Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[IowaBlueCurt]

I really like this little chick. Iowa Blue chicks have such character and personality, not only in action but in type as well. Such a proud little thing with (as Kari coined it) it's signature tail!!!! To which I completely agree, like the signature at the end of a letter, it makes quite a statement....... Emily, if you can tag this one and follow up with pics every month or so, I'd be really curious to see how this one turns out.

Emily got her chicks from Denny Johnston in Des Moines and he got his SP from Glenn Drowns. This is what I remember my old birds from Glenn Drowns looking like, which is quite different from what I recieved from him this year. I didn't get any brown mottled ones from him this time, only some birchen, solid chocolate, and two pheasant colored chicks. Notice the heads on these SP from Glenns older stock......they are more of a rust color than the SP we're hatching out of Kari's line. Not that it is good or bad, just line differences. And the slight line differences is what is good. We need more breeders to develop their own lines, and if we do this, in a few years we will be able to look at a chick or adult and know just which breeder they came from.

 

[ottbjumper06]

I really like this little chick. Iowa Blue chicks have such character and personality, not only in action but in type as well. Such a proud little thing with (as Kari coined it) it's signature tail!!!! To which I completely agree, like the signature at the end of a letter, it makes quite a statement....... Emily, if you can tag this one and follow up with pics every month or so, I'd be really curious to see how this one turns out. Emily got her chicks from Denny Johnston in Des Moines and he got his SP from Glenn Drowns. This is what I remember my old birds from Glenn Drowns looking like, which is quite different from what I recieved from him this year. I didn't get any brown mottled ones from him this time, only some birchen, solid chocolate, and two pheasant colored chicks. Notice the heads on these SP from Glenns older stock......they are more of a rust color than the SP we're hatching out of Kari's line. Not that it is good or bad, just line differences. And the slight line differences is what is good. We need more breeders to develop their own lines, and if we do this, in a few years we will be able to look at a chick or adult and know just which breeder they came from.

I will find him and mark him Curt! I am interested to see how soon I can sex them.

 

[Hurley]

Found a nice little free forum software package to add to the Iowa Blue Chicken Club website. Had a request for a place to post ads for birds people are wanting, to help connect. (Kind of like a reverse Breeder's directory...a Buyer's directory? LOL)

Anyway, I opened the forum and it links from the IBCC, should be open to everyone to use. Let me know if there are any problems. I just started tinkering, so will expand it/change it as needed. I haven't even looked up all the features available yet.

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

Thanks Connie! I think that is a great idea.

Yesterday when I got home there was a letter from the Winneshiek Historical Society and in it was a couple of newspaper clippings. They are difficult to read so I re-typed the articles. I will send the originals to Connie for inclusion in our Historical Archives, but here are the re-typed articles. Some of it reads kind of funny, but it was transcripted exactly as the articles were typed. Most of the information we already know and as far as the article showcasing a New Chicken Breed, I think it has ties to the article published in the Gazette on Feb. 2, 1955.

One thing about history that can be challenging is when you get contradicting stories. Here is but another example. The first article shares that John Logsdon created the Iowa Blue over a 25 year process, starting in 1920. This would put the developmental stages from 1920-1945. However, other accounts state that the breed was sold in local hatcheries from 1930 onward........so we have a bit of a discrepency, lost to time I'm afraid.

Another such discrepency which I think we can finally resolve is a small one. John's last name was spelled two different ways by different sources. Logston and Logsdon. It now appears, based on John's obituary, that his last name was spelled with a D and not a T and so should read Logsdon. Anyway, here are the articles. The obituary mentions the Iowa Blue in the last paragraph.

New Breed of Chicken Developed By John Logsdon North of Decorah

New Iowa Blue Breed Has Heavy Breast, Dark Legs, and Lays Brown Eggs

​

A new breed of chickens has been developed over a period of 25 years by John Logsdon, who lives eight miles north of Decorah on Highway 57.

The breed has been named the Iowa Blue because of its distinctive coloring and also to give the state of Iowa a chicken of its own.

The feathers are basically white but are marked with a bluish gray marking that closely resembles the markings of a pheasant hen. Generally, the birds heads show more of the white, while the feathers toward the tail bear darker markings.
The Iowa Blue is a heay breed, cockerels reaching a weight of seven to eight poinds while the mature cocks reach nine to ten pounds. Pullets weigh six to six and a half pounds while the old hens weigh seven to seven and a half pounds.

Started 25 Years Ago
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The breed is the result of work begun by Logsdon of Canoe Township 25 years ago. The first year he mated a Chinese pheasant cock with a Black Minorca hen and Rhode Island hen. He raised only eight birds from those matings – four pullets and four roosters.
The next year he mated what he regarded as the best rooster with the four hens and continued in that manner, always keeping the roosters as long as possible and mating them with the previous year's pullets.

Logsdon picked the Black Minorca to start because that breed lays the largest eggs of any breed and the Rhode Island Red because it was, in his opinion, the leading breed of its type. The cock pheasant was chosen because of its hardiness and ability to stand both cold and heat.

Characteristics of the Iowa Blue include an extra large breast, dark legs, a brown egg and extra hardiness and resistance to disease. The baby chicks when first hatched were varied in color from red or brown to grey, dark blue or smoky blue, but when they feather out they are all alike.
Last year, Logsdon sold all the eggs from his newly developed breed of chicken to W.C. Fenton of Strawberry Point, Iowa. Fenton now has three flocks in addition to the one at Strawberry Point.
Fenton says that Leghorn hens mated to Iowa Blue roosters produce a pullet that will lay a large white egg, and he expects to hatch some such crosses as well as some Iowa Blue – White Rock crosses.

