at 5 1/2 weeks, 3rd pic is Faida’s green tinted feet, 4th pic is Soley at 5-6 days and 5th pic is Soley at 5 1/2 weeks.

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

I've had Icelandics since June of 2010. Here are pictures of my two original cocks, Ari and Audun, hatched in March of 2010 by BYCer The Sheriff. She shipped them to me with two pullets from a different line hatched in May. Boi and Eldur are the result of my breedings.
I need to go to work but will post again later.







Eldur

Those are very nice chooks, unfortunately, all my cockerels are mixed breed....
My last purebred male, was Mary, a very beautiful Welsummer, he passed in 2019 if I recall.
Do the cocks have good tempers, and could one be tamed and trained?

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

Hello All,
New member here, but have been reading these forums for awhile now. I am searching for Icelandic chicks in Western Washington. Specifically Kitsap County. I recently purchased a rooster from "Hlesey line" and have become obsessed with the breed. If you could please point me in the right direction that would be much appreciated! Thanks.

Hmm, I wish I could help you.
I get my chicks from a small local feed store, I think they "might" do special orders, but I could be wrong, you'd have to ask them.

 

[Newyorkrita]

Anyone newly into Icelandics?