Icelandic Chickens

[Happy Chooks]

Hi Kelly hope the fires are no longer a threat

The fire is still smoldering in spots, but several days of rain has kept it from spreading. So its pretty much out. They are reporting 87% containment.

 

[NotAFarm]

Good morning other Mary, nice to see your beautiful grass. We have green but, mostly weeds and some kind of sprawling ground cover. Our week has been cold in am but gorgeous later in the day, think rain is coming back next week. Better than snow.

Yeah, looks like we will have a rainy Thursday, but then back to the dry streak.

This comment is about a week late, but I ordered from Whipporwill Farms and was very pleased. I ordered 12, was sent 18, 17 of which arrived in great exterior shape, and hatched 13! Great diversity! From WI to SC. I ordered from the other seller I see pretty often on ebay, too. Ordered 6, received 7, hatched 4, and all 4 chicks looked super similar.I had 2 pullets that looked very nearly identical at 2.5 months old. I sold one with a cockerel to a friend. I wouldn't feel comfortable ordering from that seller again just due to the lack of genetic diversity. Could have been a fluke, I guess.

Ok. I sold 3 cockerels and 1 pullet of my 17. I have 5 cockerels and 8 pullets now. I am 95% sure I will let 2 other cockerels go, but I can't stand the thought of not keeping the other 3. Haha

Does anyone clip wings? 3 of my 13 are about 30 feet up in a tree tonight.

I couldn't get them to move. Super worried about owls.

I tried it the first year I raised Icelandics, but it did not deter them from going over my 4 or 5 foot fences (I was trying to keep pullets separated from the rest of the flock) so I didn't bother after that first try. I feel that if you are free ranging at all, the birds need their full wing to evade any predators so I leave mine be. Your youngsters may be bullied in the coop and feel "safer" in the trees. Have you had a big rain storm? If so, did they move inside then?

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But, beings cold birds from Iceland how do they do they tolerant the heat?

Iceland is a temperate climate, not cold like you would think from the name. They do fine in the heat, mine have dealt with temps up to 115. People in Arizona have kept them as well.

X2.....and others in Texas have them and report them doing well in the heat there.

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[mlm Mike]

Quote: That's good news!

 

[LittleChickSpy]

I built the coop just for them, and only them. They want none of it. Haha
i keep all my non-icelandics penned, and they have a separate coop. The last rain wd had, they roosted on top of my grow out pen (where they used to be kept, but have outgrown - hence new coop built). I caught them all before roosting last night & locked them up. I hope they get it soon. Going to add better roosts inside soon. They just seem to be drawn to roost higher than the coop is. Maybe I will put it up on cinderblocks, if nothing else helps them adjust. There goes the neighborhood.

 

[NotAFarm]

They do love to be up as high as possible.....mine roost in the rafters. When I got my originals, they had roosts that were 3 feet off the ground and they would try to fit on the top of the window frame to be higher. As my flock got bigger and we opened up the whole end of the barn/shed, they ignored the lower roosts and took to sleeping in the rafters. They know that height equals safety even after generations of domestication.

 

[drumstick diva]

does anyone know how Jake is doing?

 

[Happy Chooks]

does anyone know how Jake is doing?

No, but I wish he'd pop in and let us know he's okay.

 

[mlm Mike]

Yes, it would nice to hear from Jake.

 

[RedIII]

LCS, I have tried clipping wings, but I have found that my Icelandics are still fairly adept at flying, and they learn to climb.

I agree with what others have said - Icelandics need space and do not like being confined. They're free spirits. They like to roam quite a ways, but they're pretty good about coming back home at night.

 

[drumstick diva]

They are such interesting birds, I love hearing about their antics.