Icelandic Chickens

[Icies]

Hi, I am new to chickens & came upon the Icelandic breed quite by accident & decided that's what I wanted to raise. The eggs hatched the first week of March. Since I know nothing of chickens I've read a lot & from what I can tell they seem to progress faster than other breeds. They were fully feathered earlier, combs & wattles on the roos (I think they are roos anyway) were red by 4 weeks & crowing @ 5 weeks. Out of the 11 I have I think 8 are roos because their combs & wattles are red, the other 3 are still pink or flesh colored. Since they all look so different it is hard to compare, so I am worried I am going to think 1 is a roo that isn't. One of my largest chickens is still pink while 1 of the smallest is bright red (thinking hens should be smaller). I'm also worried if I wait to long to decide who is who & they start mating the roosters are going to tear up the hens with the ratio I have. From what I read most say 16 weeks is when they start mating but they seem so early on everything else. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Icies]

Oh, & sorry if I just jumped in here & started asking questions. Im not sure of forum etiquette... Im new to this as well

 

[NotAFarm]

Hi, I am new to chickens & came upon the Icelandic breed quite by accident & decided that's what I wanted to raise. The eggs hatched the first week of March. Since I know nothing of chickens I've read a lot & from what I can tell they seem to progress faster than other breeds. They were fully feathered earlier, combs & wattles on the roos (I think they are roos anyway) were red by 4 weeks & crowing @ 5 weeks. Out of the 11 I have I think 8 are roos because their combs & wattles are red, the other 3 are still pink or flesh colored. Since they all look so different it is hard to compare, so I am worried I am going to think 1 is a roo that isn't. One of my largest chickens is still pink while 1 of the smallest is bright red (thinking hens should be smaller). I'm also worried if I wait to long to decide who is who & they start mating the roosters are going to tear up the hens with the ratio I have. From what I read most say 16 weeks is when they start mating but they seem so early on everything else. Any advice would be appreciated.

and to the Icelandic thread!

Chicks hatched the first week of March are 8 weeks old and you should be able to separate the pullets from the cockerels at this point. If you have one you are not sure about, put it with the pullets. If it is a cockerel, you will see the comb and wattles get red in a hurry once you remove it from the larger group of males. Observe the group of cockerels once you remove the pullets. You will learn from their behavior if there is a "hidden" pullet among those with red combs and wattles. Move any you feel you may have "miss-sorted" if you see evidence that you made a mistake with one.
The person you got eggs from may be better able to give you advice on the details of their particular strain. Such things as maturity, including times for egg laying and breeding may vary among flocks. They may also have tips on sexing their strain.

Good luck with your new flock!!

 

[Icies]

Thank you. I have been lurking on this thread for awhile but finally signed up to BYC. I got the eggs from Wisconsin so I believe I am supposed to have a mix of all 4 lines but that could depend slightly on which actually hatched

How would I determine the hidden pullet by behavior other than mating? (Sorry, I really do know nothing.) I don't think I have seen the pullets spar but I've read they will & the same w crowing. I honestly have no idea based on how they act so far, I'm going totally by comb & wattle.

I guess I'm gonna have to find another chicken coop. Ugh. Something else I didn't know I needed. LOL. Oh well.

Can I just say that it amazes me how when I watch the chickens it's almost like time stands still. I can't say they are doing anything particularly interesting but yet they are still fascinating to watch... I really do hope I enjoy having them,

 

[NotAFarm]

Thank you. I have been lurking on this thread for awhile but finally signed up to BYC. I got the eggs from Wisconsin so I believe I am supposed to have a mix of all 4 lines but that could depend slightly on which actually hatched

How would I determine the hidden pullet by behavior other than mating? (Sorry, I really do know nothing.) I don't think I have seen the pullets spar but I've read they will & the same w crowing. I honestly have no idea based on how they act so far, I'm going totally by comb & wattle.

I guess I'm gonna have to find another chicken coop. Ugh. Something else I didn't know I needed. LOL. Oh well.

Can I just say that it amazes me how when I watch the chickens it's almost like time stands still. I can't say they are doing anything particularly interesting but yet they are still fascinating to watch... I really do hope I enjoy having them,

If there is one in the cockerel pen that all the others focus attention on (trying to breed), you should remove it and put it in with the pullets.
At eight weeks, you should be seeing some color variations and pointed hackles and the start of saddle feathers that would indicate a male.
If you could post pictures, that might be helpful.
Is your current coop big enough to separate into two?

