There is no one that I know of that has crossed Leghorn or Faverolle with Icelandics in this country. I think what Andy is referring to happened many years ago in Iceland just after WWII by the commercial poultry industry. Before I opened my big mouth about Icelandic chickens, which I am starting to regret, the few people that had them in the US exchanged eggs back and forth, blurring, if not obliterating, any prior lines. Sigrid and Lyle Behl both brought eggs back from the same nearly uninhabited area of Iceland. No one knows if those birds have any crossbreeding because that area was not always uninhabited. I got my original birds from Sigrid in the first place because Lyle gave me her name, stating that he had sent eggs to her. Unless you traveled to Iceland yourself and picked up eggs on Flatey and then visited the Agricultural Research Center to pick up RALA eggs you don't have specific lines. Even then you probably really do not. That is just my opinion of course. Andy's comment "a real effort at preservation was made" implies that the RALA chickens are inferior to the Flatey chickens genetically because of potential crossbreeding. I believe this really diminishes the enormous work and dedication put into preserving the Icelandic chickens in Iceland for the last 37 years. An "effort" like this would not be done in this country to save anything.
Please re-read what Sigrid told us about the Viking chickens, especially the caution not to "make a mess of it."
Now, about our Icelandic chickens:
I remember them on some remote farmsteads in the thirthies-a small numbers foraging and taking care of themselves for most part, perching in barns and occacionally treated with leftovers the dogs did not want. They were friendly and never went far from the premises. They are social by nature and very hardy with high tolerance for harsh weather or weather changes.
They come in a rainbow of colors like all other lifestock in Iceland, horses, sheep and cows. That is what makes them all unique. Most Icelandic chickens have a crest on top of their head. Their eggs are white or slightly beige and tend to be somewhat elongated. They are good sitters. Their combs come in many variations, straight, rosecomb, etc.
The Icelandic chicken generally lives a long live. I have 3 hens ten years old and one 11 years old. I know of a 15 year old here in Iceland.
The Icelandic chicken is called Landnamshæna, (Settlers Chickens) or haughænsni, (Pile Chickens). They were brought to Iceland by the first settlers from Norway before the year 900, and were known to find something to eat in manure piles. Therefore the names. Today they are sometimes called Viking Chickens. These chickens are mentioned in the old Icelandic Sagas written around 1250. Genetic research shows them to be 78 % different form all other chickens in the world today. This is why it is important not to mix them with other breeds, once we do that, we can not get it back. Therefore we need to let them breed naturally as they always have. Nobody here in Iceland has worried about in-breeding for over a thousand years. I have had my RALA chickens in California since 1998, and started with a very few.
I have seen a number of roosters and hens together here in Iceland where they can enjoy more freedom roaming around because there are not many predators here. They seem to establish their hierarchy naturally. (There will always be a top rooster and hens tend to do that as well).
So, " let nature take its course "and don"t "make a mess of it".
After WWII the interest in our old breed diminished when a lot of people from the countrysite migrated to the City (Reykjavik) for a "better life". Egg production became commercialized using foreign breeds.
In 1974, Dr. Stefán Aðalsteinsson realized that the Landnámshænan was just about extinct. He travelled all over the country looking for Icelandic chickens and found some in remote parts of Iceland, mostly on the East Fjords and the North East part of Iceland. He brought them to RALA () at Keldum. They were in protection untill 1985, when they were placed at the Agricultural University at Hvanneyri. Still in protection. When I refer to my RALA chickens I am referring to those. I got my chickens from this group specifically. The original RALA group is now at 2 farms near Hvanneyri.
In 2003 there was a great promotional effort to initiate a general interest to save this breed. On Nov. 1 2003, The Landnámshæna Association with a yearly publication was established. They have now about 168 memers. It is believed there are now over 2000 Icelandic chickens in Iceland. Mary O´Bryan got 2 hens, Lukka and Henna, and 2 roosters from me. Lukka and Henna are RALA but the roosters are from hatching eggs from one of the members of the Association.
I brought some hatching eggs from Iceland last fall for the first time in 12 years. Their rooster came from an old stock on the remote island Flatey, current population 5. The population in the fourties was about 250. I had relatives there then and visited the island so this was very meaningful for me. Around 1950 or thereafter, the island was vacant for some time. There was a monestary there in 1172 and it was the center of cultue in Iceland at that time. The island is now a popular tourist place with the ferry stopping there twice a day.
I hope this will be of some help to all of you.
Sigrid
