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Icelandic Chickens
- Thread starter The Sheriff
- Start date
Hi Jake!
I keep warning about our small genetic base, and to not pollute it but to study it and to build numbers while we learn more about them. We do have a very unknown breed here. A breed, not a landrace. It has all of the hallmarks of a breed. Including different genetics then modern chickens.
I am interested in your description of the Icelandics as "a breed". Could you describe what your "hallmarks of a breed" are? I have always thought that the first and foremost hallmark of a "breed" was "type". Type, as you probably know, is best described as those characteristics which make a breed identifyable by outline. I.e., you take a side shot of an animal or bird (or fish, whatever) and black out everything but the outline, and if you can tell what it is, that specimen has "type" representative of the breed.
With Icelandic birds coming with no set feather type, color, height, weight, tuff or no tuff, feathered leg or no feathered leg, etc, what are you basing "type" or "breed" on? I am not familiar enough with the breed to know if they all lay the same color egg, and if *that* is considered enough to classify them as a breed or not.
Also, you mention the "different genetics" from other breeds of birds. IF they do, indeed, all have specific genetics linking them together and seperating them from all other chicken breeds, that would be fascinating! However, the only information I have been able to locate indicates they do not have different genetics.
I was on here a few hundred pages back, asking pretty much the same questions, and have yet to receive any hard information, links or anything, actually, to anwser my two questions. They are cute little things and I was quite interested in them, but the lack of legit info has caused me to just about give up on ever finding anything or anyone able to provide me with anything besides "well, I've heard" info.
Please take this the right way! I am a serious, dedicated breeder of purebred animals, but I do do my research and expect to be able to tell others interested in my birds "the real deal". If you have any information you think will help me in my research, I sure would appreciate it! : )
Diane at Srucon Heritage Fowl
I am interested in your description of the Icelandics as "a breed". Could you describe what your "hallmarks of a breed" are? I have always thought that the first and foremost hallmark of a "breed" was "type". Type, as you probably know, is best described as those characteristics which make a breed identifyable by outline. I.e., you take a side shot of an animal or bird (or fish, whatever) and black out everything but the outline, and if you can tell what it is, that specimen has "type" representative of the breed.
With Icelandic birds coming with no set feather type, color, height, weight, tuff or no tuff, feathered leg or no feathered leg, etc, what are you basing "type" or "breed" on? I am not familiar enough with the breed to know if they all lay the same color egg, and if *that* is considered enough to classify them as a breed or not.
Also, you mention the "different genetics" from other breeds of birds. IF they do, indeed, all have specific genetics linking them together and seperating them from all other chicken breeds, that would be fascinating! However, the only information I have been able to locate indicates they do not have different genetics.
I was on here a few hundred pages back, asking pretty much the same questions, and have yet to receive any hard information, links or anything, actually, to anwser my two questions. They are cute little things and I was quite interested in them, but the lack of legit info has caused me to just about give up on ever finding anything or anyone able to provide me with anything besides "well, I've heard" info.
Please take this the right way! I am a serious, dedicated breeder of purebred animals, but I do do my research and expect to be able to tell others interested in my birds "the real deal". If you have any information you think will help me in my research, I sure would appreciate it! : )
Diane at Srucon Heritage Fowl
Quote:
I am interested in your description of the Icelandics as "a breed". Could you describe what your "hallmarks of a breed" are? I have always thought that the first and foremost hallmark of a "breed" was "type". Type, as you probably know, is best described as those characteristics which make a breed identifyable by outline. I.e., you take a side shot of an animal or bird (or fish, whatever) and black out everything but the outline, and if you can tell what it is, that specimen has "type" representative of the breed.
With Icelandic birds coming with no set feather type, color, height, weight, tuff or no tuff, feathered leg or no feathered leg, etc, what are you basing "type" or "breed" on? I am not familiar enough with the breed to know if they all lay the same color egg, and if *that* is considered enough to classify them as a breed or not.
Also, you mention the "different genetics" from other breeds of birds. IF they do, indeed, all have specific genetics linking them together and seperating them from all other chicken breeds, that would be fascinating! However, the only information I have been able to locate indicates they do not have different genetics.
I was on here a few hundred pages back, asking pretty much the same questions, and have yet to receive any hard information, links or anything, actually, to anwser my two questions. They are cute little things and I was quite interested in them, but the lack of legit info has caused me to just about give up on ever finding anything or anyone able to provide me with anything besides "well, I've heard" info.
Please take this the right way! I am a serious, dedicated breeder of purebred animals, but I do do my research and expect to be able to tell others interested in my birds "the real deal". If you have any information you think will help me in my research, I sure would appreciate it! : )
Diane at Srucon Heritage Fowl
They don't come with pedigree papers. The only information you are gonna find in the USA is the history of whose stock the birds come from. Frankly, as I believe I said before, I don't understand what it is you are looking for. "Hard information and legit info," you are looking for probably doesn't exist.
