Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[BlackBrookPoultry]

My original intent was to rehome him. I had him on Craigslist for about 6 weeks with no replies and I even tried giving him away! He is such a nice and pretty rooster that I've decided to keep him. I guess maybe I should find some hens and breed him. He's 6 months old and he matured at a much faster rate than my orps.

 

[Jake Levi]

He is a beauty for sure, keeping him is best.

SandHill Preservation Center has the best ones I have seen so far, Ideal only has roos available this year, but I like Sandhills the best .

I am getting my chicks in early June from the endof May hatching.

 

[Jake Levi]

Here is a link to Sand Hill Preservation Center chickens, links to other parts too, scroll down this to the Iowa Blue section,

they are just a couple with a full plate so if you email til they can respond, its a busy season right now for them,

they have some excellent other heritage lines too.

http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/chickens.html


jake

 

[cardigan99]

I've got an order in at Sand Hill as well for 15 Iowa Blues. Has anyone seen a description of body type?

 

[Hurley]

I don't have a reference for that answer, the only mention I recall finding states:

"Iowa Blues are one of the more striking New Heritage breeds, resembling Grey Junglefowl in carriage and voice with the bearing and production traits of an old heritage breed like the Black Java."


Regarding carriage of the Grey Junglefowl I couldn't find listed in a quick search, but did find a decent photo:

Grey Junglefowl Voice described as: loud calls of Ku-kayak-kyuk-kyuk


In regards to the Java - from the standards of perfection, description of the body of a Java:
Neck - medium length, arched, Back - broad its entire length, long, sligh decline to a concave sweep near tail, wings - rather large, well-folded, carried without drooping, breast - broad, full, deep, body - long, deep, broad, legs - set well apart, straight when viewed from the front, lower-thighs - medium length, large, shanks - medium length, stout in bone, toes - medium length straight, well-spread, 4 toes.

Production qualities of the Java listed as - Javas are a general purpose fowl for the production of meat and eggs

 

[Jake Levi]

I read somewhere about the Java maybe being a parent breed along the way but cant find it, in fact so far amnot finding much of any origin other then the basics on wikipedia, I think everyone reposts that when writing about the Iowa Blues. I doubt any recent input from the Jungle Fowl, other then as an ancestor of the Java.

I'd sure like to see any other links or info to them on the breed.

 

[Hurley]

I don't think anyone has said they arise from junglefowl, just that they have similar carriage and tone of voice.

The origins appear to be a mystery, I have yet to find anything other than the legend of the leghorn broody with the pheasant colored chicks.

 

[Jake Levi]

I am going through my books and come up with nothing, so far. I will keep looking and surfing. So much of the stuff now is armchair writing, sitting in the armchair to see what others have written and then plagerizing it.

The Jungle Fowl is quite surely part of the ancestry, and, the carriage has been handed down. THats easy to see.

All in all a beautiful bird.

 

[jakobvanschagen]

I'm the guy in Illinois that has started raising some Iowa Blues. Here is what I have found with my birds. Most of my birds are from Ideal with a few from Sandhill. Although I have heard Ideal outcrossed their Iowa Blues to get new blood they seem to be very similar to Sandhill's.

MOST LITERATURE STATES: "They typically weigh six to seven pounds with cocks weighing more than hens.
MY EXPERIENCE: As with most others my birds are smaller than this. Roosters are about 4.5 to 5 pounds and hens around 3 to 4 pounds. The roosters remind me of a silver duckwing game rooster and the hens remind me of a leghorn type hen.

LITERATURE STATES: "The comb, wattles, and earlobes are red and are medium to moderately large in size. The single comb has six distinctive points that stands erect."
MY EXPERIENCE: Although it is a single comb the points are not as large and "distinctive" as I expected. However, I think having the smaller comb definately helped the roosters get through the northern Illinois winter in an uninsulated coop with absolutely no problems.

LITERATURE STATES: "Despite their colored name, the Iowa blue has a silvery white head. The neck and breast area of the body has white feathers with a thin black stripe down the middle that alternate to black feathers with white lacing. The lower portion of the breast, body, legs, wings, and tail are black with a bluish tint to gray tone with penciling. The neck of the roosters will resemble their back and saddle portion while hens will have a bluish to gray with penciling on their backs. Beaks of the Iowa Blue are horn, their eyes are dark brown, and the shanks and toes are slate in color.
MY EXPERIENCE: I KEPTt roosters and hens that most closely matched this description. I CULLED roosters that were over laced on their breast, had yellow/red feathers in their saddle, had yellowish colored hackles, and those with very small saddles. All my roosters had slate or black legs and dark brown eyes. I CULLED hens that were all black or had very little silver pencilling around their head and back of their necks. I also CULLED hens with excessive mossy/brown feathering on their back. All hens had black legs and dark brown eyes.

LITERATURE STATES: The Iowa Blue is considered a dual-purpose chicken, being raised for both meat and egg production. The hens lay brown eggs and will go broody without problems. Known as a prolific forager, this breed does well unconfined and makes an excellent choice as a backyard bird. The Iowa Blue is a beautiful chicken breed but due to not being recognized and having standards, many breeders are still trying to improve the breed with crossbreeding.
MY EXPERIENCE: Hens all starting laying at exactly 19 weeks of age. Roosters are muscular but could use some additional size to their frame to be utilized as a dual purpose bird. Eggs are light to medium brown and are medium in size. Excellent forager.

LITERATURE STATES: Chicks are warm cocoa to black in color.
MY EXPERIENCE: Most chicks I have purchased and hatched have been all or mostly black/dark chocolate with a few white markings on their chin, stomach, and/or wings. I just hatched a test batch of eggs and one chick out of 40 is dark brown with light stripes. I am certainly interested to see what this chick matures to be.

I have an email to help connect any who raises or is interested in raising Iowa Blues. I would be interested in starting a breeders database and swapping photos and breeding stock with others to help find a "standard" for the Iowa Blue.

Anyone interested can email: [email protected]

Thanks,
Jake

 

[Jake Levi]

Hi Jake, Jake here,

Hurley and I are interested in much the same that you explain here,

thats an interesting post with your own observations. We need many more of the same such posts.

Where are you in Illinois? I am in Northern MI, about 8 hrs from Chicago.

What is the literature that you cite? I am looking for anything and everything that I can find on them.

Jake