Icelandic Chickens

[kathleens1979]

I have three silkie chicks I bought just for that purpose, Diva! Great minds think alike! Lol! I looked up Cupcake. She is adorable!!! Doesn't matter the name- they are all such unique beauties!

 

[NotAFarm]

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!!!!

Cupcake was named before I got her. BYCer @KYTinpusher hatched Icelandic eggs she got from BYCer @coldupnorth for the Easter Hatchalong in 2013. She hatched four pullets but no cockerels (I have never, I repeat NEVER had an all pullet hatch). I got the four pullets from her in the Spring of 2014. Her daughter had named one of them Cupcake and had handled her to the point of "pet chicken". I kept the name, it seemed to fit her, sweet, pretty and a poof on top! She remains a "pet chicken" and the first to appear when I am in the garden doing something. Here is a picture of her with my grandson trying to feed her corn in a cup last summer:



Cupcake in December of 2014 with new plumage after a molt:



My hens go broody in the regular nest boxes. I moved them after a week or so to a modified rabbit hutch that I got for free. I'll have to get pics, but it has a hardware cloth floor, an enclosed nest box on each side and a wire divider between. The broody can get off the nest and relieve herself, get a drink and some food but none of the other hens can reach her nest. If a broody is pacing the wire when I am going to be home for a while, I will let her out of the pen to dust bathe and do whatever else she wants. They will want to return to their nest in about 20 minutes. I watch for signs they want back in and open the door for them.
I also have three smaller coops that have doors into my main coop. Two of them have pop doors to the outside. I put hens with chicks into those coops and will put them outside in a "chicken tractor" (used for meat birds) for portions of a day depending on age.

I'll have to get some pics for you. Congrats on the Summer Break and broodies are the best!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Cupcake is very pretty.

 

[mlm Mike]

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.

As far as I know, all SFH are mottled, not all Icelandic are. Also SFH are larger, all the ones I have had lay a large brown egg. Yours laying white is new to me, but I haven't kept up on the breed.

Quote: Cupcake is sweet. I wish my hens would just go into a nest box, to lay or go broody.

 

[Johnny Kool]

Sfh should lay white to cream colored eggs. I know alot of people (not me) are mixing then with rir and other breeds that would make their eggs brown

 

[mlm Mike]

Sfh should lay white to cream colored eggs. I know alot of people (not me) are mixing then with rir and other breeds that would make their eggs brown

Mine were straight from Greenfire Farms. The original import was light brown eggs.

 

[Johnny Kool]

Mine are gff too and lay a creamy white egg hmmm

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Here are my staggered hatch chicks out in the big brooder in the garage. I'll grow them out here before moving to the coop.



They are all at different stage of feather development and size. The one in the upper right hand corner is looking to be a really nice slate grey color.

 

[drumstick diva]

My brother vacationed in the UK. He sent pictures of pipers in kilts. When I look at your chicks, it look like they are wearing plaid kilts. No I didn't suffer a blow to the head recently!! I was born this way.

 

[Turkeyrangler]

So glad you were born this way, So was I. Thank you. They do have amazing colors in a great variety. Truly love this breed.