 

[Icies]

No, my coop isn't big enough for the ones I've got. I only anticipated having about 6 -8 hatch so hatching 11 was quite a surprise. Funny though, I was figuring I would have 3-4 hens and that's still what I have. Although at the time I was planning all this I didn't know about the hen to rooster ratio so 3-4 hens w 1 roo wasnt the best plan to start out with. I really didnt do my research well. I will see if I can get some better pics, its pouring here in the Mid Atlantic. This is a pic of a roo that got out of the coop last week. I caught it w a dog crate. It's a shame to have to cull them, they are all really beautiful birds. Thanks for the help.

.

 

[Icies]

I actually had 12 hatch but 1 of the last to hatch had splayed leg. There were still 2 in the bator that hadn't hatched when I realized the problem w the one, but I was so distraught I really didn't focus on the bator anymore & didn't watch the temps & humidity like I had been so I threw those last 2 eggs away after another 24 hours. I was worried there was gonna be something wrong with them if they did hatch. I wasn't emotionally prepared for that tragedy, being new to chickens & all. I tried the splints like I read about but I knew someone else that tried it & when I talked to them they said while it helped the chicken was never 100% & the rest of the flock knew it & picked on it mercilessly. He convinced me the most humane thing to do was to kill it right away so thats what I did :'( I have never intentionally killed anything before so it was difficult
One of the eggs was cracked when I got it & hatched & is 1 of the hens. So, while my hatch didn't go like I hoped it actually did rather well for eggs shipped 1/2 way across the US in Feb!

Sorry for the long rambling post, just more about myself & this "adventure". Now you all know Im crazy & emotional!! LOL.

 

[RJSorensen]

Hello Icies… welcome to the thread. We seem to have some new folks and some veterans to guide us as well. I enjoy this thread and the nice folks in it.

RJ

 

[NotAFarm]

I actually had 12 hatch but 1 of the last to hatch had splayed leg. There were still 2 in the bator that hadn't hatched when I realized the problem w the one, but I was so distraught I really didn't focus on the bator anymore & didn't watch the temps & humidity like I had been so I threw those last 2 eggs away after another 24 hours. I was worried there was gonna be something wrong with them if they did hatch. I wasn't emotionally prepared for that tragedy, being new to chickens & all. I tried the splints like I read about but I knew someone else that tried it & when I talked to them they said while it helped the chicken was never 100% & the rest of the flock knew it & picked on it mercilessly. He convinced me the most humane thing to do was to kill it right away so thats what I did :'( I have never intentionally killed anything before so it was difficult
One of the eggs was cracked when I got it & hatched & is 1 of the hens. So, while my hatch didn't go like I hoped it actually did rather well for eggs shipped 1/2 way across the US in Feb!

Sorry for the long rambling post, just more about myself & this "adventure". Now you all know Im crazy & emotional!! LOL.

No problem on the rambling

It is nice to get to know the posters here. It is an great accomplishment to hatch 11 of 14 that were shipped that far! Don't beat yourself up over the ones that were lost. You did a great job!!

I am with you on the "It's a shame to have to cull them, they are all really beautiful birds." I think that has to be the only thing about raising Icelandics that I don't like. I've said it before on this thread, if I could, I'd have a place where all my extra cockerels could go and live out their lives.

On your lack of coop space, do you have anyone with extra space that would be willing to "house" the cockerels for a few months? You should be able to make a decision on the keeper(s) by then. Do you plan on keeping just one cockerel and 3-4 hens? or do you plan to expand in the future? If you had a way to keep an extra cockerel it would open options for you. You could breed your current pullets to one cockerel next spring (or later this year since it sounds like you don't have to deal with the winters I have here in northern Illinois) and then breed the same females to the other males the following year, or keep the original group together and breed the resulting pullets to the second male.

As for your escapee, Icelandics are smart. If they want out, and there is a way, they will find it. They will duck under things, jump up on things, fly higher than other chicks the same age and notice everything. They are very aware of their surrounding. I believe this is from years of needing every sense to be heightened for survival. These instincts have not been lost.

 

[NotAFarm]

Just came in from the coop

More Icelandic chicks are hatching!!
Cupcake, Jarn and Játa are hatching today!