Icelandic Chickens

[NotAFarm]

Here is Gula with the Orp X chicks she was raising for a friend. My friend came and got the chicks on Sunday evening. Gula was upset then but by Monday at lunchtime she was back out with the flock. I'm glad it wasn't too hard on her.

 

[Icies]

Everything was going well up until Sunday afternoon. I went out to feed the chickens & noticed 1 was missing (the maybe). I opened the coop & found it in the nesting box. I laughed & said are you laying an egg (should be too early for that anyway) but thought maybe it is a hen instead of a rooster which is what I suspect it is. I fed all the others in the run like I usually do & started back toward the house. I got all the way around the garage & heard a terrible noise. I ran back to the coop & saw the speckled rooster on top of the maybe and the maybe was squawking like I have never heard. The maybe ran into the coop w the speckled one right behind. I ran around & opened up the coop to find the maybe in the nesting box with the speckled one on top of it. Still squawking. I got the speckled one off & I honestly thought the maybe was dead. It was laying there flat not moving. I pulled it out & saw it was alive but scared. I put it in a crate in the garage & watched it. It seemed ok. No blood. & later that evening I took out the speckled one & moved it w the other roosters in the barn & put the maybe back in the coop.

I assumed the speckled one was attacking the maybe & trying to kill it. All the sparring Ive seen so far has been nothing like this!! The maybe had retreated & the speckled one wasn't letting up. But after talking w my mom she was wondering if it was mating?? I guess that would make me feel better that the speckled one isn't evil, but could the mating really be that bad?? I assume this had happened before but not to the same degree since I found the maybe in the nesting box to begin with. And if it was mating it seems strange that the speckled one would be leaving the ones I know are hens alone.

I have a lot to learn...

 

[Icies]

Here is Gula with the Orp X chicks she was raising for a friend. My friend came and got the chicks on Sunday evening. Gula was upset then but by Monday at lunchtime she was back out with the flock. I'm glad it wasn't too hard on her.

Gula is very pretty. I've not seenone that looked like her & those chicks look like they could be hers from the pic. I was wondering if they have any attachments to their babies (not just chickens but other animals too). Someone told me they are too dumb to know but I guess the animal lover in me doesn't believe it.

 

[NotAFarm]

Quote:
This is a family site but since it is about animal husbandry, I suspect I'm within the boundaries here.
Breeding:
There is no penetration with chickens. Males don't have an appendage. The problem with young cockerels is they are the "wham, bam" type. There is no skill or finesse involved. This is why young pullets get injured when they are left with young cockerels. Once pullets are old enough to lay, they are more willing to submit/squat for a male and they are bigger/more mature and the chances of them getting hurt is less.

Dominant males with mount other males to try to show their dominance. My experience tells me the maybe is a cockerel that is less dominant than the speckled one. The speckled one is asserting himself and since there isn't sufficient room for the maybe to get away far enough to satisfy the speckled one. He is being constantly attacked and that is why he is hiding in the nest box. If I am right, you will see the maybe starting to show signs of his maleness now that you have moved the speckled one. The maybe in the pen of females will prompt his hormones. The males in the pen by themselves will not fight among themselves like those that have females with them. They will spar for their place in the pecking order (and the speckled may be low since you "added him to the mix" and the others have been together). If the maybe shows signs of maleness and you move him, he will be lowest in the male pen.

I have to get back to work....I hope others will always comment on this!

 

[Icies]

Thank you again NAF!

I had looked up chicken mating & found a couple of sites that I felt were safe to open. & while it gave me a general idea of what to expect it didn't explain what I was seeing or the fact that males would do it to each other for dominance. Im not sure why that was surprising to me as I know dogs do...

Everything you said made waaayyy too much sense. And you are pretty much spot on. The maybe has gone from a pink to bright red in a matter of days. The only thing that wasn't just as you said is that I think the speckled one is ruling the rooster house too even being the newbie. That surprised me, I told my boyfriend when I moved him that was in effect giving him a big demotion. He laughed. When I said I was serious, he said he knew I was & that's why he was laughing. lol.

 

[NotAFarm]

I'm glad to hear the speckled one integrated well into the cockerel pen. He must have been top dog before you separated them and the others gave ground to him. Good for him, just watch he doesn't target any of the others now that he doesn't have 'maybe' to pick on.

I have another broody...

... Hæla is sitting on three eggs. She started last weekend when I was gone and so I candled the eggs on Tuesday and at least two of them were developing. The other may have be added a day or so later so I'll candle again next week and see if it is good.

It has been awfully quiet here. How is everything going with everyone? @mlm Mike @RJSorensen @ashleyzoso @drumstick diva @arconfederate @yochickiemomma and anyone else out there just lurking?

 

[yochickiemomma]

Good morning everyone Been terribly busy w work this week and coop building.

Anyway my Icies are doing good however I have two small issues.1 st Issue. I have TWO roos for sure and my Ice/EE might be one too. That only leaves one pullet. Now I have 7 heritage breed hens that I can hopefully integrate them in with but roo to hen ratio is still too high and my heritage layers are kinda mean so Im not sure how well thats going to go. so I think It might be smarter to rehome one soon as they are about 13 wks old now.
Second delema the breeder I got mine from is selling her breeding trio and has offered them to me first since she knows Im crazy about chickens. They're about a yr old. I would have jumped at the opportunity except Id be acquiring yet another rooster. I think the price is great. Just stuck between a rock and a hard place and want to be sure what I want before I bring it up w my loving hubby

 

[RJSorensen]

All is well here NAF… chicks are growing, weather is unsettled, we seem to be busy as bees. i will try to get some photographs up of our progress. Everyone have a safe weekend.

RJS

 

[mlm Mike]

I'm glad to hear the speckled one integrated well into the cockerel pen. He must have been top dog before you separated them and the others gave ground to him. Good for him, just watch he doesn't target any of the others now that he doesn't have 'maybe' to pick on.

I have another broody...

... Hæla is sitting on three eggs. She started last weekend when I was gone and so I candled the eggs on Tuesday and at least two of them were developing. The other may have be added a day or so later so I'll candle again next week and see if it is good.

It has been awfully quiet here. How is everything going with everyone? @mlm Mike @RJSorensen @ashleyzoso @drumstick diva @arconfederate @yochickiemomma and anyone else out there just lurking?

Everything is fine. Been somewhat busy with hatch a longs. May is winding down, then I think through hosting any until maybe Halloween.

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[IcyLady]

A small update here:
I found out that my 4 Icelandic chicks ended up being slightly younger than I originally mentioned. Instead of their April 21st and 22nd hatchdates, their hatchdates are the 25th and 26th of April. It's my fault for miscounting haha. Oh well!
They are doing well and I moved them out of my bedroom last weekend, now they are in a temporary living area in my well ventilated and nicely heated greenhouse that I currently am not using! They seem to very happy there and their personalities are really shining through. They also went out for their first adventure on my property last Saturday because the sun was shining, it was rather warm for Icelandic spring time and there was little wind. My babies plucked around in the grass a bit but ended up wandering over to an area where there was a lot of open "dirt". I assume they were plucking some grit for themselves. After their adventure and getting tucked in their greenhouse, they were happy and settled for the night!
The babies also love being handfed! They are honestly such little characters and I love them already!
I just wish I knew their genders... I still have a feeling that two of mine are roosters. A friend of mine mentioned another of my four looked like a rooster and it kind of makes me panic since I was certain a different pair were roos!

I am not sure if posting a few photos is okay in this thread, but I honestly can't resist!