BLUE ISBARS - Pictures and discussion

[dfdesigns]

 

[warbirds]

Not quite sure what is hysterical about that... but glad you got a good laugh! Good for the soul!

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Does anyone have information about shipping eggs Fed Ex?

 

[warbirds]

You're the 2nd person to tell me that they are slow in hatching....maybe I need to just leave them in there a day or two more. My air cells are great size at lockdown...so I know that's not the problem. I think I'll just start leaving them in a day or two longer and see if that does the trick! Thanks!

Isbars are like Marans....................the green pigment is on the OUTSIDE of the egg, applied by the hen AFTER the egg has formed and is on its way out. The amount of time the egg is in the hen determines the amount of pigment applied.

My Isbar eggs hatch between 22-25 days, just like Marans. The darker ones taking longer than the lighter ones. Some that end up with little to no pigment (those that look more towards the blue spectrum, usually laid by pullets/inferior hens) will hatch on day 21, but most are within the 22-24 day spectrum, with the occasional straggler to day 25. I try to set hatches so that Isbar and Marans eggs are together for the same humidity levels at hatch as well as the same amount of hatch time.

Doc

 

[warbirds]

This pic is of one of my favorite splash hens - more of a harlequin pattern than a splash - and she produces a lot of kids that look just like her.
She wanted to make sure when I was collecting that I understood this was _her_ egg.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Isbars are like Marans....................the green pigment is on the OUTSIDE of the egg, applied by the hen AFTER the egg has formed and is on its way out. The amount of time the egg is in the hen determines the amount of pigment applied.

My Isbar eggs hatch between 22-25 days, just like Marans. The darker ones taking longer than the lighter ones. Some that end up with little to no pigment (those that look more towards the blue spectrum, usually laid by pullets/inferior hens) will hatch on day 21, but most are within the 22-24 day spectrum, with the occasional straggler to day 25. I try to set hatches so that Isbar and Marans eggs are together for the same humidity levels at hatch as well as the same amount of hatch time.

Doc

Interesting. I have not had that experience with our Marans. They hatch pretty much in 21 days. GQF 1266 (20 years old probably) that holds 99.5 degrees like a champ. The Marans chicks don't seem to have any trouble getting out. Our eggs average #5-6 on the Marans egg chart for color. I have some near-7 eggs in now.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

What is hysterical is the notion of getting olive eggs out of a breed that already lays olive eggs!!!!   


I don't know why a person would want to make them more green...............the more outside pigment, the harder time the chick has getting out of the shell, just like the Marans chicks have issues getting out of a really dark egg. Isbar chicks have enough trouble getting out of the lighter green eggs.

Maybe instead of laughing I should be sad? Are there that many of you on this thread not getting green eggs out of your Isbars?

To me at least, green and olive are not the same. In fact when we created a standard for cream legbars in the us we allowed blue and green but specifically omitted the olive eggs allowed in the UK. Olive eggs are an indicator of brown egg genes and we want to keep the us cream leg bar lines as pure as possible. My Isbar eggs are definitely green. By crossing them with a marsns it would deepen it to a unique dark olive. I see the attraction in that.

Isbars are like Marans....................the green pigment is on the OUTSIDE of the egg, applied by the hen AFTER the egg has formed and is on its way out.  The amount of time the egg is in the hen determines the amount of pigment applied.

My Isbar eggs hatch between 22-25 days, just like Marans.  The darker ones taking longer than the lighter ones.  Some that end up with little to no pigment (those that look more towards the blue spectrum, usually laid by pullets/inferior hens) will hatch on day 21, but most are within the 22-24 day spectrum, with the occasional straggler to day 25.  I try to set hatches so that Isbar and Marans eggs are together for the same humidity levels at hatch as well as the same amount of hatch time.

Doc

X2. I set all my breeds together, Marans included. My Marans are 7-8 on the Marans scale. They are not the first to hatch but almost always done before my ibars start hatching. EEs are first always, then cream leg bar and Ameraucanas, in marsns, and then is bars. I do get a slightly lower hatch rate on my Marans (I'm talking fully formed chicks that fail to pip) but not on my isbars, they are fantastic hatchers and I rarely lose one during hatch.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

To me at least, green and olive are not the same. In fact when we created a standard for cream legbars in the us we allowed blue and green but specifically omitted the olive eggs allowed in the UK. Olive eggs are an indicator of brown egg genes and we want to keep the us cream leg bar lines as pure as possible. My Isbar eggs are definitely green. By crossing them with a marsns it would deepen it to a unique dark olive. I see the attraction in that.
X2. I set all my breeds together, Marans included. My Marans are 7-8 on the Marans scale. They are not the first to hatch but almost always done before my ibars start hatching. EEs are first always, then cream leg bar and Ameraucanas, in marsns, and then is bars. I do get a slightly lower hatch rate on my Marans (I'm talking fully formed chicks that fail to pip) but not on my isbars, they are fantastic hatchers and I rarely lose one during hatch.

I had a "bad" hatch last time with the Marans...<50% hatch though there were many fully formed that failed to pip and some with internal pips that drowned. That was a humidity issue (30% RH then 65% RH at lockdown). Last hatch 100% by running dry (natural RH 20-24%) until 65% at lockdown. Maybe this information can help someone else?

 

[lawatt]

What is hysterical is the notion of getting olive eggs out of a breed that already lays olive eggs!!!!

I don't know why a person would want to make them more green...............the more outside pigment, the harder time the chick has getting out of the shell, just like the Marans chicks have issues getting out of a really dark egg. Isbar chicks have enough trouble getting out of the lighter green eggs.

Maybe instead of laughing I should be sad? Are there that many of you on this thread not getting green eggs out of your Isbars?

for the record, i didn't "make" the isbar/marans crosses, i picked them up as pullets from a friend because they are pretty birds -- that was before i decided to focus on isbars as a breed. i actually like the lighter green eggs better than the olive, but these two are lovely birds, and i enjoy having them around -- there's no larger aim or goal to hatch their offspring or breed them back into isbars or etc.

but the olive color is a MUCH different green than regular isbar green.

also fascinating to read about the late hatches with isbars -- perhaps i did not give some of my eggs enough time before presuming they weren't hatching? i think i only waited til day 23, since the first one hatched on day 20... will be more patient next time.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Does anyone have information about shipping eggs Fed Ex?

Fed Ex answer: In the case of late delivery, they will only cover the cost of the shipping. In any case the insurance will NOT cover eggs for damage. So, we're pretty much back to USPS policies except they will pay for the cost of the shipping charge if the package does not arrive in time.