Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[bekkanblue]

The EE is mainly black, with some green and red thrown in on his tail. And a comb that droops over to one side so he looks French. : ) I'll try and take a picture of him in the morning. Just need to see more purebred hatchlings to get used to telling the difference! Which is hard when I keep loading up my two little bators with Jaerhon eggs. Because those birds ARE in a breeding pen.

And now there's this snow storm getting in my way. : P

 

[karimw]

Of course it's hard to know, but the gene the silver Iowa blues carry is recessive to most of the other base alleles. Likely you will get black chicks out of your EE crossed with silver.

 

[bekkanblue]

That's interesting to know! This chick is definitely not black, just dusty gray/brown whereas the other one is a clearer brown. They have similar markings. It'll be interesting to see it grow up then! It's a brute of a chick, but it was the first one to hatch and the brown was the last, with the NJs clustered between.

I need a bigger incubator. : ) Or a few of them!!

 

[bekkanblue]

OK, got another question. : ) I've got 6 pullets who are roughly 8 months old. 2 roos the same age. It occurred to me that maybe I don't need to put them in breeding pens just yet, that I should wait until the pullets are a year old before I tried to start hatching IABs seriously. Is that a better plan than the 'they're laying MUST breed/hatch NOW!' mentality? Some of their eggs are really nice in size/shape, some not-so-much. Thinking I might want to see if I can tell if certain pullets are laying ugly eggs and keep an eye on them. I'm not looking for a reason to procrastinate on the breeding pens, really I'm not. But if it's a valid reason I'll take it!

Oh, Curt and Kari, I'm trying to get pictures of them! They're not cooperating. And I'm having to use the camera on my phone because I can't find my digital cameras download cable. <sigh> But I'm trying !!! : ) Oh, and Roo1 had to pick a fight with the Australorp roo who got out of his pen... Roo1 won but he's not looking quite his best right now. Dumb boys.

 

[karimw]

Little eggs hatch little chicks, but the do tend to grow

No, I hatch a lot of pullet eggs, but not the funky looking ones.

 

[Rochelesmit]

Are Iowa Blues known to be slow feathering? I ordered one Iowa Blue pullet in my order, and am concerned that she's not feathering out like my other chicks that are the same age. They are 11 days old today and the rest of them have full little wings and tails. She's always been the smallest chick, but my past experience with other breeds is that the males keep those short stubby wings and fuzzy butts much longer than females.

Thanks!

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

Traditionally Iowa Blues are fast feathering birds, and hicks hatched from the traditional lines have a fast feather growth.

In my experience and in the experience of many others, birds obtained through the various hatcheries often express the slow feathering. So, it really depends on where stock is obtained as to the speed of feathering.

Speaking from a club standpoint, we encourage breeders to breed away from slow feathering mainly because-
1) Traditionally the breed had fast feather growth
2) We want our hens who hatch out chicks to be able to raise those chicks up. When the grass is full of dew and the hens are running around with their chicks, the faster the chicks grow feathers the easier it is to keep them alive. During the first week of life the hen will not move her chicks too much, but by the end of the first couple of weeks, she's moving them all over the yard/pasture. If they feather slow, then when she starts to get active in moving the chicks, they'll get wet from the dew, chill, and die pretty fast. In order to prevent this, we need to have our chicks with some decent feather growth by the end of a couple of weeks. Mind you, they won't be fully feathered, but their wings should be long, their tail feathers long, and some feathers starting on their breasts and shoulders. This makes a drastic difference in the chicks survivability.

I haven't experienced the longer feathers female/shorter feathers male within the traditional Iowa Blue lines. I have definitely experienced this with many other breeds, but not here. I did notice this trait to some extent in the commercial or hatchery lines, though not always a reliable indicator of sex. While most of the males grew feathers slower, a few females would too. And vice versa. Others will need to chime in and share their experiences concerning this.

Hope this helps answer some questions.

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

Rebecca,

To answer your question about when to set up breeding pens. Don't feel rushed. In January of 2013 when there were less than 10 Silver Iowa Blues in the Nation, yes, I would have advised you to get them set up and hatch everything you can and then disperse the birds to as many people interested as possible. Today only 2 short years later, due to the club membership, we have a solid and stable breeding group of birds and our situation is drastically less dangerous than it was back then. Take some time, study the birds, and their eggs, and set them up when you're ready!

Generally, most will wait until the hens are 8-10 months old to start hatching. Some hatch earlier (I'm one of these people as I like to get my next generation going), and some hatch much later. It's really up to you and your preference.

 

[karimw]

I actually do have pretty good luck sexing chicks from feathers in the first week or so, though there are a few cockerels that reveal themselves late. I tend to reduce heat on my chicks pretty quickly too. I found if they are kept too warm, they don't seem to feather out as quickly. I rarely see them huddled for warmth.

 

[ottbjumper06]

I guess I've never payed close attention to how my chicks feather out. That would be an interesting project to do!

I set 30 IB eggs on 3-1. We've been going out to check the coop for eggs every 45 minutes or less and sometimes we still get cold eggs. Fingers crossed for a decent hatch rate