I would like to visit about blue chickens

[gimmie birdies]

Hi I just got some free "blue" pullets, they are most likely maran mix.one blue and one splash. They have dark colored maran eyes, they are smaller than my splash maran I have. I don't care about pure this is just for me and fun and I wanted to visit with other people who have blues that want to visit about blue chickens. I also have a blue andelusian roo, and a blue americana roo. Spring is a ways off but I am excited to see what happens.

 

[donrae]

Do you have pictures?

I somehow hatched out a blue barred pullet this spring--I've been thinking about what roo to put her under. I don't have any blue roosters, only black barred right now. I've been thinking about getting a blue based Easter egger guy this spring, I love the blue color and the blue or green eggs!

Here's a pic of my girl--she's not nice and fluffy like your birds probably are. She's (I think) got some leghorn and Easter egger in her, really not sure what else

 

[gimmie birdies]

try a black copper maran or any black with a purple sheen you can find. good luck. I just got my birdies so no pics yet.

 

[gimmie birdies]

this hen is my blue splash maran, guess what I figured out? the blue chickens I adopted are laying fertile eggs. I didn't even think about that till now, but my roosters would not have been the ones. so it will still be a mystery what the chickens will look like.. I have a broody and a heated coop so I will try it that way this time.

 

[Mrs. K]

hmmmm, I am rethinking my whole chicken flock. I got Delawares and Dominiques, thinking of crossing them, hoping to get a darker feather pattern with a bit more meat.... but another thread, does not make this sound promising. I need something that can blend into the vegetation and not be so visible to predators. Had an Easter egger, but the line died out..... may back that route.

Once saw a hybrid on here, called a bluebell...... very pretty. So many ideas, long time till spring.

Mrs K

 

[gimmie birdies]

I just read this in a poultry mag-
1. cross blue to blue will produce 50%blue 25%black 25%splash
2. cross blue to black will produce 50% black, 50% blue.
3. cross black to splash will produce 100% blue-
4. Splash to splash 100% splash.

It goes on to say if you breed splash to black w/gold hackles you will get a chicken with a greenish sheen, if you want to not have any brassy coloring in your chicken breed with a purple black chicken. (australorp?)

 

[donrae]

I was just thinking to try to get some barred bantam cochin hens this spring, and put them under a splash silkie rooster. That should give me blue sex link chicks!

 

[donrae]

Mrs K--wouldn't the partridge/quail colored breeds be best for blending? Welsummers, colors like that? IDK exactly what color a Wellie is called.......

 

[gimmie birdies]

I would stay away from the barred- I put a barred roo on my splash maran and got barred chickens.

 

[donrae]

I would stay away from the barred- I put a barred roo on my splash maran and got barred chickens.

Yeah, a barred rooster will have all barred offspring, no matter what hen you put under him. but a barred hen will only give barring to her male offspring, not to her female. It's how they breed black sex links.