Icelandic Chickens

[ashleyzoso]

True, I hadn't thought of the obvious coloring difference. My hens lay brown and blue eggs. I do have 1 mixed breed hen that might be an issue because her eggs are medium and light cream colored.
My primary goal in raising Icelandics is to preserve the purity of their DNA so I will make sure that no cross breeding occurs. I am honestly leaning towards just selling those hens because I really want to concentrate my focus.

 

[Jake Levi]

That would be best if they cant be kept separate. Because of Foxes and Coyotes I keep chickens in raised pens.

 

[Mc620]

Yes!!!! David Grote has me on the list for shipping April 4-5th!!!! He'll be able to ship to NC by then.

***happy dance***

My husband is confused by my ridiculous level of excitement lol

thats awesome I have ordered two batches of eggs from him now have 14 of his icies and being first timer at incubating thought was decent hatch for shipped eggs good luck with them his birds are beautiful

 

[Jake Levi]

Icelandic Numbers

Does anyone here have an 'educated guess' on how many Icelandics there are here, and in Canada?

I stopped in TSC today and as usual browsed the magazine/book racks, 6-8 mags/books on chickens but not a thing mentioning Icelandics. Several were supposed to be comprehensive, but we wernt mentioned. Not even in the indexes.

I am thinking that we really need to get some PR work done, I am going to see what I can get done exhibiting in the County and State Fairs this year. So, I also besides raising my chicks out will be interested in a pair or mature trio. We actually have two county fairs that could be attended.

Anyhow, I am interested in a young adult pair. Shipping to northern MI.

 

[hbhoffman]

They love their freedom, and are good "flyers". My youngsters fly up to roost in the rafters, 10 ft off the ground. Very young and older birds fly up to a 1/2 wall, 4 ft high, or use a ramp/ladder ( just for that purpose) to get all the way up. This does not mean yours will ever leave the chicken yard if there is ample food and space and that they are not harassed or chased and feel the need to escape. You should be aware of the possibility of it happening. If she will be the only one you are introducing, I would say the odds are good she would be picked-on and have a reason to want to leave the yard. Are you willing to make an enclosure that you can keep her in until she feels safe and accepted? That would be the only way you could be sure she would stay around....and that is probably true of many breeds.

Thanks for your response! Where my current 3 girls are they have a .25 acre 8' fenced yard/pasture with mature trees around the perimeter, a 4'x6' predator proof pen to hide in, a hen house and a dog house to play around in and a large pine tree to be under. When we go to hatch out the eggs, the resulting chicks will be in a mixed breed flock (but no males) all of the same age. I will have only 12 total. Half will be 1 year old hens then when the others will be the chicks. If any of my hens go broody, I plan to slip a few chicks under her at night. ;-) Likely we will end up with at least 2 Icy pullets in that grouping. Wait and see.
Does that sound good or do I need to make changes?

 

[ashleyzoso]

So, long story short - here's my new icelandic roo! He was hatched from an egg from Harvey Ussery. He's in the isolation cage for a few days just in case.

He'll be in my mixed flock for now until my future icelandic hatching eggs are all grown. Don't worry, I won't be hatching any eggs from the mixed flock, I'm really dedicated to maintaining the purity of the landrace. Right now this young roo is for protection of the flock. He was hatched at the end of October. I loved his coloring though and hopefully he'll be able to breed with my future icelandic hens. How would you describe his coloring? Is that grey/blue/lavender? I don't really understand the difference.

 

[NotAFarm]

HI All, I need your opinion on Icys. I have the opportunity to get a icy chick from good lines for free from a friend. The hard part: someone here (on BYC?) said they are escape artists. My friend who keeps my chickens-we have a flock together because of HOA issues here-says because of that she does not want one at her place. It is a well fenced in 1/4 acre yard. In your experience, Is that statement true?

Quote: I responded to your first post in which you were talking about getting a single chick. This post looks like you are hatching Icelandic eggs and other eggs. You should treat your Icelandic eggs and chicks like any other chicken eggs and chicks. You will have to make adjustments to their living arrangements if a problem comes up. They will fly up and out if the brooder is not covered...and will do it earlier than most other breeds. Observation is the key. Watch to see how they deal with your set-up, then you will know what needs to be done. Since your flock is at a friend's house, do you get to spend much time around them, or is she the one that would have to be "keeping an eye out"?

 

[NotAFarm]

This is a cockerel from my flock, Summer 2015. He look similar, from what I can see, to your guy.

The gray is called blue. He would be closest to what the Dutch Bantam breeders call Blue Cream Light Brown, their Blue Light Brown has orange head and hackles. On the Blue Cream, the hackles and saddles are cream not orange. Since Icelandics don't have a standard, their colors are sometimes hard to describe. I try to use what breeds that do have a standard call their varieties...this can present it's own problems since not all of them use the same terminology for very similar color combinations.

 

[ashleyzoso]

This is a cockerel from my flock, Summer 2015. He look similar, from what I can see, to your guy.

[COLOR=333333]The gray is called blue.  He would be closest to what the Dutch Bantam breeders call Blue Cream Light Brown, their Blue Light Brown has orange head and hackles. On the Blue Cream, the hackles and saddles are cream not orange. Since Icelandics don't have a standard, their colors are sometimes hard to describe. I try to use what breeds that do have a standard call their varieties...this can present it's own problems since not all of them use the same terminology for very similar color combinations.[/COLOR]

Thanks,I had no idea what the best way to describe him would be. Grey/blue/lavender colors confuse me the most,and I have a hard time telling them apart. He does look pretty similar! I think they are both gorgeous! I think my roo has a lighter tail though. It's not fully developed yet but it's close.

I got my incubator in today, earlier than expected! I'm counting down the days until I get my icelandic eggs!

 

[ashleyzoso]

Also, my roo has some small black spots on his comb that I'm watching closely. I believe they are just fighting pecks from the other roosters. I think he was the lowest in the pecking order of 4 roos, so I'm glad I can take him in. He seems very timid and docile right now. He's only crowed once all day.