Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[debs_flock]

How do the roosters compare in size?

They are pretty close in size, but I'd have to check my records on their ages. The first boy, has the heavy lacing on his check and he carries his tail much too high for my taste. I'll have to wait and see how he finishes maturing, they are both young. The Sandhill boy has a solid black chest..

You're silver hen is fantastic! It's nice to see we've got a few of those around to breed with!!! You've got a nice looking flock there. Boy, I really like your silver hen.......thanks for posting pics.

Thanks, I like her too. Her pecilling could be crisper and her background color could be cleaner, but she is also young.

And you work with what you have!

 

[Hurley]

IBCC website updated with latest version of the standard.


I really like the first rooster and yes, that silver hen is just lovely.

 

[karimw]

Good morning! Nice sunshine here, though chilly and windy. They flock makes occasional forays out to blow across the field to the manure pile, but mostly they are staying in.
I just moved 33 chicks to the baby brooder, 12 brown, 31 black

6 more wet ones in the hatcher and maybe a couple more yet to come. I do expect to lose some with those small air cells, but they aren't due until tonight, so who knows.

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

AWESOME HATCH KARI! Thanks for the pic. That's a good group of silvers you've got there. Keep us posted on how the rest of the hatch comes out.

 

[karimw]

Final count 15 SP + 31 ER = 46. Not bad!

So Connie how did you sex them as day olds? I've got my new double brooder built and have to divide them up anyway, so I thought I'd take a stab at sexing them.

 

[Hurley]

I looked at the legs and feather sexed them. It was somewhat reliable, but I did have a couple that were not what I predicted.

The females at 1 day had longer feathers every other one (coverts and primaries different lengths) while the males had slower feather growth, often the tail started to come in later, and their feathers at day one were even. Photo below showing the wing difference. Males also had more stout legs than the females and often stand up taller and are more vocal in general, I noticed.



(Not my image, googled off the internet, but this is what I saw as well.)


At any rate, I don't think it's 100% reliable by any means, especially since we have a variation in feather growth rate genes in our birds that can skew results, but if I were trying to skew my hold backs towards pullets, it's definitely worth doing.

 

[karimw]

I'll give it a try Connie, Thanks!

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

Keep us updated on how this works out statisticly. This could prove quite valuable......maybe even something we could begin to breed into the Iowa Blue as time goes on.......

 

[Hurley]

I did find a few that were not strongly one way or the other, especially if younger than 24 hours. It also becomes much more difficult the older they are, obviously, but I found at 1-2 days of age that it was probably 80-90% accurate.

I didn't actually sex the last round as I'm holding them all until they are older (grin), can start hatching and tagging if we want numbers. I know this has been talked about a lot. The answer I've always gotten is that the accuracy varies greatly breed to breed and breeder to breeder. No one claims 100%. But, hey, if I'm only planning to keep x% of the clutch and sell the rest of the chicks and I want the best chance of skewing the sexes kept in my favor, I would give feather-sexing a nod towards an advantage.

 

[karimw]

Keep us updated on how this works out statisticly. This could prove quite valuable......maybe even something we could begin to breed into the Iowa Blue as time goes on.......

It may already be in them to some degree. Aren't leghorns a feather sexing breed?