Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[Hurley]

This thread is dedicated to discussion of Iowa Blues and for breeders interested in preserving the breed.

The following proposed standard is a work in progress, but is compiled from various websites on Iowa Blues as well as from Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds.

The Iowa Blue was developed in the first half of the 20th century near Decorah, Iowa and was carried by many small hatcheries around Iowa until those hatcheries closed down and the breed was nearly lost. Through the efforts of interested breeders striving to preserve the breed, the Iowa blue is a very rare breed in need of preservation. Having never been recognized by the APA, ABA, or any other breed registry, the Iowa Blue is classified as a "Study" breed by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, acknowledging that the breed is of conservation interest but lacks the documentation to be firmly categorized.

Although the exact origin of the Iowa Blue is not known, the breed has an interesting, folksy legend:

It was noted that a White Leghorn hen appeared one day out from under a building with a clutch of chicks unlike any seen before. Some were solid chestnut, but others resembled pheasant chicks, colored light yellow with horizontal striping on their cheeks and black stripes down their backs. The tale was passed down by the old-timers that the sire of the clutch was a pheasant, and these chicks gave rise to the Iowa Blue.

Iowa Blues are one of the more striking New Heritage breeds, resembling Grey Junglefowl in carriage and voice with the bearing and production traits of an old heritage breed like the Black Java.

Iowa Blue

Country of Origin: United States
Conservation Status: Study
Type of Breed: Dual-purpose, good amount of meat
Eggs: Good number of lightly tinted brown eggs
Cocks: 7 to 7.5 pounds (Cockerels 6.5 pounds)
Hens: 6 pounds (Pullet 5 pounds)
Characteristics: Good foragers; do well in free range conditions with males being excellent flock guardians and are noted to be talented hawk fighters. Hens will go broody and have great maternal instincts. Though very aware of surroundings in a free-range situation, are fairly docile and not particularly flighty. Males are vigorous breeders and mature quite early.

Comb: Medium to moderately large single comb with six well-defined points that stand upright.
Wattles: Medium to moderately large wattles and earlobes, all being bright red.
Eyes: Dark Brown
Beak: Horn
Shanks and Toes: Slate
Color: Birchen. Head is white to silvery white. Neck and upper breast are white penciled with slender black central stripe transitioning to solid black feathers with white lacing. Lower breast, body, legs, wings, and tail are bluish black to gray with penciling. Lower breast should not be over-laced. Males show white to silvery white back and saddle area. Females have a back that is bluish to gray with penciling.



The breed can be used to create sex-links when mated with other breeds, especially White Plymouth Rocks (producing gray cockerels and black pullets) or New Hampshires (producing reddish gray cockerels and blackish gray pullets).

Some advice regarding breeding birchen breeds from a cochin breeder:

With birchens you will for the most part have to double mate them, meaning that you will have a breeding pen that will produce good males and another pen that will produce good females. Breed males with very little or no breast lacing to good laced or overly lace females to produce good males. Likewise, breed weak laced females to overly laced males with good yellow legs and light undercolor to achieve nicely colored females. In both cases the females out of the first breeding or the males out of the second breeding won't be fit for show due to color but they may be used in the breeding pens to achieve the same results.

 

[bigmrg74]

Had the kids out in the sunshine today,

 

[WVDan44]

Recently I was asked about my green fodder feeding project for chickens. I originally discovered green fodder on the internet, and there I believe are some entries on You Tube about sprouting grains for fodder. Following is my process which I have set up to require little work.

This is an excellent way to provide green fodder for those living in arid climates, or in winter, or when free ranging is not possible on a regular basis.

I use a mixture of 50% barley, 30% black oil sunflower seeds, and 20% rye. When purchasing grain and seed, be sure to get food grade, not treated for planting. I was told that fodder is six times more nutritious and is six times greater in volume than regular dry grain; I can attest to the latter. I do not sprout wheat, corn, or soy beans because of GMO. I have added dried peas to the mix a time or two.

I came up with a two-bucket system for rinsing and soaking the grain. The inner bucket has holes drilled in the bottom for easy draining. I fill the outer bucket approximately 1/4 full of clean water. The bucket with drain holes is then lowered into the bucket with water and a cover goes on to keep critters out. I allow it to soak for a full 24 hours, drain it and rinse it with a hose sprayer before transferring it to a sprouting bin.



I spread the grain evenly about 1/2 inch deep over the bottom of a plastic bin with holes drilled across one long end. The bin is elevated with a piece of 2x4 so that water poured in will drain out the holes into the bin below. I have three bins set up at all times to provide a constant source of sprouted grain green fodder. One bin will provide three days of fodder.

Here is grain after first day in the sprouting bin. Little white specks appear at the ends of the grain.


After three days the sprouts are clearly visible. Rye sprouts are slightly red in color.


After six days, the sprouts have become a mat of succulent roots and lush green grass and tender sunflower sprouts that are good for humans too! Here is a good cross section view.


