Icelandic Chickens

[Hillbilly Hen]

Laura, you are going to have to join the club..............

It's nice that I don't have to worry about where I am going to put more chickens. Just hatch for someone else!

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

I see wedding woes ahead!

 

[The Sheriff]

Kathy, don't worry, those weights seem fine. But remember my rotten egg and my infertile egg all lost weight too. One of the hatch participants on the emu thread said she could see movement in the starting around Day 33. I never took mine out and put them on a flat surface to check until about Day 40 if I recall correctly. There is someone else on the emu thread with a fetal stethoscope who listens for heartbeats. Make sure you do the sniff test. I know the eggs I sent you were freshly laid the day or two before. But, you have to do the sniff test test because they are very porous immediately after being laid and if they roll into water or mud they can absorb germs and spoil. The farm where these came from is on fairly steep land and they do roll. But the good news is, if you hatch any they will be lots of help building ghetto coops!


Jake, it sounds as if you have an action plan in place. It seems like I am always making changes here and there depending on what evolves. I thought two cockerels each of the Isbars and cream legbars would be fine but found out differently and had to sell roosters. I think I am finally getting things in place just they way I want them. Now it is a matter of resisting new breeds and staying out of the baby chick room at the feed store!

Yes the emus are funny, funny, funny but serious, Stuart is a great guardian. Louis is more of an airhead. But Stu reacts immediately if the roosters sound an alarm and he is all over it. He has chased more than one hawk out of the pasture.

Jake, the little pigs are American Guinea Hogs. Recently their numbers were less than 35 total! Efforts to save them from extinction are working and today there are a little over a thousand registered hogs, of which two are mine. They are a small hog, less than 300 pounds, said to be quite docile. Unlike most hogs, Guinea Hogs graze like sheep and if provided enough pasture, need little supplemental feed. We are enjoying Prentiss and Petunia and they are settling in with the rest of the animals. If Stuart decides to chase them, little Prentiss turns around and stands him right down now. Stuart twirls around and runs the other way. That little porker isn't running from emus anymore. It is so funny, they now come up to the house at 5:00 when everyone else does to let me know it is time to eat and go to bed for the night. They look so cute out in the pasture by the barn. My neighbor left a message on my answering machine yesterday asking "Did I see pigs? There were two little black things in your yard and they looked like pigs." It cracked us up.

Anyway, gotta go let the beasts run free and make sure they all have food and water.

 

[Happy Chooks]

on your neighbor's shock Mary!

 

[NotAFarm]

Quote:
That does make it alot easier.....knowing they are headed some where else takes some of the stress away....and you still get all the fun of hatching!!

 

[NotAFarm]

Jake, the little pigs are American Guinea Hogs. Recently their numbers were less than 35 total! Efforts to save them from extinction are working and today there are a little over a thousand registered hogs, of which two are mine. They are a small hog, less than 300 pounds, said to be quite docile. Unlike most hogs, Guinea Hogs graze like sheep and if provided enough pasture, need little supplemental feed. We are enjoying Prentiss and Petunia and they are settling in with the rest of the animals. If Stuart decides to chase them, little Prentiss turns around and stands him right down now. Stuart twirls around and runs the other way. That little porker isn't running from emus anymore. It is so funny, they now come up to the house at 5:00 when everyone else does to let me know it is time to eat and go to bed for the night. They look so cute out in the pasture by the barn. My neighbor left a message on my answering machine yesterday asking "Did I see pigs? There were two little black things in your yard and they looked like pigs." It cracked us up.

Anyway, gotta go let the beasts run free and make sure they all have food and water.

So many people have preconceived ideas about pigs.....they'll be picturing a "sty" or "wallow" and bemoaning the stench before even considering that all pigs are not equal (little Orwell reference there) when it comes to lifestyle. Your "ranch" will prove to be a good education for all of your neighbors (and us here too)!!

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Just make sure you have that incubator free to add eggs for the Easter Hatch! Lots of contests and great prizes are in the works!

 

[Jake Levi]

Hi Mary

yes, do have a plan, to carry on with the Icelandics and focus on hardiness and ranging ability , homestead type birds. The SC just cant compete with smaller combs up north here. I was looking closer at the dark featherlegged I am keeping and its wattles and RC are quite a bit smaller then the non featherlegged ones. Encouraging.

I have seen the other pigs but not these, 300 lbs if a pretty big pig ! 200 is the average butcher weight for the commercial pigs in the US, although some like the Landrace and Yorkshire get way big !

When will we be hearing about the baby emus???

 

[Farmerboy16]

Daron is getting MORE roosters?

He must "downsize" like Kathy.

Kathy - hope everything goes well with your hatch. Only like 25 more days.

Mary - those videos are hilarious. Of course, I'm partial to the emu's. Adorable of the big boys with the little ones. The pigs are, well, pigs it seems.

They look like they've settled in nicely and are getting used to each other. Can't wait to see some video of the pigs out with Stuart and Lois.

Yep. Could't resists the Icelandic's power pull. But seriously, there is a chance that I may have to cull all that I have now, after the vet comes tomorrow and send the blood test to be tested. I will know the results in a week or so before making any move. Mary- the pigs were funny. We might get a heifer, and this is what we might get-

 

[The Sheriff]

Daron, are your birds sick? Oh, I hope not.