I am interested in your description of the Icelandics as "a breed". Could you describe what your "hallmarks of a breed" are? I have always thought that the first and foremost hallmark of a "breed" was "type". Type, as you probably know, is best described as those characteristics which make a breed identifyable by outline. I.e., you take a side shot of an animal or bird (or fish, whatever) and black out everything but the outline, and if you can tell what it is, that specimen has "type" representative of the breed.
With Icelandic birds coming with no set feather type, color, height, weight, tuff or no tuff, feathered leg or no feathered leg, etc, what are you basing "type" or "breed" on? I am not familiar enough with the breed to know if they all lay the same color egg, and if *that* is considered enough to classify them as a breed or not.
Also, you mention the "different genetics" from other breeds of birds. IF they do, indeed, all have specific genetics linking them together and seperating them from all other chicken breeds, that would be fascinating! However, the only information I have been able to locate indicates they do not have different genetics.
I was on here a few hundred pages back, asking pretty much the same questions, and have yet to receive any hard information, links or anything, actually, to anwser my two questions. They are cute little things and I was quite interested in them, but the lack of legit info has caused me to just about give up on ever finding anything or anyone able to provide me with anything besides "well, I've heard" info.
Please take this the right way! I am a serious, dedicated breeder of purebred animals, but I do do my research and expect to be able to tell others interested in my birds "the real deal". If you have any information you think will help me in my research, I sure would appreciate it! : )
Diane at Srucon Heritage Fowl
They don't come with pedigree papers. The only information you are gonna find in the USA is the history of whose stock the birds come from. Frankly, as I believe I said before, I don't understand what it is you are looking for. "Hard information and legit info," you are looking for probably doesn't exist.
Quote:
Not trying to be rude or anything, but your comments sound to me like you want to sit back and have everyone else do all the research for you. Everything that has been found out about Icelandics has been shared here via articles from Iceland and knowledge from Sigrid and others that have been working on preserving these birds. If you are truly interested in the them and want to know more, then do your own research - maybe you need to learn the Icelandic language, I don't know what will satisfy you or convince you of what it is you seem to be searching for. If what has been shared so far is not enough for you and researching isn't for you, then maybe you need to find a breed that you're comfortable with.
Not trying to be rude or anything, but your comments sound to me like you want to sit back and have everyone else do all the research for you. Everything that has been found out about Icelandics has been shared here via articles from Iceland and knowledge from Sigrid and others that have been working on preserving these birds. If you are truly interested in the them and want to know more, then do your own research - maybe you need to learn the Icelandic language, I don't know what will satisfy you or convince you of what it is you seem to be searching for. If what has been shared so far is not enough for you and researching isn't for you, then maybe you need to find a breed that you're comfortable with.
Quote:
Nor would it exist for ANY breed of poultry.
Nor would it exist for ANY breed of poultry.
Hey Jake!
Can't wait to see the pics! Super rainy here today, everything is a mucky mess.
Quote:
Not trying to be rude or anything, but your comments sound to me like you want to sit back and have everyone else do all the research for you. Everything that has been found out about Icelandics has been shared here via articles from Iceland and knowledge from Sigrid and others that have been working on preserving these birds. If you are truly interested in the them and want to know more, then do your own research - maybe you need to learn the Icelandic language, I don't know what will satisfy you or convince you of what it is you seem to be searching for. If what has been shared so far is not enough for you and researching isn't for you, then maybe you need to find a breed that you're comfortable with.
Exactly. Taking time to read through this thread one would find tons of information. Just part of researching, reading and reading....
Not trying to be rude or anything, but your comments sound to me like you want to sit back and have everyone else do all the research for you. Everything that has been found out about Icelandics has been shared here via articles from Iceland and knowledge from Sigrid and others that have been working on preserving these birds. If you are truly interested in the them and want to know more, then do your own research - maybe you need to learn the Icelandic language, I don't know what will satisfy you or convince you of what it is you seem to be searching for. If what has been shared so far is not enough for you and researching isn't for you, then maybe you need to find a breed that you're comfortable with.
Exactly. Taking time to read through this thread one would find tons of information. Just part of researching, reading and reading....
Quote:
It is going to get even wetter & windier in the next 24 to 48
Coming your way from the weather person out here on the Coast!
It is going to get even wetter & windier in the next 24 to 48
Try this Boldog:
http://www.bing.com/search?q=Icelandic+chickens&src=IE-SearchBox&Form=IE8SRC
There is site after site that offers info on the breed.
They are not in the APA standard, and only recently have been imported to the US of A.
They lay white eggs and have about the same feather type, but come in eye popping color variations, and combs, and no one knows what their gonna get out of a hatch, to a certain extent.......... Icelandics are a box of chocolate, to coin the phrase.
Everyone I have here that sees them calls them yard candy!
http://www.bing.com/search?q=Icelandic+chickens&src=IE-SearchBox&Form=IE8SRC
There is site after site that offers info on the breed.
