Icelandic Chickens

[NotAFarm]

I so MISS my Icelandics.

Thank you all for keeping the breed alive and for posting all of the pics.

Hi, Dar!! Miss You!!

 

[drumstick diva]

DAR don't be a stranger. We really miss you.

 

[Johnny Kool]

I dont know if this has been brought up before but anyone notice icelandics resemble swedish flower hens? I raise both and If i didnt have my hens tagged i would get them mixed up most the time.

 

[drumstick diva]

I not that familiar with either breed. Do the lay the same egg colors?

 

[Johnny Kool]

Mine do atleast. I get a white to cream egg out of both breeds

 

[kathleens1979]

I don't keep them, but the Orlandsk Dwarf chickens look a lot like them too, just smaller, in the pictures I have seen. I think it must be that the chickens brought back by the Vikings were the foundation stock for all these breeds. How is the body style of the SFH? My Icees are so sleek and slim. Do the SFH look like that? In pictures, I thought they looked heavier bodied, but I haven't seen them in person.

 

[NotAFarm]

I agree, Kathleen. The Nordic breeds are related in the same way Mediterranean breeds are. The difference come from the selection of certain traits over long periods of time...or in the case of Icelandics, the lack of selection of physical traits. The important trait for Landnamshæna was the ability to survive. I think the scarcity of food in the cold winters made keeping large breeds. I also think that seafood was a more prominent protein source so chickens were more for eggs than meat.

Anna ended up with her three chicks, one blonde and two wild type. Gula got off her nest and her eggs were cool to the touch and so I moved them under her. The next day, she went back to the old nest and the eggs were cool again. I candled them but couldn't tell so put them under her. We'll see if anything hatches....she is due today.

Hæla is broody but I haven't given her eggs yet......looks like Cupcake may also be broody!

 

[kathleens1979]

Mary, who is Cupcake??? You are usually so authentic with your chicken names that I LOL'd when I read Cupcake!!!

My broody Australorp (named Black Chicken- hahaha) and her 9 EE adopted babies are doing very well- since this is my first mama hen, I'm amazed at how much "smarter" her babies are; they were perching on the big chicken perches and have gone outside multiple times to scratch and eat grass. Waaaaay earlier than my brooder babies. This is the way to go!!!

Harpa is still sitting well on her clutch of six Behl, although when I forgot to check one day, someone laid another egg in her box, so I'm going to have to pull that egg out when the others hatch I guess, and incubate it a couple days. I need a broody pen/house. Mary or other thread folks, how is/are yours set up? My 12 coolerbator Behl eggs are developing, although 4 are clears (probably the fault of the homemade incubator), and the 18 Sigrid eggs in my Incuview only have 1 clear. I wish ALL my hens would go broody for a bit so I could give them eggs or chicks. I am LOVING the broody doing most of the work for me, but in a couple weeks it's going to be back to mass brooding again which is kind of a bummer. At least school is nearly out... Monday is my last day for 10 WHOLE WEEKS!!!!

 

[RedIII]

Cupcake is only one of the most darling hens to ever grace this thread, IMHO

My broody Icelandic gave up on day 3

Sigh.

I have noticed that the SFH seems to be larger than the Icelandic, from pictures I've seen. I have one Icee girl that is so small and slim, she looks like a super petite Leghorn! I sure love her.

 

[drumstick diva]

you guys will just have to invest in 'silkie bators,' as more reliable broodies.