Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[Melissa Rose]

Melissa Rose had one hatch from me that looks eb from her picture. I am new enough to the chicken genetics that I am unsure what each results in.

After looking at the pics above your post it looks like one chicklet is eb and two look like er .

. If they are feather sexable the eb is a pullet and one of the er's is a pullet the other looks roo.

 

[karimw]

Cockerels will start popping big red combs pretty early, but other than that I guess I don't know. I'm not really familiar with feather sexing. Does that refer to the trend for cockerels to sprout crazy feathers every which way and pullets to grow smooth even wing feathers? I know Ameraucanas do this.

when can you start sexing iowa blues?

 

[Hurley]

Sorry have been away for a while. Studying for boards (2 weeks away), so haven't had any time.

On the "cull the brown chicks" thought, though... one of the things I actually liked about getting into Iowa blues was the whimsical little story of a hen coming out from under a building with chicks that were said to look like they were sired by a pheasant. Obviously not true, but a cute story nonetheless. I've heard 2 variants, one story saying the brood looked half pheasant, another variation on the story said the brood was a mix, half resembling a pheasant.

To me, with the split mix of chicks we see, the brown ones actually resemble this description more.
(pheasant chick below)



Not really saying I prefer one over the other, just another side to present before we cull out half the color genes in the breed this early on.

I currently have all black chick Iowa Blues at the moment, but darn those little cocoa chipmunked chicks were cuties.

 

[Hurley]

I've only had brown cockerels, but really do like the look of the brown-chicked pullets in the photos.

Question is do you preserve both looks...perhaps breaking them off into two variants to work on, two standards for color, or do you cull out the (for example) brown chicks whole hog and lose that look forever?

Since we're at a make-or-break point in where to go with the breed since we're all in this to bring it back and would like to improve on it, it's really a popularity race on which to make the "true" Iowa blue, or do you call it a draw and give the two variants a name and work the lines separate?

In my personal view (just to put it here since you likely won't see me for another few weeks), I would like to see both looks preserved and each given a color variant name. Birchen and ? What officially are the cocoa chicks? Partridge in the hens? Penciled? There is nothing to say we have to make them true to the birchen coloration, they are Iowa Blues. We need to decide on the look and names if we keep both phenotypes, and work on expanding their numbers to have enough diversity to select from. We already have a pretty narrow gene pool, would hate to see half the genes go out in the first cut before the breed even gets anywhere.

 

[Hurley]

Not sure where my Storey book is right offhand, will have to look for it, but for grins, here's a painted representation of the Iowa Blue breed from a hatchery website...it escapes me which one at the moment...

 

[ChooksChick]

I wonder some what help either of those is- and I DON'T mean to be offensive!!

It's just that I own the Storey book, too- though I've loaned it to a friend. It's incorrect in many spots, and so I've learned not to take it as gospel. Also, this pic is by Diane Jacky, who is an incredible artist and I've worked with her briefly on a bird image consigned by a friend. She illustrates according to what she's asked to provide. It is helpful to see that whatever hatchery she produced that for is leaning toward the Silver-grey coloring, shown by the lacing on the front.

I searched historic Iowa poultry publications online on Google Books for 2 hours yesterday and found ZERO mentions of them. It's very frustrating how little documentation there is. Every mention of them you can even find at is essentially the same verbiage verbatim. Does anyone know of an old farmer who knows of them? Does anyone know anyone in the APA who's been around for a long time (since the 50' or so?) who might remember them? I'd love to hear OLD wisdom, instead of the same story over and over.

That may help us to determine if there is a standard to work toward...but if the original tale speaks of the racing stripes...that might be important to preserve. But it might just be a myth?

Not sure where my Storey book is right offhand, will have to look for it, but for grins, here's a painted representation of the Iowa Blue breed from a hatchery website...it escapes me which one at the moment...

 

[Hurley]

In the Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds, the photos and the story are slanted towards the brown chicks.

Incidentally, slightly off topic...the combs in the photos sure look different from the ones I have.

Pics below are full credited to Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds for comparison basis in this discussion.

Interestingly the Iowa Blues are in the meat section. We'll have to beef them up if they are to fill that purpose. Mine are smaller than what I'd call a meat/dual purpose breed.

 

[ChooksChick]

I think that's a very wise suggestion, and do think it would be a good idea to separate the Birchen and the Browns. I think you're right about not bottlenecking the genes further.

I've only had brown cockerels, but really do like the look of the brown-chicked pullets in the photos.

Question is do you preserve both looks...perhaps breaking them off into two variants to work on, two standards for color, or do you cull out the (for example) brown chicks whole hog and lose that look forever?

Since we're at a make-or-break point in where to go with the breed since we're all in this to bring it back and would like to improve on it, it's really a popularity race on which to make the "true" Iowa blue, or do you call it a draw and give the two variants a name and work the lines separate?

In my personal view (just to put it here since you likely won't see me for another few weeks), I would like to see both looks preserved and each given a color variant name. Birchen and ? What officially are the cocoa chicks? Partridge in the hens? Penciled? There is nothing to say we have to make them true to the birchen coloration, they are Iowa Blues. We need to decide on the look and names if we keep both phenotypes, and work on expanding their numbers to have enough diversity to select from. We already have a pretty narrow gene pool, would hate to see half the genes go out in the first cut before the breed even gets anywhere.

 

[Hurley]

Oh, and yes, like you I have spent hours trying to trace anything online that would help and everything just repeats the same story almost word for word. Not much out there.

Think the history of these guys precedes the intarweb.

 

[ChooksChick]

Oh, and yes, like you I have spent hours trying to trace anything online that would help and everything just repeats the same story almost word for word. Not much out there.

Think the history of these guys precedes the intarweb.

Soooo right. I've also loaned out all of my antique books: 1907, 1912, and 1935 poultry books, though I have my 1910 SOP, but obviously they aren't in there. I have a few antique catalogs from the 40s and 50s, but they mostly have the big 4: Reds, Rocks, Orps, Leggerns.

I need to hunt down an antique farmer!!