Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[karimw]

LOL, I'm not sure how many are doing it now, but it really makes for filthy water bowls. The fluff floats to the top, but all the other crud stays in the bowl

 

[Candy442]

Gandalf went over the rainbow bridge last night

RIP Gandalf

 

[trailrider330]

I am so sorry for your loss Candy. He was certainly a heroic boy.

 

[iamfivewire]

He was an awesome guy

 

[karimw]

Awe, so sorry!

 

[Candy442]

Awe, so sorry!

thanks Kari...he left behind a great Iowa flock and legacy though, We feel honored to have such a brave boy! He has not disappointed us, he gave us JB who is a beauty and just as fierce of a protector

 

[Hurley]

Hey all,

Haven't logged on in a while...long enough I had to figure out again what my password was. 2016 was not a great year for my chicken aspirations, with the AI ban, computer issues, and work work work work, but looking forward to a better 2017!

Hope everyone is having a good new year!

Connie

 

[karimw]

thanks Kari...he left behind a great Iowa flock and legacy though, We feel honored to have such a brave boy! He has not disappointed us, he gave us JB who is a beauty and just as fierce of a protector

I've lost a few fabulous flock sires lately, like Rex and Bentley, it's hard. But it is nice to see them stamped on their offspring. Even a few generations down the line, I can still see their influence and an occasional spitting image

 

[Hurley]

Candy, so sorry to hear about your guy.

It's so tough. Lost my most promising rooster this fall when an owl got into the enclosed pen. The rest of the flock cowered within the coop where it didn't get in, but he either got caught outside in the pen or was trying to defend. Now I find myself searching for a good rooster as the other hold backs I kept I just didn't like at maturity.

Glad you have offspring to carry on his line!

 

[Candy442]

@karimw , I believe Gandalf hatched out of Rex as well as my original two birchen girls and Sweetie the clean smokey hen (2013 stock). I think they were hatched out of two different egg shipments too. I got sweetie first and a couple months later picked up Gandalf, Betty and Boop from Jake.

@Hurley Connie, sorry to hear. Owls are so tough because they are very silent in their approach. We make sure we put wire or something over the runs because I have noticed a huge amount of hawks this year. So many more than normal.

JB, Gandalf's son is our only rooster right now, but we have four cockerels that hatched from the Jamaica line (3 silver and one birchen). However, we will hatch what we can this spring out of JB and see if we can get another nice Charcoal to use. JB and one of our hens is increasing the chestnut colored chicks. We are going to remove all Iowa hens other than the one birchen, three charcoal and the clean smokey under JB this time. Hatch their eggs and see what we get.

We will be moving on three roosters out of the Jamaica line. We hope to post pictures of them and their wing for identification of color for club input on the best one.