Bright Future
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He believes the breed has a bright future because of the large eggs produced, it's suitability for producing capons or heavy springs, and its extreme hardiness and disease resistance.
While it is still so new that egg production records are few, Fenton says his four laying flocks have demonstrated during the past fall and winter that they will lay as many eggs as any heavy breed.

Decorah Public Opinion – February 28, 1955

LAST RIGHTS FOR JOHN LOGSDON HELD ON SUNDAY
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Funeral services for John Logsdon, 75, of Decorah, were held Sunday at Steine Funeral Home. Burial was in Phelps Cemetery.
Mr. Logsdon, a former farmer, died Friday, July 22, at Smith Memorial Hospital. He had been ill four years.
The Decorah Odd Fellows Lodge conducted the services. He was a member of that lodge. Pallbearers were George Williams, Louis Underbakke, Art Morrison, Ray Bucknell, Art Gaffney, and Henry Stille.
Organist was Mrs. Orville Running, and soloist was Mrs. George Rowland. On the floral committee were Margo Logsdon, Kay Frances Moore and Gloria Goltz.

Survivors
​

Survivors include his wife, one son, John H. of Decorah, and five daughters, Mrs. Robert (Daisy) Moore of Decorah, Donnafred Logsdon of Hollywood, Calif., Maxine Logsdon of San Juan Puerto Rico, Nancy Logsdon of Decorah, and Mrs. Raymond (Margaret) Schryber of Warren, Ohio.
Other survivors include 10 grandchildren, one great grandchild, and one brother, Lloyd Logsdon of Decorah.
One brother and one sister preceded him in death.
Mr. Logsdon was born Sept. 27, 1884, in Winneshiek County, the son of the late John H. and Mrs. Logsdon. He lived for a short time in Allamakee County and the rest of his life in Winneshiek County.
He attended the rural schools in the area and Breckenridge.
On Aug. 8, 1905 he was married to the former Mae Moe. On March 23, 1938 he was married to the former Nettle Reed.

Prominent Man
​

Mr. Logsdon was one of the founders and served for a time as president of the American Milking Shorthorn Breeders Association. He was the organizer of the American Dexter Cattle Association and served for many years as president of that association.
At the time of his death he was chairman of the board of directors of that association.
He originated a breed of chickens which is nationally known as Iowa Blue. He was associated with his brother, Lloyd, in farming and livestock breeding.

Decorah Public Opinion – July 25, 1960

​

 

[Jake Levi]

Thanks Curt, this is a great piece of history.

Real history, not fanciful stories.

 

[Hurley]

Very nice. Will get the information updated with the correct spelling and add in the new info.

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

You're the best Connie!!!! Thanks.

 

[Hurley]

Editing your account currently, making the table of contents autoupdating, etc.

Did you want to add in this newest info to the "final version" that will get posted to the site?
Do you mind if I change out the photos from me for some better ones?

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

Eric just sent me an email asking if these additional accounts of the pheasant sire could be considered proof positive as the parentage of the Iowa Blue. I think this is a great question and I have copied below the answer that I shared with him, just in case anyone else was wondering the same thing............


Well, I don't think just yet. W.C. Fenton shared that breed geneology in an article on Feb 2. 1955 and this second article arrived in the Decorah Public Opinion on Feb 28, 1955 which leads me to believe that the sources were the same. The Daily Reporter was written on Feb 22, 1955 and again shares similiar information. The only way I see a "proff positive" coming about, is to have the birds genetically tested. I have seen two pheasant x chicken crosses that were produced by a neighbor, and the pullet when bred to a chicken cock produced offspring. They were highly unusal as half pheasant crosses, but when they became quarter pheasant, they began to resemble quite closely the chicken. Surprizing really. I also use to raise pheasants and have had a pheasant cock actively breed with a couple of my hens (and ended up prefering them to his own species), but never set the eggs to see............
So while many are quite speculative about this "story" I am not so quick to dismiss it just yet. I have as an action item on my list to connect with Texas A&M as they do genetic testing for breed associations and see what that process would look like/cost.........

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

I would love to have the newest articles added to the document Connie. And feel free to add/change the photos as you see fit. I really want this document to include all our presently known information about the breed, and have it in one location that can be printed off and easily read. I also want to have pictures that will really showcase the best we have in our present birds. So, add in those pictures that you feel will present the breed as best as possible visually!!!

So, while the bulk of the document if complete.......I plan on keeping it updated as new information becomes available. Once you have it all updated, send me a copy!

And for everyone else out there. I am very excited to share that I have spent the past few months writting a document called the History and Characteristics of the Iowa Blue. This document is the most comprehensive work ever completed on the Iowa Blue and at the present is 49 pages long. So there is some really great reading in there. After Connie adds in the new information, and adds some updated pictures, this document will be made available on the club website for all to view. A lot of hours and investigative work have gone into this project, and I am so pleased to finally make all this information available in one easy to locate spot! I hope you all will enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writting it. And a special thanks goes out to Connie who is in the process of making it look more professional! She's a wiz at this stuff. And thanks to the breeders who where willing to share their pictures!