Icelandic Chickens

[kathyinmo]

Andy,
I did answer your question here ...........

Quote:
Yes, Andy, I am interested! I would love to hatch some of your Lyle Behl eggs! I want crests so bad!

Lynn, I like your use of salvage materials for pens. Those are great ideas! Congratulations on your hatch, too!

Cheryl, Congrats on the Brahmas! Very pretty birds, aren't they!

Mary, I sincerely hope that idiot woman changes her mind and tells the truth. For heaven's sake, what a silly thing to lie about!

The other Mary ..... Sounds like you have a good broody there! You are over half way there! Keep us posted!

 

[kathyinmo]

OHHHHHHHHH, you mean where my birds came from? I was the first to hatch eggs from Mary's birds. That is where mine came from.

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
Basically he is a red birchen (as in Black Copper Marans) with possibly one copy of melanotic, which is a blackening gene. He also has one copy of dominant white. So when crossed to ether Henna or Lukka he would produce a about one eighths black Icelandics.

Interesting, thank you!

Do you have a genetics book you could recommend?

21st Century Poultry Breeding, by Grant Brereton is a great book with a lot of info. Heres a link: http://www.tomhugginsweb.com/gbpoultryhome3.html

 

[cherylcohen]

Ok Kelly, it's sexing time for these 3 little icelandics 5 weeks old today

cockerel

cockerel

pullet? i hope? Hey check out the hysterically weird tail feathers!

 

[greatergraceoffbg]

Quote:
I'd love to learn more about this, can you explain it in English?

Basically he is a red birchen (as in Black Copper Marans) with possibly one copy of melanotic, which is a blackening gene. He also has one copy of dominant white. So when crossed to ether Henna or Lukka he would produce a about one eighths black Icelandics.

This is both fun and a bit confusing. Ironically it was my previous knowledge that confused me in the beginning. Now its more like unraveling bailing twine after getting it caught under the lawn mower..... if we were talking Marans etc. the same genetic rules we see in Marans are not anything near the same as Icelandics. I have followed the same genetic trail out of habit and its like trying to learn another language. Even AFTER realizing the same sort of genetics didn't apply I still find myself trying to see the Icelandics through that paradigm... and it keeps failing and bringing me back to re examining the whole thing again. Heres a little example that anyone who has Icelandics is familiar with, take ANY two Icelandics, totally different, or identical and you will get a totally different scramble of colors each time and out of every egg. Some populations of Icelandics may, in isolation, loose a gene, (the loss of the crest in some of Mary's birds is a great example) in reality they aren't loosing anything, simply put the odds of getting ALL birds without genes for a crest are remote yet possible and apparently have occured in one or more shipments of her eggs. Or in some cases an "Atavistic" trait can reemerge, this is defined as being inherited from a distant and remote ancestral genetic thread so to speak. I think we see this at times in these Icelandics that display more diversity in plumage color, occasionally type, comb type, foot and leg color, cresting or not, potential sex linked traits, eye color, in roosters th hackle feathering has amazing differences in pattern. This is all part of what makes Icelandics fun, and a little bit of a mystery!

Andy in Fredericksburg

 

[greatergraceoffbg]

Quote:
Cheryl,

Those tail feathers are similar in formation to some pheasant and peacock feathers in a specific stage of development! Sooooo intriguing ! I haven't seen this trait before! Anyone else?

Andy in Fredericksburg

 

[greatergraceoffbg]

Quote:
Yes, Andy, I am interested! I would love to hatch some of your Lyle Behl eggs! I want crests so bad!

Lynn, I like your use of salvage materials for pens. Those are great ideas! Congratulations on your hatch, too!

Cheryl, Congrats on the Brahmas! Very pretty birds, aren't they!

Mary, I sincerely hope that idiot woman changes her mind and tells the truth. For heaven's sake, what a silly thing to lie about!

The other Mary ..... Sounds like you have a good broody there! You are over half way there! Keep us posted!


Kathy, OOOpsie poopsie

, sorry I missed that! send me your addi and I'm as eggcited about you getting these as you are!

Andy in Fredericksburg

 

[Happy Chooks]

Cheryl, yes I'd say cockerel cockerel pullet.


Ryan, thanks for the recommendation.

 

[greatergraceoffbg]

Cheryl, I agree with Chooks vote on the sexes. One more thing, do you notice anything different about hte other feathers on that one with the unusual tail feathers, is there a slight curl or wave or something? I keep going back to that and something IS definately different but I can't seem to isolate what I am seeing beyond a sort of abstract visual sense that I am seeing something different.

Andy in Fredericksburg

 

[Mahonri]

I had five Icelandics from Mary's eggs... all have crests. 2 had feathered shanks. and all were different in color