- Jan 21, 2013
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Not a goofy question at all. The original Iowa Blue was a silver penciled bird. They differed from say, a silver penciled rock in that the silver penciled lacing (on the hen) started on the breast and blended into a stippled pattern as the pattern progressed to the tail. This stippling did two things on the hen. First it disorganized the black, gray, and white markings on the feather, and second the fluff on her backside turned a steel gray color. From a distance (20 yards ish) the hens look every bit a blue hen with a white head, one only realizes that they aren't a blue hen when they get close to the bird. The other unique feature to the breed is that instead of a green sheen on the fleathers (particularly the greater sickles, lesser sickels, and wing bow on the male) there is a beautiful teal-blue to cobalt blue sheen. Some of that distinct sheen has been lost in our current population, but we're seeing some fantastic developments in this area with this year's young birds. All of my young birds have a teal-blue sheen and I'm hoping with continued selection my birds will possess the coveted cobalt-blue sheen in short order.
The birchen Iowa Blues came on the seen decades after the silver penciled variety was created. The breed club recognized both varieties with a preferrence on the silver penciled as it was the original. When we put forth a standard for the silver penciled, we decided to establish a standard for the birchen as well. Our standard calls for the birchen variety to exhibit the blue sheen as well. Obviously, the birchen hens will not look blue from a distance.
Hope that answers a few questions! If you have any more, give a shout out.
The birchen Iowa Blues came on the seen decades after the silver penciled variety was created. The breed club recognized both varieties with a preferrence on the silver penciled as it was the original. When we put forth a standard for the silver penciled, we decided to establish a standard for the birchen as well. Our standard calls for the birchen variety to exhibit the blue sheen as well. Obviously, the birchen hens will not look blue from a distance.
Hope that answers a few questions! If you have any more, give a shout out.