This photo shows individual spouts of sunflower seeds, barley, and rye.


The system requires only about ten minutes of work per day. Below is a photo of shelves and sprouting bins, the youngest are always placed at the bottom. Each bin has drain holes drilled in a straight row on one long side. The bins are elevated with a block of 2x4. I set them up in a zig-zag formation so that a gallon of water poured into the top bin rinses down and through the drain holes into the next bin where the water rinses down and out the drain holes to the third bin where the water exits the drain holes into a catch pan. I hydrate in this manner every 12 hours and also use a spray bottle to spray the surface of the seed at the same time. The rinse water contains sugars and starches that are good for watering plants or adding to compost.



And that's all there is to it. My chickens scream bloody murder if they do not have their daily ration of fodder. Occasionally, I will skip a day and toss them a bit of scratch but they still throw a hissy fit. I cut the mat of fodder into small squares, one for each bird as shown below.

 

[bstromgren]

My new Iowa Blue digs complete with self-designed coop and yurt constructed from trampoline frame.



"Chickaletta" the Cornish sneaked into the pic. She's always the ham (& eggs).

 

[bigmrg74]

My Iowa babies are getting big, about 2 weeks old now.

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

Personally (and this is my opinion), I wouldn't be surprised to find a number of our older breeds with the capacity to build up immunity to this flu. There are millions of small backyard flocks that are exposed millions of times over to the wild migrating birds and yet this isn't a backyard chicken *mass* issue at all. In fact the only birds that seem to suffer en-masse are confinement birds which interestingly enough have little to no contact with migrating birds.

All over the news here in Iowa we're seeing commercial flock after commercial flock succumbing to this flu and yet, I haven't seen an article or news report stating a backyard flock in Iowa has come down with the flu. I'm sure there are some backyard flocks with individuals carrying it, but where's the mass death loss? Our birds are outside, eating bugs, grass, and in the sun the way they were created to be and it stands to reason that they would be healthier and fit with an immune system capable of building immunities to this disease.

It also stands to reason that birds which are from a genetic standpoint basically clones, which have had their genes 'manipulated' (it isn't considered genetic modification by the government if they remove/add genes within the same species), are being housed in massive confinement facilities without natural light, being fed genetically modified food, and being fed a consistent supply of medication in their water their entire lives, would be un equipped to handle natural cycles of life.

My grandparents who are 79,80,89, and 94 respectively, all comment on how this sort of thing didn't exist when they were younger. And not until the larger confinement situations came on to the scene did we start to see these flus and their multiple mutations coming about. China was one of the first countries to house chickens (and quail) in factory farm environments and they were the first country to exhibit wide spread destruction from the diseases. Then it swept through other communist countries which implemented factory farm systems, and now it's here............

I'm not saying people should take risks with their flocks, but to shut them up could make the situation worse for the birds by not letting them develop natural immunities to these situations. What is even crazier is that the government in Iowa has a policy that any poultry located within one mile from an infected flock must be eradicated. So, they kill off all the backyard flocks within one mile of a confinement facility which tested positive for the disease. And they do this without checking to see if any of the birds in these backyard flocks have built up immunities to the disease. Think about it, if the disease hit a confinement which is 90% sealed off from the rest of the world, surely it has to be floating around in the surrounding flocks, jet those surrounding flocks aren't expressing symptoms. It is VERY possible the government is killing off the backyard birds which possess the immunities needed to create a vaccine for this disease to save the confinement flocks.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now.

 

[IACraig]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I went through this entire thread this winter. It really is an interesting history of how all of you discovered an understanding of this breed, and I thought it was really cool. That lead me to reach out to Kari, and that lead to this in early may.

Then that lead to getting rid of my 8 laying hens and 1 roo. I miss seeing them roaming the yard, but dont envy you fools who go outside at 10 o'clock locking chickens up.

After 3 weeks I have this.

This confident fellow is the early favorite for the breeding pen. I dont have a breeding pen yet. I have never hatched out chicks. I have a lot to learn. I think I am at 8 roos and 14 hens, which would be perfect. I suppose everything will go perfectly from here on out.

A digital camera is on my shopping list, sorry for the pic quality.

 

[bigmrg74]

My new Iowa hen. A reject from Candy and Fivewire's flock as she's not really a standard Iowa look, but I'm really looking more for layers who do well with some limited free-ranging. I still think she's pretty, even if she tried to take a hunk out of my forearm today.

Guess who is a big girl today?? Got a text today saying that she had 3 eggs in her quarantine coop. I didn't think she was quite that ready yet. thought her comb would need to redden up more first.


Itty bitty things.

 

[bigmrg74]

The guy who I sold my Iowa cockerel sent me some photos of him today. He's getting to be quite the handsome fellow.

 

[bigmrg74]

My two younger Iowa's hanging out poolside.