Icelandic Chickens

[IcyLady]

Roughly 3 weeks is the normal incubation time. From what I read about hatcing rates, shipped eggs have a much lower hatch rate & a lot of us (myself included) had eggs shipped to us so 13 out of 15 is great.

How awesome that you live in Iceland & have Icelandics. Im sure a lot of people there do so its no big deal to you, but I think that is cool. I have Chesapeake Bay Retrievers & took them to go swimming in the Cheasapeake Bay. Korny... yeah I guess. But I thought it was neat to be a part of their namesake.

I'm still new to all this too, so no idea about the grit. I have read that sand is not enough. I tried to look up shell sand to see if that is different than the sand we have here & am still not sure. Could you buy the shell sand and just break it up a little more w a hammer or something?? I have read it is better to be too big vs too small. Hopefully someone here w more experience will have some actual insught. Regardless, welcome!

Thank you for the welcome!
Not corny whatsoever!
Well there are other types of chickens here in Iceland, but the Icelandic ones are most common and of course most of the population.
To me I love the Icelandic Chickens, out of the variety I could have. They are fun and they are beautiful, and I hear are pretty well behaved!

I have only been living here in Iceland since the end of 2004, didn't move to the country side until 2009 and now have owned my own property since December 2014 (it was my husband's dad's house and we bought out siblings). Our land is big enough to have chickens, or even goats if we wanted!
We weren't even going to bother with the chickens until next year since my husband is just getting back to work after nearly losing his foot on the job last summer, but my daughter fell in love with the hatchlings... So here I am!

I truly hope someone can help me with the grit concern. It's been driving me batty, trying to find something. I can always take a photo of what was given to me, and the person who gave it said that she gave it to her chicks. Maybe I can have my daughter's teacher ask the sewing teacher who owns the other 5 chicks what to do if it comes down to it!

 

[NotAFarm]

Quote:
Are both the rooster the same color? What color are the hens you've been breeding to them? Were they from the same group as the males?

 

[NotAFarm]

My boyfriend and I got into a "discussion" on whether I should let all the roos free range or if I should hold 1 or 2 back. I told him I can get roos no problem if I lose them all but he wants "ours". While that sort of defeats the purpose of survival of the fittest I guess there are some merits. This is a pic of 2 hens & 2 of my favorite roos. My favorite roo is the spotted one but I am concerned about his comb. Is it too floppy for him to see well? As large as it is, will I have freezing problems? I am in MD so we do have cold winters w below freezing temps. When I was working on training the dogs. The speckled one kept checking out the dogs & getting closer to them than any of the others. Im not sure if that is good or bad. LOL. Also, he crows a lot more than the others (started first too) so is he alerting them for food or just a loud mouth?

Im pretty sure they are mating, or starting. 1 roo kept chasing the hens around last night & making them scream.

None of my males have had combs that flop over. I like rose combs for my cold weather so try to keep that trait in my flock. The single comb males I've kept have had frost bite on the tips of their combs. It did not seen to bother them or affect fertility in any way. It is a good question about the comb impairing vision. I would think it could, but, like I said, I haven't had any with combs that flop over so I'm just speculating. They are very wary so they might just adjust by looking at an angle to compensate for it.
Loud crowing, yes, mine crow loudly and at a higher pitch than the couple of other large fowl roosters I had in the past (Silver Laced Wyandotte, Java and New Hampshire). A group of young males will crow often to establish themselves in the flock. You will notice they seem to have to be the one to get the last word in.

 

[goslinghunter]

I feed Purina layea and their chick starter feed has both have grit in it. Just make sure you check the label because they make it with and without.
Goslinghunter

 

[NotAFarm]

Oh my goodness, I didn't even notice there was a thread just for Icelandic Chickens until I was googling a minute ago and they had the link on the wiki page for Icelandic Chickens!!
I joined BYC a few days ago because I am a first timer, who happens to live in Iceland.. and owns Icelandic Chicks!
So much info here and so many pages for me to skim over!

Anywho.. I saw someone mentioned on the last page that 13 out of 15 eggs hatched, and the comments about good hatching ratio!
My daughter's 5th grade class had 12 eggs and ended up with 9 chicks... which now I own 4 out of 9 hatched.
She incubated them April 4th and the babies hatched on April 21st and 22nd. Is that about normal incubation time? (Just curious for future reference)
All four of my chicks are about to hit 3 weeks old and seem to be really healthy.

My only issue has been finding grit for them since it seems to be non existent here in Iceland, as everyone usually just lets them free range. Could someone possibly give me advice on what to do for them now, as I want to at least introduce treats? Would plain sand from my own yard be fine for them to peck at for grit? I know what to do for a bit older as my Icelandic farm friends in my area have given me grit that they use for their layers (they call it shell sand here). Is Chick Grit something the USA and UK seem to have but not here? I mean I could import it from the USA but the shipping price is outrageous!
I know I will be free ranging them later, just like all other Icelandicers do, but I have been fairly concerned about now. I know the Icelandic weather currently is too cold for them (it's around 59 degrees F in the sun), so I haven't even brought them out on a "field trip".
For chilly climates like Iceland- when do you think it would be a good time for them to at least have a small few minute trip outdoors?
Also, what age do you think will be a good age to determine their gender? My daughter's class didn't do that when they were hatched so I am not sure what mine are!
I am sorry for a long post and so many questions but I know that some of you in this thread here have Icelandics, and the raising chick section doesn't seem to have many Icelandics being posted about.

