Icelandic Chickens

[RedIII]

Comb over...........LOL!

Mary, That light pullet Elska is raising is gorgeous!

 

[NotAFarm]

I would agree with your sexing Mary. On your cockerel, my hen Briet has a comb/crest that does the same. I always think of it like a comb over.

Thanks Kelly!

Comb over.........no chance of changing his name to "The Donald"....just wouldn't fit my handsome guy!

 

[RedIII]

Well, one of our cold fronts finally arrived, and it brought some arctic wind with it. I had to do some shuffling with everyone to make sure they were all sheltered and warm enough tonight (some of my chickens like to roost in our bushes, ordinarily) All three of my Icee hens got moved into a pen in the garage, and my three pullets finally got a cage of their own so that I could do some deep cleaning out there. They weren't very happy about it, but they'll be okay for now. We have a wall furnace that will be fired up shortly to keep the garage at 50 degrees through the winter.

Hope everyone else is staying warm.

 

[NotAFarm]

Our forecast has snow showers for this morning and then a high tomorrow in the low 20s F and a low tomorrow night in the mid-teens. The flock doesn't get any heat here. I have one hen, Fina, that is still looking a bit ragged from her molt but she should be fine. The youngsters are fully feathered and are still with their mommas so I'm not worried about them. I will be plugging in the heated dog dishes tomorrow morning since the daytime temps will not be above the freezing mark.

Here are two of Elska's chicks checking out the low roost..........pullets!

Red, Wasn't it you who ask about the willow/green leg color? Note the light chicks legs......

 

[Myrth]

Lovely youngsters, NotAFarm!


It is a cold, wet morning outside today. This weekend it is going well below freezing, the highs will be below freezing. Ugh. I don't want it to be that cold yet! But. at least they aren't predicting thunderstorms with possible tornadoes!!!

As long as we don't have any more tornadoes I'll be happy. We had an F2 or F3 tornado pass just a little ways to the north of us but we sustained only mild damage due to straight-line winds. We took shelter. I want a better shelter - one of the things on my to-do list!


We lost power for probably about 16 hours after the tornadoes went through. Another thing on the to-do list is to put in a shut-off connection for our generator so we can hook it up to our electric and run anything on the farm with it, within the generator's limits. That's a bit pricey, but I liked having that convenience previously and want to have it again.


And, we also need a way to heat with wood.....


I knew we would need to do all these things before we bought the place. But it is otherwise a very good fit for us and we'll get it all done in due time. Thankfully we made it through this major storm OK without them.


Happily, we are finally ready for the Icelandic chickens! Happily, their home was not damaged by the storm. l am very excited!

 

[Twister-n-Dos]

Warming up to above 0ºF here today.

 

[Jake Levi]

Our power was off about 16 hours, we have half wood heat so we were alright, I had covered the fronts of the pens with two layers of plastic so they were all good sheltered from the wind, had a lot of debris all over, I am still finding stuff that came from I dont know where, some I dont want to.

Mary that light one is for sure a cockeral, you dont want him so just box him up and send to me.

Of the four new hatches, it could be 3 cockerals

I am hoping not. The crested one I am very sure is a pullet, there is one I dont know but am hoping on. Have two I am now pretty sure are Rose Combed. So, of the four its looking good. The smaller ones of the cockerals is pretty docile, seems to enjoy being petted. The pullet will hop up and spur the one dominant cockeral when he comes after her. Spunky gal !

Still sounds of shooting all around. Its snowing here right now, but the ground is wet so its not sticking.

Tis the season, and life goes on.

 

[RedIII]

Mary that light one is for sure a cockeral, you dont want him so just box him up and send to me.

Mary, I don't think I was the one asking about willow legs, but I can't remember. My memory ain't what it used to be

But thank you for the pic, heehee.

Twister, YEOW! I forgot some of us were up in the balmy reaches of Alaska. Stay warm!

I feel very fortunate here. We've got good insulation on the house and garage, gas appliances, a fireplace, and emergency kerosene heaters. I wear a lot of wool and thermal clothing at this time of year, too, so the cold doesn't usually bother me. Call me over-prepared............my mom refers to me as her "squirrel".

I know I keep raving about the same old Icee chickens I have, but they made my day when I was feeding them this morning. Both of the roos backed off and let the hens have first choice of the food when I opened their cage, even though I knew they were hungry. Good boys.

 

[NotAFarm]

Hi Everyone!

I met Myrth today and she took Falki, Fjola, Egla and Eik home with her! I'm very excited that we have a new Icelandic flock keeper here in Illinois!

Spreading the love of Icelandics.....that is what we do!

 

[mlm Mike]

Congratulations Myrth!