How do you get the mud (brown) out of your blues?

[MissPrissy]

Darker?

I don't think I have ever seen a good blue orp roo that was a lighter color.

If you have a photo of a light one please post it.

 

[speckledhen]

Darker than you want? Suede is what I'd call a medium shade of blue. Sometimes he throws darker and sometimes lighter kiddos.

 

[BamaChicken]

Here is Charlie who is now 5 months old. He has been a slow developer but I think he is really turning out nice. He will have a nice dark saddle with very good lacing on the under blue. I will use him to improve my blues.

Charlie has great eye color and short legs. He is not crowing yet. His comb is just beginning to turn red.
Here is my old pet who stays with me if I am outside. Blue Boy

 

[speckledhen]

The huge rooster in that last picture is the sire of my Suede. They look like twins, that always amazes me. And my Suede is a big pet, too. Julie thank you for my Suede. I adore that boy.

 

[iajewel]

the larger photo of the blue roo has the same kind of brown/red Im talking about with the others.. Its common in the blues. I think many are working to breed it out.

 

[BamaChicken]

Your Welcome. My DH adores Blue Boy. He doesn't want to see me lock him in a smaller pen cause he thinks he will miss his freedom of ruling the yard.

 

[speckledhen]

iajewel, I dont see what you're talking about in any of the pics posted. Are these birds just brassy from sun exposure? That happens with blues. Suede gets brassy right before the molt when the feathers are old and he's been out in the sunshine for months.

 

[MissPrissy]

That is what I was thinking, Cyn. the sun bleaches those blackish feathers after a year outside. They molt and get lovely dark new ones. You know how brassy and shiney even my other colored orps are.

 

[greenthumb89]

thats the only brown red i can see in the picture and when i asked a friend about her blue cochin she said it was age and sun exposure and that when he molts he will look good again so that may be the brown your trying to breed out and if so you can just keep them inside and you wont get it...

 

[speckledhen]

I bet that's what it is. Suede was really brassy before his molt. That pic is before he got brassy, though. Blues are very sensitive to sun exposure, which is why most show blues are kept out of direct sunlight. So, that cannot be bred out. They just have to stay under cover.