Icelandic Chickens

[AK Michelle]

Thanks Kathy, I learn something new every day.

 

[Camelot Farms]

Whoops! Forgot about the broody.

Picked up her frizzled bum and sure enough, one fuzzy Icelandic chick.
The other egg she had stopped about a week in or so it looks like from a quick candle.

This broody will sit for the next 8 months if I let her. Silly girl doesnt much care for her babies but she'll sit a nest til Armegeddon.
So I will let her keep this lil one for a few weeks (unless she gets bored with it before then) and get some weight back on her then snatch the baby up and let her go again.

Gotta love those Silkies....brooding machines!

 

[AK Michelle]

Quote:
I haven't let mine keep any eggs yet, but I think I'm gonna let her try when it gets a bit warmer. It won't reliably stay above zero for a few more weeks. For now she collects everyone's eggs so I only have to look under her to find all the eggs

 

[The Sheriff]

Great Pictures! I am about to mess that up though. I have a little Icelandic with funky wings.

Here he is alone and with a broodermate for comparison.

Instead of his little wing feather going down they go up. It also looks like his wings are growing faster than his body. Has anybody seen this before? I am going to send the pictures to Marty Favre and see if this is the feather issue she was talking about.

Anyway he is cute as a bug's ear but always looks like he is going to take flight...backwards.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

Quote:
its called Angel wings... in waterfowl its from feeding to high of protein feed to early... but if i remember right its not the same in chickens... it can be genetic idk what else might cause it tho...

 

[kathyinmo]

No, Mary, I have not noticed that in any of mine. The only thing I notice in mine is that they all seem to have big red combs at an early age.

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
Duh, mine too! Ya' think it's genetic?

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Duh, mine too! Ya' think it's genetic?

It must be!

I am so mad at my bunch! Today, I stood out there almost all day long, trying to find out who is eating eggs. I saw Sunna on the nest.... I ran inside to grab a pop. I came back out and she was up and around, and NO egg! I got ZERO eggs today. I can only assume, after finding the half shell, someone (or all of them), is eating eggs! Tomorrow I am gonna have to find a new strategy.

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
its called Angel wings... in waterfowl its from feeding to high of protein feed to early... but if i remember right its not the same in chickens... it can be genetic idk what else might cause it tho...

These guys are just a week old and have been fed medicated chick starter. I can't really find anything about angel wing in chickens, just waterfowl.

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
Duh, mine too! Ya' think it's genetic?

It must be!

I am so mad at my bunch! Today, I stood out there almost all day long, trying to find out who is eating eggs. I saw Sunna on the nest.... I ran inside to grab a pop. I came back out and she was up and around, and NO egg! I got ZERO eggs today. I can only assume, after finding the half shell, someone (or all of them), is eating eggs! Tomorrow I am gonna have to find a new strategy.

That sucks Kathy. Egg eating drives me crazy but my Icelandics have never been a problem. The big fat barred rocks who never laid an egg ate them all the time though. I am not sure of we were BFF's at the time but I made up a blown out mustard bomb eat and baited the nest with it. Poor Lucy, my now blind BO stepped on it and got covered in mustard and hot sauce! I finally saw the barred rock with egg all over her face! Maybe you should make a roll-out nest box like mine. That way they wouldn't be able to get to the eggs. They are gone the moment they stand up. Best thing I ever made!