Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[bigmrg74]

3 weeks old now, how soon should I be able to sex them??

 

[Candy442]

3 weeks old now, how soon should I be able to sex them??

We compare the combs to the others. The combs that are growing faster usually means boys. They also get pink/red much faster.

 

[karimw]

3 weeks old now, how soon should I be able to sex them??

It looks like a pullet sitting on your hand, but I can't see the others well enough. Long wing feathers at this age usually indicate pullets. bigger pink combs and stubby wings should identify cockerels. They look pretty spoiled

 

[Rochelesmit]

Roo, right? 6 weeks. Looks like my hunch on the slow feathering was right. Oh well, no Iowa blues for me.

 

[bigmrg74]

It looks like a pullet sitting on your hand, but I can't see the others well enough. Long wing feathers at this age usually indicate pullets. bigger pink combs and stubby wings should identify cockerels. They look pretty spoiled

They act like they're going to die whenever I reach in to pick them up, but once I got ahold of them they calm right down.

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

Your are right! This one's a young cockerel. The second picture you posted of him running is so very typical of how they look when they run. They take such large steps. Not high steps like birds who have hock issues (you see this in some of the show lines of Rocks in particular), but just long steps when they run. I find it quite comical myself.

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

bigmrg74,

You hit the nail on the head with your comment about them acting like you're going to kill them everytime you reach in their pen, but then they are calm and inquisitive once you've got them in your hands.....or on your shoulders.........

This too is a very distinctive personality trait of this breed. They remind me of Praying Mantis in this way as they do the same thing. As they get older they'll tend to keep this trait. They do tame down a little more. Especially if you have food, but if you think for one moment that after you've been feeding them grain out of your hand for the past 15 minutes that you're going to reach out to touch them......that's a huge no no! Hahaha. They can touch you, but you can't touch them. Come to think of it, cats are kind of like that too........

I once heard a joke about dogs and cats. It goes something like this;

The dog looked to his owner and said, " You must be a god, because you pet me, and feed me, and give me this nice home to live in.". The cat looked at his owner and said, " I must be a god, because you pet me, and feed me, and give me this nice home to live in."..... enough said right?

Iowa Blues definitely have a tendency to fall into the latter camp with the cats on this one!

 

[bigmrg74]

bigmrg74,

You hit the nail on the head with your comment about them acting like you're going to kill them everytime you reach in their pen, but then they are calm and inquisitive once you've got them in your hands.....or on your shoulders.........

This too is a very distinctive personality trait of this breed. They remind me of Praying Mantis in this way as they do the same thing. As they get older they'll tend to keep this trait. They do tame down a little more. Especially if you have food, but if you think for one moment that after you've been feeding them grain out of your hand for the past 15 minutes that you're going to reach out to touch them......that's a huge no no! Hahaha. They can touch you, but you can't touch them. Come to think of it, cats are kind of like that too........

I once heard a joke about dogs and cats. It goes something like this;

The dog looked to his owner and said, " You must be a god, because you pet me, and feed me, and give me this nice home to live in.". The cat looked at his owner and said, " I must be a god, because you pet me, and feed me, and give me this nice home to live in."..... enough said right?

Iowa Blues definitely have a tendency to fall into the latter camp with the cats on this one!

as long as they listen to my little dog when its time to round them all up when free range time is over. Had my morning routine kinda interrupted this morning, and I didn't realize how late it was when I let my 1 year old girls out. usually I let em out for about an hour or so, and then they're ready to go back into their tractor. Belle and me had a heck of a time trying to round them brats back up so I could get to work on time today.

 

[Candy442]

Our entire flock of Iowa's will congregate near the run door but JB watches for me to come out of the house to let them in the coop. When he sees me he makes a noise and all the girls run behind the pole barn where their coop entrance is... As much as I love that miniature sheep dog our Iowa's wait patiently for us to open the door so they can get to sleep for the night

 

[bigmrg74]

Our entire flock of Iowa's will congregate near the run door but JB watches for me to come out of the house to let them in the coop. When he sees me he makes a noise and all the girls run behind the pole barn where their coop entrance is... As much as I love that miniature sheep dog our Iowa's wait patiently for us to open the door so they can get to sleep for the night

Mini sheep dog?? I hope he's bigger than my little herding dog.