They are not in the APA standard, and only recently have been imported to the US of A.
They lay white eggs and have about the same feather type, but come in eye popping color variations, and combs, and no one knows what their gonna get out of a hatch, to a certain extent.......... Icelandics are a box of chocolate, to coin the phrase.
Everyone I have here that sees them calls them yard candy!
Re to the question, there is a very definite 'type'.
Size, is very uniform, comb types, what they have and dont have, diversity of colors, i.e. other colors havent been selected out by selecting for one or another. You find this in OEGBs also. A breed with many colors. Also uniform in size and conformation as the Icelandic Chicken is. There is a recognizeable type.
The Icelandic Chicken has a very strong survivablity that other chickens do not have, shown in part in the ability to get much of their food in ranging. They still brood their chicks, a trait lost in many other breeds/varieties.
Their gestation period is usually shorter then other chickens, a trait with real survival value in a country where harsh cold snaps come often in the spring and summer.
These traits and more they exhibit and pass on to their offspring, one of the hallmarks of a breed.
The research that is of the Icelandic Chicken has happened to a small degree in Iceland by the university there. It is a fact that their genes differ greatly from modern breeds. As soon as I can find a translated paper I will post a link to it here. Meanwhile I will maintain and grow my small flock, as so many others have done over the past thousand years. Much of what we learn about the Icelandic Chicken is going to be learned right here in America. Every flock is a lab. And over time we will build data bases. The School of the Icelandic Chicken is right here, as are the students and teachers and researchers.
This is one of the most fascinating breeds of chickens that I have encountered in my fairly long life. I have kept a number of breeds of chickens, Rhode Island Reds, several colors of Wyandottes, Barred Rocks, OEGBs, Blue Andalusions, some others, and a few mutts. All of these were good chickens, and well worth having. There are of course many others out there, in this country we have a wealth of breeds and non breeds to have and to raise. They are different from Icelandic Chickens. If you donot use selection very carefully in just a few generations they will change markedly in appearance, away from known standards of the breed, they willNOT reproduce themselves to a known type.
The Icelandic otoh, reproduces itself, and has for over a thousand years. Without a standard. That itself is unique enough for me to want to reproduce them .
I do think that there will be some changes in them, some flocks will become more uniform in colors for the owner preferring one color over another, a pity but it will be. Some flocks will become noticeably larger in size as that is selected for, there will be some differences in flock appearance because of owner selection, but, if we are very careful to keep out other influences we will still have recognizeable Icelandic Chickens.
We will still have Icelandics, and we will know much more about them then we do now, and much more every year.
Life is good, and better with Icelandic Chickens and Packgoats !
Size, is very uniform, comb types, what they have and dont have, diversity of colors, i.e. other colors havent been selected out by selecting for one or another. You find this in OEGBs also. A breed with many colors. Also uniform in size and conformation as the Icelandic Chicken is. There is a recognizeable type.
The Icelandic Chicken has a very strong survivablity that other chickens do not have, shown in part in the ability to get much of their food in ranging. They still brood their chicks, a trait lost in many other breeds/varieties.
Their gestation period is usually shorter then other chickens, a trait with real survival value in a country where harsh cold snaps come often in the spring and summer.
These traits and more they exhibit and pass on to their offspring, one of the hallmarks of a breed.
The research that is of the Icelandic Chicken has happened to a small degree in Iceland by the university there. It is a fact that their genes differ greatly from modern breeds. As soon as I can find a translated paper I will post a link to it here. Meanwhile I will maintain and grow my small flock, as so many others have done over the past thousand years. Much of what we learn about the Icelandic Chicken is going to be learned right here in America. Every flock is a lab. And over time we will build data bases. The School of the Icelandic Chicken is right here, as are the students and teachers and researchers.
This is one of the most fascinating breeds of chickens that I have encountered in my fairly long life. I have kept a number of breeds of chickens, Rhode Island Reds, several colors of Wyandottes, Barred Rocks, OEGBs, Blue Andalusions, some others, and a few mutts. All of these were good chickens, and well worth having. There are of course many others out there, in this country we have a wealth of breeds and non breeds to have and to raise. They are different from Icelandic Chickens. If you donot use selection very carefully in just a few generations they will change markedly in appearance, away from known standards of the breed, they willNOT reproduce themselves to a known type.
The Icelandic otoh, reproduces itself, and has for over a thousand years. Without a standard. That itself is unique enough for me to want to reproduce them .
I do think that there will be some changes in them, some flocks will become more uniform in colors for the owner preferring one color over another, a pity but it will be. Some flocks will become noticeably larger in size as that is selected for, there will be some differences in flock appearance because of owner selection, but, if we are very careful to keep out other influences we will still have recognizeable Icelandic Chickens.
We will still have Icelandics, and we will know much more about them then we do now, and much more every year.
Life is good, and better with Icelandic Chickens and Packgoats !
Last edited:
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