Icelandic Chickens

[crisisfarm2]

Well, Cupcake is charming as is her name! I love it!! Turkeyrangler, your babies' feathers will continue to change- nothing is settled yet. It's amazing how different mine look from when they were chicks!!! I started out with so many blondes, and now I have almost nothing but brunettes. Plus, their patterns just keep developing. They are amazing to watch grow. A few updated photos of my Icelandic babies. They were being curious and coming right up to me, so I got a few of their head shots! Lol

The cockerel in the last picture doesn't run, he HOPS! It's crazy. He starts off in a trot, but that soon turns into these massive hops across the yard. It's hilarious to see!!!

The chicks are real cute! The hoping one are you sure it's Icelandic. Sounds more like Australian lol maybe a kangaken

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Yay! Hope your move goes well, Diannastarr! Hey, guys, does anyone have a problem with your roosters pulling feathers out of hens' heads? I can't say how much I love Hann, but he is being kinda rough in his lovin' lately. My poor Hetta is missing a lot of her cute crest because he has pulled or broken a lot of the feathers. Any suggestions? My non-crested hens are looking kinda bald too... It's a problem for him. He needs too much steadying or something when he jumps on them. Lol!

My rooster Mr. Roo (I know so original) has been rough on one of my hens lately. She is my old Buff Orpington. BTW...don't worry about me hatching any eggs from her, she lays a brown egg that is way too dark to mistake for an Icelandic. My other three hens are EE mutts and lay an olive egg so I can't mix those up either. Any-who, he has picked her out as a favorite. He seems to leave the other three alone. I have only seen him breed with her, not the others. She is pretty sick of it and spends a lot of time in the coop on the roost. She is missing a lot of feathers from the top of her head too. Since I only have four hens right now I'm hoping that she will get lost in the mix when I introduce the other birds that are in my Brooder. I have another 10 eggs in the incubator that are due to start poppin on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have a good hatch. Who knows, If I end up with a nicer rooster out of this bunch I might get rid of him and keep a different one. He does posture with me from time to time, but has never flogged me. I send any rooster who does that to freezer camp. I will not tolerant a flogging rooster. I don't want to pass on that trait to his offspring.

 

[Diannastarr]

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.

 

[Diannastarr]

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yes indeed a flogging rooster. is not to pass that bad trait along , i have one i tamed him a NHR he was a crazy giant, gosh , but he will never make any chicks, we eat & sell those eggs from the NHR hens ,but in his defense , i love that he our NHR rooster will get any one in our yard who didnt belong there...lol.. yeah and he means business alright , but wont challenge me , so he is not dumb by any means....lol.........lol... ; )

 

[Diannastarr]

Quote:
THANK YOU : )

 

[Diannastarr]

Quote:
THANK YOU : )

my rooster does not live with my hens, he has a home of his own , and he didn't like the hen house when i put him in there , he paced the floor all night long, and so that way he is not after my hens all the time, but only at certain times of the day or when they all go out free ranging , he is there to protect them .

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Hopefully I'll have another ten hatch on Saturday, early Sunday. Just candled the eggs and I have 10 for 10 viable eggs ready to hatch. Picked up 6 guinea keets from the feed store that I ordered a few weeks back, they came in 2 weeks early, but that's OK, they will be in the brooder waiting for the new chicks to arrived on Saturday. They are so small I'm thinking they will be smaller than the chicks when they hatch. The DW wanted them, not sure how crazy I am about having guineas, but they eat ticks and anything that does that is pretty good by me.

 

[Diannastarr]

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wow so , you will have new icies on Saturday gosh thats just sooooo wonderful..!! very exciting...!!!!

and yeah exactly, guineas are the best at getting the ticks, we had a wild group of guineas here about 25 that grew into 50 when all of them were left behind by the owner after they moved away and now out of that large flock free ranging in my neighborhood, is just one lonely young male still alive , i was thinking on getting him a mate poor guy , but yeah they are the best at eating ticks and chasing snakes..! i believe...?

 

[drumstick diva]

If guineas chase snakes - every home should have one - guinea not a snake!

 

[Turkeyrangler]

If guineas chase snakes - every home should have one - guinea not a snake!

I am so far north that we only have 2 types of snakes, garters and copper bellies. Neither are any threat to eggs or birds. My problem is everything else. Bears,wolves,coyotes,fox, raccoons,weasels(the worst),fishers,mink,bobcats,lynx,hawks,eagles and don't forget crows and ravens. My main problem is mice and rats. Heard guineas deal with them too. I hope so. I keep my feed locked up, but had rats eat through a 30 gallon galvanized garbage can to get to the food. I trap and I shoot. Won't go to poison for all the reasons you already know.