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Icelandic or Viking Hen

The Icelandic could be one of the oldest chicken breeds. Because it is from Iceland it can also...
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Average
Climate Tolerance
All Climates
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Medium
Egg Color
White
Breed Temperament
Flighty
Breed Colors/Varieties
Many
Breed Size
Large Fowl
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The Icelandic breed is a landrace fowl which are rare outside its native country of Iceland, after which it's named. They are a very old breed, having been present on the island since introduction by Norse settlers in the 9th century. However, the breed has barely survived in a pure form in the 21st century, largely due to the importation and popularity of commercial strains of chickens in the 1950s. The few thousand Icelandic chickens in existence today are the result of conservation efforts in the 1970s and a handful of flocks that have been exported abroad.

Icelandic Chickens are not firmly standardized in appearance and possess a wide range of plumage colours and patterns, skin colouration and comb types. Some will have feather crests. Despite this variance in appearance, Icelandics are uniformly hardy in winter, have white earlobes and lay white to light brown coloured eggs. They are also said to be docile in temperament, and hens will readily go broody. They are great foragers and skilled escape artists. If there is a way out, they will find it!

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Icelandic eggs

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Icelandic chick

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Icelandic juvenile

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Icelandic hen

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Icelandic rooster

For more information on this breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-icelandic.1083508/
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Latest reviews

CashewVulture
Excellent foragers
Pros: Great foragers, relatively big eggs, lays pretty much daily, colorful, flighty (can be a disadvantage to some), long lifespan, hardy, tolerates confinement
Cons: Some are hard to approach, roosters can be aggressive
These are super pretty! We have two at the moment, each with different bloodlines. They are both quite different, but that’s what makes them so awesome and unique! They are great foragers, glad to have them in our flock.:highfive:
Purchase Price
$6 per hatching egg
Purchase Date
May 2023

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Chullicken
Pros: Amazing foragers, great feed conversion, all colors of the rainbow you never know what you get, fascinating back story
Cons: Flighty as the day is long
If you want an interesting, out of the main stream fowl type as they are not a breed and never will be, more accurately a 'Landrace'. One that you won't ever know until they grow up what color they will be, great historical fowl with plenty of personality who are known to be great brooders..this is the bird for you. Very medium frame. Do great free ranging and willingly breed on their own for a steady flow of cute chicks that change colors several times until maturity. A very big bonus to these is the Landrace philosophy as they are not breed for type, but rather for temperament, alertness, broodiness and general character which is great. My Icelandic rooster is the best one I've ever had with an amazing rose comb to boot.
The community has a strong, knowledgeable base with very high standards almost to the point of being an elitist mentality. Worth a try though and guaranteed an interesting conversation with you fellow enthusiast.
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MTmillefleur
Pros: Thrifty, hardy, beautiful, good egg layers
Cons: Too smart for their own good, can fly
Much more interesting than any other of the many breeds I have lived with in more than 60 years. I like their reactive instincts, like wild birds. They are very curious and intelligent and if raised right, given treats and around calm people they are very friendly. Each bird has his or her own distinct personality.

If raised together, boys get along well, with one being the top rooster and others staying submissive to him. Roosters are very protective of their hens (they will die for them), and so a human needs to be understanding of that and not be perceived as threatening to flock members. If a human is aware and is quiet and calm, roosters can be very friendly. Mine brings me treats and drops them at my feet. Hens make good mothers, and great layers of medium eggs. Mine stop when molting and begin laying again in mid-January, with no additional light or heat in a quite airy coop in Montana winters.

I love their unpredictable coloring. It is always a treat to see a new batch of chicks and their colors, and then wonder how they will look in three months and then adults since they change so much.

They are great free-rangers, but must have predator protection by fencing, electric fencing or livestock guard/protection dog(s).
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Comments

KalyAn
Search for the Icelandic thread. Alot of pages, read the most recent and you'll soon see who has eggs on the west cost. Or MO if your in the central US..
 
Jake Levi
Good review. Mine will come and sit on my lap, in their run or outdoors. They are very much their 'own selves'. Gotta love the independent free rangers !

I can see why they survived the climate of Iceland for over a thousand years ! From the 800s through the 1950s before any other commercial strains were introduced for factory production.
 
AClassicalLife
Have you raised Welsummers and/or Swedish Flower hens? Icelandics/Welsummers have captivated me the most and I'm having a hard time choosing. Great review!
 
NYREDS
As you point out they don't really do everything a homestead flock should do as they fall short as meat bird. However, if you just want a colourful flock that will produce eggs they are kind of fun.
 
Fowlman4
I haven't raised Welsummers but I've heard good things about them, especially their egg color. ;) ... Swedish Flower Hens look similar to Icelandics. Icelandics tipped the scale for me because of their need for preservationists to support their cause. I'm glad I decided on 'em!
 
MTmillefleur
The Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/icelandicchickens/ acts as an unofficial club, education center and group for Icelandic chicken owners in North America and Iceland. There is a Breeders List of vetted breeders, a lot of informational documents under Files, and has more than 3,500 members. The landrace (not a breed with a standard of perfection) is very diverse. They are also incredibly various as to personality, intelligence and curiosity. They lay a lot of white to tinted medium to large eggs, are very good at free range thriftiness and are very interesting.
 
MTmillefleur
The Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/icelandicchickens/ acts as an unofficial club, education center and group for Icelandic chicken owners in North America and Iceland. There is a Breeders List of vetted breeders, a lot of informational documents under Files, and has more than 3,500 members. Here are photos from my flock in Western Montana. As you can see, the landrace (not a breed with a standard of perfection) is very diverse. They are also incredibly various as to personality, intelligence and curiosity. They lay a lot of white to tinted tan medium to large eggs, are very good at free range thriftiness and are very interesting.
 
MTmillefleur
The Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/icelandicchickens/ acts as an unofficial club, education center and group for Icelandic chicken owners in North America and Iceland. There is a Breeders List of vetted breeders, a lot of informational documents under Files, and has more than 3,500 members. Here are photos from my flock in Western Montana. As you can see, the landrace (not a breed with a standard of perfection) is very diverse. They are also incredibly various as to personality, intelligence and curiosity. They lay a lot of white to tinted medium to large eggs, are very good at free range thriftiness and are very interesting.
 
MTmillefleur
I note that one review on here states that Icelandics can have feathered legs and this is not true. They must have clean shanks. They commonly lay white and tinted tan/pinkish eggs.
 
Robert 1234
After looking at many many pictures of ( islandic chickens ) .... Most of them appear to be a varied mix of all breeds.
I have noted crosses between ( Spanish white face, Wyandot , Welsumer,and various others.
This would appear to be Peaple trying to push up there limeted stock and color patterns.
The one noted identitie of these birds are the ( top knot ) both roo's and hens.
Any one who truly wants to save this breed should focus on top knot , weight , and then color variation .
I have received a pair of birds with top knot , rose comb type and will focus on breeding from this pair .
Rooster is white with black markings through out , and hen in buff/ cream.
Wish me luck ...
 
TheCakeIsAWolf
MTmillefleur said:
I note that one review on here states that Icelandics can have feathered legs and this is not true. They must have clean shanks. They commonly lay white and tinted tan/pinkish eggs.
Click to expand...
Hey I haven't been able to find any resources on this, but is there any reason they're not supposed to be feathered? Like does it have a practical purpose or is it just part of the breed standard?
 

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Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
ReiMiraa
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Reviews
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