Icelandic Chickens

[RedIII]

Well, we made it home from our trip to meet Jake, see the Hockey Hall of Fame and the city of Toronto and the beautiful Niagra Falls. It was a whirlwind trip and I'm exhausted, but wanted to get on to say how nice it was to meet Jake. My DH, Mike, was very impressed with how calm and well-behaved Buddy was and that speaks to how great Jake is with animals. We had a brief visit over our lunch and then had to keep driving to get to Toronto by evening. I was very happy to meet Jake and always look forward to meeting other BYCers........especially Icelandic enthusiasts!!
Two eggs in the box means both Grima and Gjoska are laying!

.....but I'm thinking neither of those will hatch.......they were in the pullet grow-out pen without any rooster access for more than a month before leaving. Stick those pullets in with one of your guys and collect those eggs for hatching!!

On the topic of how many is too few to start, I agree with Jake. Icelandics are not your usual breed. Unlike a "set line or strain" of a SOP breed, bringing in new blood will not cause you to have to cull heavily to "get back" the traits that were "set" by the original breeder....and you will not "mess-up" what that original breeder had worked years to "improve" by getting a new rooster for your flock. The main purpose of keeping Icelandics should be to keep the PURE gene pool as diverse as possible while keeping them PURE. With three different lines/importations available, there should not be any problem with doing that.


Bad news.......good news on my return.........The little Falki x Fjola "pullet" disappeared while I was gone, hawk, fox, feral cat? just gone..............Elska is broody again so I will candle the 10 Icelandic eggs under Heidi, the SLW, and split whatever is developing between the two of them.

I have unpacking to finish.......good evening all!

Glad to hear you guys made it home safely! Sounds like you had fun. Sorry you lost your pullet, though

It's always something, isn't it? Lousy predators.

I totally agree with what was said here on the pure gene pool. This is part of why I was dying to get more birds from a line other than Sigrid's (Thank you, Laurie!) Even if all I hatched out are cockerels, I can still use them, since I have two hens from Sigrid's/Mary O's line. I think I will still be able to work things out with the three hens I have. I have a suspicion as to which one throws those black pullets, too. If I get any more daughters from her that color, you'd better believe I'm keeping them

 

[Happy Chooks]

Welcome back Mary! Glad you had a nice visit with Jake. And WOW on seeing Niagara Falls - someday I hope to see it. Sorry to hear you lost one while gone.

 

[karimw]

I had a similar problem with my Iowa Blues and this particular breed has suffered from a lot of close breeding. I had only 4 pullets and several cockerels, so I kept the pullets together and rotated the males every few weeks. This helped build somewhat broader genetic diversity and brought out some traits I didn't know I had.

Even Icelandics are subject to the same heredity rules, so if you keep breeding the same birds you will isolate characteristics and develop a look that is unique to your flock. Not a bad thing, mind you, but it can also concentrate weakness like the fray gene that popped up.

Another example is comb type. Jake's initial goal was to have a flock hardy enough for his cold climate, but he has a lot of straight combs that is at odds with his plans. Eventually in a closed flock this will breed true. (All the babies I have from him have straight combs) I think it was a good idea for him to get some birds from NotAFarm to diversify the gene pool.

 

[Jake Levi]

Hi Mary

Shucks on the eggs, I had put them in the incubator , oh well.It was a pleasure to meet both of you, I wish we'd had longer to visit, but I would have felt guilty with the drive that you had left. But Toronto is one of my favorite towns, and I doNOT like big cities.

Bummer on the eggs! Thats life. They are with their roosters now, and got a couple younger Icelandic cockerals with them too. But they are coming out to go in with the other roosters in a growout pen. I really think that they are beautiful, and the eggs are actual mediums, pretty good for pullets. The first ones that I put in the incubatorwill get used.

They will be food on top of Buddys dinner today. No waste. I have been getting an egg a day since they came home. Pretty good ! I will be changing the feed from grower to layer. Their eggs compare well with the Icelandic hen eggs.

Red the chick is looking to you as its Mom or the Flockmeister with food under and around your feet. Enjoy! And slip some food down there.

The Icelandics do need preservation, but, with the long isolation its now a matter of enjoying them and building their numbers, the selection away from lethat recessives happened a long time ago with them. One of the very few breeds in the world that can be said about. Frankly I dont know of any other. Not with the kind of isolation that they had.

So, let them be fertile and increase their numbers. And enjoy them !!

 

[mlm Mike]

Welcome back Mary! I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. Sorry about the pullet. Go broodies,Go!

 

[NotAFarm]

Welcome back Mary! Glad you had a nice visit with Jake. And WOW on seeing Niagara Falls - someday I hope to see it. Sorry to hear you lost one while gone.

Kelly, I hope you get the chance to see it too...........but you have so many other exquisite natural sites out there to see that I hope to see some day!! Distance is the problem for me....the DH doesn't fly

so we'll be traveling around the eastern part of the country for a while! Here are a couple pics for you to enjoy until you get there yourself!
Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls


American Falls (small falls on the right is called Bridal Veil Falls)

 

[Jake Levi]

Beautiful pics Mary !!

Very well done!

Kari you are right on, having a distinctive look is another thing I am wanting, and Marys birds will help that to be, what I am looking for is amore winter hardy flock, and the Rose Combs, Crests, and later feathered legs will work towards that. Right now the big thing is the Rose Comb, I will use a Single Comb rooster very sparingly. I am growing out one now, just for that, the others will be off to new homes, or into the freezer. If all goes well he will be 3yrs old before I use him. As a backcross to Isi.

The hens will get more leeway, but bred to Rose Combs only will make a difference, in 3 years I hope to have almost all Rose Combs. My Isi will be retired, probably with one or two hens for company.

Life is good, and better with Icelandic Chickens !

 

[NotAFarm]

Where is everyone?!

I candled the Falki x Fjola eggs under Heidi, the broody SLW. 9 out of 10 are looking good. I was a bit worried about fertility since Falki is coming out of his molt but he got the job done! Tonight I will move Elska into a broody coop (she is currently in a cardboard box in the "wrong" side of the barn sitting on 5 plastic eggs) and give her 5 of the 9 eggs from Heidi. Hopefully, it won't be long and I'll be posting pics of some chicks with their "mommas"!

...........in the meantime..........here is a picture of one of the two Falki x Forsaela cockerels I kept....

 

[RedIII]

Oh wow, that's one good looking boy! Glad to hear that the eggs are doing well, too. Most of my girls are on strike, so I've started putting one of the roosters in their run as a chaperone........brats. If nothing else, it relieves tension for the roos

Come on, girls! I want eggs!

 

[Jake Levi]

Thats a handsome guy that you have there Mary !

His brother here looks much the same ! They have a good spring coming on, I will have if all goes well a dozen hens to share between him and his brother.