Quote:

and to the Icelandic thread! Your daughter sounds like she will be a great help! Incubation time for most large fowl chickens is 21 days. I find that my Icelandic tend to hatch closer to 19-20 days under my hens.

What a great opportunity to move to Iceland! It looks like your husband is a native, are you from there originally? Very neat for you to have property that will allow you to have a flock of chickens and maybe goats! We will need to see lots of pictures!!

As for the grit, I use my hens to raise chicks so they teach them to find what they need outside. My soil is loam and clay, no sand. I do have a "gravel" drive that is crushed limestone for the most part. I do raise broilers for my freezer and, as @goslinghunter said, the starter feed usually has grit inside the crumbles. Not much grit is needed when feeding a processed feed. If I want to feed them other things, or when I move them to a grower that is made up of coarsely ground grains, I do give them free choice grit. There are different types of sand, some is very fine and others have larger, coarse grains. If what you have in your own yard has some coarse pieces, I'd try that. A picture of what you got from someone else, who is using with their chicks, would be great.

Telling the difference between your pullets and cockerels will be easier around 6 weeks old. Wattles on the males are larger and combs will get color quicker on them.

I look forward to hearing more about your adventures with your new chicks!

 

[racuda]

Are both the rooster the same color? What color are the hens you've been breeding to them? Were they from the same group as the males?

No, both roosters are different, and I only have three hens now (one died). All the hens look alike. Everything is from the eggs I got from Mary. The roosters are first generation and the hens are first and second. I have four chicks now but it is too early to tell what they will look like. I need to hatch some more. I know the genes are there for a variety of colors.

 

[Icies]

I read somewhere that they are less likely to look like their parents then they are grandparents. Im just wondering if that has anything to do with it or not...

 

[NotAFarm]

The three mommas and their chicks. It is hard to believe they are two weeks old!!

 

[Icies]

I tend to make things more difficult than they need to be... I'm not sure why or how, but it is something I've been noticing lately. That pen that I almost finished that I was going to put my roosters in under the apple trees so they could acclimate to free ranging & give them respite from the dogs has been abandoned... @ least for now. I decided to move them to the barn & was able to borrow a kennel to give them a small run. The barn should also provide some shelter from the hawks and am hoping that the coming & going of the goats & donkeys will deter other predators (as opposed to the apple trees in an isolated corner of the yard). And I would really like them to concentrate the free ranging in the barn & pasture areas so while I was hoping they would end up there eventually, they are now starting out there. The thought process is that while Im coop training them in the new coop that the donkeys would get used to hearing them & then Ill let them out in the kennel for another week so the donkeys can get used to their movements, etc before being out free on the barn floor. Im hoping that will give everyone time to adjust. After thinking about it I thought that made more sense.... hopefully. lol. I just wish I hadn't wasted all the time previously. Oh well.

The girls are enjoying less roosters around. They are out & about much more & seem happier.

My 8 yr old niece was over this weekend & sat down next to the coop & fed the chickens weeds for 4 hours straight. All 11 chickens were as enthralled w her as she was with them. It was interesting to watch. I have never seen my niece so quiet for so long either. She said she wants to come & take care of them every Sat & Sun.

I keep telling everyone that chickens (& goats & donkeys) are fascinating. I can just sit & watch them for hours (if I had hours to spare!). & the strangest part is that they aren't doing anything particularly interesting, yet they are mesmerizing.

 

[NotAFarm]

I tend to make things more difficult than they need to be... I'm not sure why or how, but it is something I've been noticing lately. That pen that I almost finished that I was going to put my roosters in under the apple trees so they could acclimate to free ranging & give them respite from the dogs has been abandoned... @ least for now. I decided to move them to the barn & was able to borrow a kennel to give them a small run. The barn should also provide some shelter from the hawks and am hoping that the coming & going of the goats & donkeys will deter other predators (as opposed to the apple trees in an isolated corner of the yard). And I would really like them to concentrate the free ranging in the barn & pasture areas so while I was hoping they would end up there eventually, they are now starting out there. The thought process is that while Im coop training them in the new coop that the donkeys would get used to hearing them & then Ill let them out in the kennel for another week so the donkeys can get used to their movements, etc before being out free on the barn floor. Im hoping that will give everyone time to adjust. After thinking about it I thought that made more sense.... hopefully. lol. I just wish I hadn't wasted all the time previously. Oh well.

The girls are enjoying less roosters around. They are out & about much more & seem happier.

My 8 yr old niece was over this weekend & sat down next to the coop & fed the chickens weeds for 4 hours straight. All 11 chickens were as enthralled w her as she was with them. It was interesting to watch. I have never seen my niece so quiet for so long either. She said she wants to come & take care of them every Sat & Sun.

I keep telling everyone that chickens (& goats & donkeys) are fascinating. I can just sit & watch them for hours (if I had hours to spare!). & the strangest part is that they aren't doing anything particularly interesting, yet they are mesmerizing.

The barn sounds like a good solution for your extra cockerels. The donkeys and goats will keep many predators away and the chickens will clean up around the feeders and "spread manure" for you. Win Win!

My grandchildren love my chickens...and the barn cats. It is great your niece has the opportunity to share your love!!

Just wait until you have momma hens with chicks.....way too easy to lose track of time watching them.

I hope all is well with everyone!