Silverudd's Blue

[ChicKat]

Sherol -
Really pretty chickens!!

 

[Sherol]

Thank you! That's great. Your birds are stunning! Apparently I have a dark blue lol so I can try breeding her to that. It's very hard in my part of Ontario to get any quality of first or second gen isbars. They have yet to start laying and I have my fingers crossed the eggs actually come out green.

Are your isbars 1st or 2nd gen?

Mine are first imports. The dark blue cockerel is from another line. Around the first of the year will change the pens so I am crossing the two lines. I have a stunning splash rooster from my first group as well and am looking forward to next years hatches where I can be more selective.

I am a firm believer in using what you have. Cross them and see what shakes out and try to move your birds forward by culling out what you don't want. I want green eggs and lots of them. They do not lay the large/jumbo eggs my olive eggs do and I am hoping in time to select for egg size. I also want beautiful birds so will be making crosses to keep the blues dark, the blacks clean and the splashes high contrast.

 

[Sherol]

Sherol -
Really pretty chickens!!

thank you! I took time and got eggs from good breeders.. now it is up to me to move forward. I really love this breed.. so much personality in these little guys. I also love taking photos and have a page on Facebook if anyone would enjoy Isbar/Silverudds Blue or Cream Legbar photos.

 

[Chickenfever16]

Although a brown egg would not be desirable, remember that the hen only contributes 1/2 the genetics. IF the roo has the blue egg gene in two copies, then all the babies from that pairing will have green eggs even if the mother lays brown.
I have a Silverudd's Blue Isbar that lays brown. At first it was a concern, but then I realized that paired with a male that has two blue-egg genes, all her offspring would lay green.
Good luck with your breeding.

ETA -- actually if the female has brown + white egg genes, and the male has blue + blue, then you could get a 'light blue' egg is she passes white gene to offspring and he passes blue.

Ahhh. I see. I was told that if a hen lays brown she has the brown/brown and therefore can not pass on the gene to make green or blue layers. I understood it that the blue/brown gene makes green. I have much more research to do! Lol.

 

[ChicKat]

Right now, I have descendants of first generation - and I also love this breed. One thing from mine is big eggs. (but they are getting older, older, older, and older hens tend to have fewer but bigger eggs). The dark dark eyes are one of my tip offs of 1st gen. It is so great that you are one of the people working to improve this breed.

Also, I have Legbars and they are a fabulous breed to have. One of my Legbars will be 6-years old in January! wow. Before this trip into molt land she was still laying eggs for me -and her eggs to are quite large.

Since I don't 'do facebook' -- and don't want to (Hopefully I can be a hold-out forever and never do facebook, but it gets increasingly more difficult...LOL -- One reason is that my slow internet connection - as FB scans everything to get marketing profile information makes it un-usable in my slow set up) I won't be able to check out your FB page -- so I'm doubly glad that you posted chicken pictures here.

 

[ChicKat]

Ahhh. I see. I was told that if a hen lays brown she has the brown/brown and therefore can not pass on the gene to make green or blue layers. I understood it that the blue/brown gene makes green. I have much more research to do! Lol.

This is a really good chart by the website 'scratch cradle' -- link below:
https://scratchcradle.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/gms3-breeding-for-other-egg-colors/

I'm not 100% certain, the way I understand that genetics work, that there is a light blue egg actually -- (or conversely they are all light blue)--- Reason being that a recessive gene is considered to be 'hidden' -- so one wouldn't USUALLY know it was there.

To each rule, however, there is an exception -- and I had a bird that actually showed off his recessive gene and he wasn't supposed to. ;O)

 

[HeatherBelle]

Our 6-month old SB pullet isn't laying yet. Her comb has turned bright pink and her brothers (same hatch) are both aggressively expressing their sexual maturity (we are desperate to find homes for these two, btw! We live within city limits and aren't allowed to have them. We have been bringing them into the house everynight and are trying to find them homes!! Please reach out to me if you're looking for an SB cockerel!!).
At what age did your SB pullets begin laying? The other three hens in our flock are all laying, though our SB pullet is definitely at the bottom of the "pecking order". Thoughts?

 

[ChicKat]

You might want to list your cockerels in the buy-sell-trade thread. Craigslist is one place that people buy chickens --and maybe your local newspaper, if you have a 'livestock' section. You might also ask your feed store. Sometimes they will allow you to put up an advertisement.
Good luck. It's sad when a rare breed needs a place, and one is hard to find. --
My first Silverudd's Blue Isbars were descendants of the originals and didn't start laying until they were 8-months old or more. My subsequent ones came in to lay sooner.

 

[HeatherBelle]

Thank you, ChicKat. I've listed on the Buy-Sell-Trade thread here, as well as the SB/Isbar specific threads, Craigslist and a few group pages on Facebook - all without luck. I like the idea of our feed store - I think they do have a board for such things. These boys are beautiful and we really want to find them good homes. I'd love to keep one, but the no-crow collar isn't working all that well and bringing them in every night is not a very sustainable option. We knew it was probable that we'd have a rooster when we bought straight-run, but we didn't think it'd be so difficult to find a home if it happened. We had the same thing happen with two Buff Orpington chicks and we were able to find homes for both of them relatively easily. It's odd.
Thanks for the tip on your SB hens; ours are descendants of the second imports. Her comb is bright red now, for the last few weeks, so we keep expecting something. I did find some clumped nesting box shavings with yolk in one of the nesting boxes yesterday. We're wondering if she laid a not completely formed egg... I'm also hoping that she'll be less of a loner once she starts laying. Right now she's often off by herself - it's so sad.

 

[ChicKat]

So sorry to hear that your pullet has to be a loner. It sounds like she is POL and perhaps did lay that incomplete egg. Hopefully it is just a matter of getting her routine down.