Icelandic Chickens

[Happy Chooks]

This is one pile we have to burn. My 11 year old stacked this pile as part of a Boy Scout requirement. He had to pick a job to do around the house to earn money and save at least 50% of it. He did a good job at it too.

For those of you not from around here and aren't familiar with Manzanita - we have super size Manzanita here. This is the SMALL stuff - the shed is 12 ft tall at the apex of the roof. Some of our manzanita is close to 20 feet tall here.

And the trunks get turned into firewood.

 

[Mahonri]

Those legbars are going to be BEAUTIFUL.

 

[The Sheriff]

Dang Kelly! Remind me not to visit when you burn that. The neighbor's pile smoked for several hours. At one point I couldn't see across my patio. I finally gave up and went outside and did what I needed to do. I played musical automatic pop doors!

Thanks Mahonri and Kelly. The new pair are sweet. It was so funny when we went to lock them up tonight. The new four week olds were in the coop and the older ones were on top of it! Those little babies scared them off! Ridiculous. I am so looking forward to my two breeding projects. I still love, love, love my Icelandics but the aren't to be messed with. I wanna' mess with something! I think I may have one more Isbar cockerel. One little blue one suddenly sprouted a comb. I'll confirm with Kelly next week when she visits!

 

[Jake Levi]

How old are the Isbars now?

I am curious about the Hedemora too.

Cold hardiness is something that I admire.

 

[drumstick diva]

Mary I took your "dead or alive" quiz and couldn't get a confirmation for posting. I kept doing the letter thing and I did it right (I have alot of practice with those), and it kept showing me new letters to do again. After 5 or 6 times I just gave up, so never got my answers posted. Is this a glitch in the system?

 

[LarryPQ]

Kelly- Manzinita is the bright red weed-growing stuff right? It wants to be a tree, but it ends up being a PITA?

 

[kathyinmo]

Cream Legbars!

You are gonna have a beautiful egg carton! Love all the colors of eggs.

 

[Jake Levi]

A for sure real easter egg basket ! Add in a trio of Marans and there you are !

How old are those youngsters?

They are so teenish looking they are cute but already their colors are showing!

Manzanita is the bane of southern Calif hillsides, it does a great job of holding them in place, but also burns in place, even the green wood, but remove it and the hillsides start sliding. A very mixed blessing, and for some strange reason those expensive homes they love to build on those ridge tops seldom have lawn sprinklers or roof sprinklers. So they make pretty bonfires when the manzanita burns. Go figure.

I picked up the roofing metal for the shed yesterday, and next four days are forecasted to have freezing rain and snow, hope I can get it covered anyhow. It needs to be.

Life is good and Icelandic Chickens and Pack Goats make it better !

 

[The Sheriff]

The newest pair of cream legbars are only about four weeks old. I have another slightly older pair. I don't have a trio of Marans to round out the basket but I do have two Blue Copper Marans and a Wellsumer who should star laying any day now! Plus I have two Ameraucanas!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Laree - Manzanita has smooth, red bark and it is the tall tree like bush you see next to the shed. Normally, it grows in a shrub like state, but around here it grows really well and becomes tree like. It makes a great border for privacy, but it burns SUPER hot, even when wet. When the leaves ignite, it's like fireworks and they shoot all over the place. It's a big time fire danger around here and we live in a wildfire prone area of the mountains. Our property was virtually covered in the stuff and we have cut/burn some every year for the past 12 years and still have tons of it around.