Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[IowaBlueCurt]

Candy,

That little patch of medium brown is the autosomal red coming through. Still use him if he's all you got. You should be able to still hatch out some young that are clean. The key is to hatch as many as possible so you have more choice in the clean birds you want to keep back for breeding.

 

[Candy442]

Candy,

That little patch of medium brown is the autosomal red coming through. Still use him if he's all you got. You should be able to still hatch out some young that are clean. The key is to hatch as many as possible so you have more choice in the clean birds you want to keep back for breeding.

I noticed it a couple of months ago, it is difficult to spot under his saddle feathers. Is he still considered an SP with that red in him? This is where I get confused.

 

[karimw]

I noticed it a couple of months ago, it is difficult to spot under his saddle feathers. Is he still considered an SP with that red in him? This is where I get confused.

Yes, any of the varieties can have the Ar+ (autosomal red) We are trying hard to get rid of it! It is probably not the biggest problem though, so we will use them if we have to.

For example I'll use my Johnston line rooster with red for a few clutches since he has superior size and tail angle. Then I'll breed those pullets back to my young rooster who is pure for Silver(no gold in his saddle) and no Ar+ showing.

 

[Candy442]

Kari,

Gandalf is quite fond of my Delaware Icee too Do you have any Iowa Wares or DelaBlues in your flock?

 

[ottbjumper06]

Just bopping in here real quick. What is all of your roon ratios? I have a 1:5 currently and am not getting the best fertility. Should I take one out and try 1:4? He is a younger cockerel...

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

Did his comb get frostbit at all? Sometimes that will bring fertility to a halt so I'm told. Also, I've had a couple of males that were real "posty" in their legs. Meaning that they stand pretty tall and almost look like a runner duck at times in how they hold their body. They also step real high with their feet when they walk. I was reading in a book from the 1920's that males who exhibit these traits have weak hocks and fertility will always be low in them. I had a cockerel that I was planning on using for breeding, but noticed this trait in him and decided not to use him. Sure glad I did now........

 

[karimw]

I would say Rex walks like that a little bit, never had a problem with his fertility He isn't as tall as a runner duck though.

I would wonder more about how cold the eggs are getting. My first batch I set had very poor development, the second was great and the third bad again. I wasn't able to collect early enough to keep them from getting cold in sub zero temps.

I don't think cutting down the number of hens would make a difference, a young boy should be able to handle it better than an older one. I usually keep 8-10 hens with 1 roo and they seem to do fine unless there are older hens in there that won't let them do their job. Have they been under lights? That would make a difference too. I also give mine a Flock Block so they area getting extra nutrients as well.

 

[karimw]

Kari,

Gandalf is quite fond of my Delaware Icee too Do you have any Iowa Wares or DelaBlues in your flock?

I have a Delaware rooster, brother to yours I believe

He is a lovely sweet boy and I do intend to use him this year as a test cross. I want to see what effect his columbian gene will have.

 

[Candy442]

I have a Delaware rooster, brother to yours I believe

He is a lovely sweet boy and I do intend to use him this year as a test cross. I want to see what effect his columbian gene will have.

We really LOVE Icee the delaware! So marvelous with personality. She has turned out so fantastic and Gandalf really likes her. She helps him when he does his "dance" which is all of 2 seconds LOL...Sweetie also helps and is patient with him. The two Birchens seem to give him a difficult time, they cause him to fall off a lot.

My big white Chantecler really dislikes him though. She runs and he always tries to hold on to her neck feathers to keep her still. He always gets a feather in his mouth

..she is on the EE roo's girlfriend list. I am hoping to use the smaller coop for broody pen, but may have to split them just to make sure the eggs really are IaB crosses.

I am concerned because Gandalf also high steps, but is not a post runner at all...He sure is persistent in trying though. I have yet to see a "bullseye" in any of the eggs lately. I was seeing them from the EE roo's gals before the flocks were combined this winter. The EE is very docile right now and he is a few months older than Gandalf.

I will have to see how they fared with frostbite though and watch what happens with Gandalf's persistent behavior. I hope none of them have frostbite. The tips are lighter, but I do not see any black on the combs/wattles in spite of sub zero night temps.

We can compare notes Kari. Your rooster over IAB pullets and my IAB rooster over Delaware. I think the chicks will have what I call the "donald duck butt"

. Icee has the biggest fluff of all my pullets!

 

[Hurley]

Despite my older roosters taking on some significant frost bite damage to the combs and despite often coming home to some of the eggs cracked and frozen, the incubator is cooking with numbers getting better and better. From the really bad cold snap, I've got 6 eggs set to go into lockdown of 18, but the second batch has about 50% developing, and the most recent set shows veining in 20 (with only 4 tossed out). I'm tickled with the numbers, considering my home is under a glacier and this has been an awful winter so far.

The group is a combination of all the older hens with my two older SP cockerels, so no selection on these eggs, but will get some chicks on the ground to raise for a while and the rest I can sell off. Got some Iowacanas cooking, too.

Now I just need it to thaw so I can ready the breeding pens and actually get to work on the selective breeding for this season! It's going to be a while....a long while from the looks of it.

Hope you all are staying warm! Better get out and get those spoiled chickens their mealies. Love that Farm and Fleet is now carrying bags of them in the bird feeding section at a more reasonable price. My girls are in heaven and about take my hand off when I walk up with the bag.