I can't believe it! My Norwegian Jaerhons have started laying!

[ole red]

hey, thanks yall.

 

[ole red]

cause someone is looking for this thread.

 

[emys]

Yep me.

Anyone know why these are so rare? Is it just that they are new to this country or is it that the gene pool is too small and fertility is an issue?

Do they need to free range for their sanity or can they be OK in a large enough closed run?

?Why hasn't any one of us BYCers made a page for them in the breed charts yet? I've been checking there for months hoping someone would...the little I've found to read about them all sounds so good, but they are so hard to find.

 

[Kansaseq]

Lovely birds and it's always fun to learn about new breeds. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Mahonri]

That roo is beautiful.

They all remind me of my GC Marans.

 

[CelticMoon1]

Quote:
Can't really answer any US-specific questions, but in Norway at least I've never heard of fertility problems. They are not typically setters (not saying none will, they're just not like silkies and cochins

- they were bred for egg production and are great layers), so an incubator or surrogat mom would probably be necessary if you want chickens. As for the gene pool being too small... Well, Norwegian Jærhøns are a product of extreme inbreeding as they all stem from 2 (two) individual chooks. One hen, one roo was selected from the original hens here and bred to each other, then they used linebreeding until desired result.

I actually don't think it seems to be rare in the US at all, I was surprised it was as popular as it seems. Pro: They are cold hardy and good layers (plus breed conservation). Con: A tendency to be flighty (they can fly 20-30 meters horisontally if startled) and a lightweight body that isn't great for meat. Also in my experience they need constant handling to resemble tame

I don't think they need to be free ranged, if they have a large enough run. In fact it takes a totally built-in run (roof and all) to keep them in.

As for the page for the breed charts, why don't you make one? You seem to have the interest

 

[emys]

I don't feel qualified to write the breed page, since I don't have any experience with them. I do have some on order from Sand Hill for spring (which means I will need to re-home roos.) Maybe after I've owned them for awhile I will feel I can contribute.

At this point I am looking for any personality information I can get, so this thread is helpful!

 

[alpinefarm]

Still laying!

 

[Freeholder]

Quote:
Have they been pretty steady all winter without supplemental light? If so, that's great!

Kathleen

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
Have they been pretty steady all winter without supplemental light? If so, that's great!

Kathleen

Yes, pretty regular. They back off when the weather is severe and then pick up again after waiting it out.