Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[spartacus_63]

Another wild baby.









Hope you enjoy them

 

[Jake Levi]

Yep, thats a wild one alright !! A real lap sitter.

Great disposition , may they all be that way.

Looking forward to seeing it in adult plumage !

 

[Redeemed]

What color is this,please. I have three one just likke it one marked with lemon coloring instead of white and onee that is a very light grey and a darker grey?

 

[karimw]

Quote:
Hi Redeemed, this link is to Kirks chick pictures at hatch: https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/...reed-thread-and-discussion/sort/display_order As you can see he has a lot of yellow on him which indicates he carries the gold gene. If he was silver or split he would look white. I can't post pictures from work or I would show you. There are actually 3 genes involved in Spartacus's chicks from Sandhill as well as the ones out of my eggs.
We have the yellow "chipmunk" chicks that have the e+ wild type gene, the chocolate brown chicks (sometimes with mottling) that are eb brown (silver penciled) and the birchen which are black with yellow/white at hatch and grow up ER (birchen).
It would help if you could post pictures

 

[spartacus_63]

These chicks get daily interaction with people and are hand fed diced apples or other snacks so they actually like us, but they still run to the back of the brooder when you pick one up. If you open the door and are in close enough proximity, they will jump out to you. I have a Delaware that is a prefered lap sitter.

 

[Jake Levi]

Spartacus you are raising some great Homestead chicks, all you need to finish them out is a couple 8-10 yr old kids to carry them around all afternoon.

 

[WVDan44]

Dan,
You'll just need to watch that comb. My thoughts are we have bigger things to worry about.

Mr. Heinz,
are you experimenting with any outcrosses at this time? I'm always curious to see what different crosses are being made and how it will benefit the breed. I've read on this thread of several different combinations being tried.

 

[Bill Matthews]

To WWDan and Mr. Heinz: This breed was almost lost. It's just recovering. I hope everyone will let them repopulate from the existing individuals without trying to rush the process by crossing with other breeds. Just my opinion of course. Do what anyone wants with their own stock..Good luck and best wishes either way.

 

[Jake Levi]

X2 on not crossing !!!

Kari do you have any pics of the adult phase of the wild gene?

I am very interested in how all of the different genes are expressed in the adults.

I am fixating on the need for SP roosters, and knowing what the different hens will produce.

 

[karimw]

To WWDan and Mr. Heinz: This breed was almost lost. It's just recovering. I hope everyone will let them repopulate from the existing individuals without trying to rush the process by crossing with other breeds. Just my opinion of course. Do what anyone wants with their own stock..Good luck and best wishes either way.

Not sure if know you Bill, do you have Iowa Blues?
This is a sensitive topic for any breed. Unfortunately the evidence the club has found shows it has been recovered by introducing other breeds, mostly the breeds reported to have been used in it's creation, such as Campine and Plymouth Rock. The strains available through all the hatcheries, including Sandhill are "corrupt" to some degree. So much so they have introduced colors the original birds did not have like Birchen. The I and others are doing some test crosses with breeds intended to return them to a USEFUL bird. It is also a good way to determine the true genetic make up. You can find out a lot by crossing a mystery bird with a know genotype. And, I will admit, we have some fun side projects going on.

I assure you, we are keeping strict track and maintaining our "pure" flocks as well.

All that being said, I have my 5th generation pure from the original hatchery stock, and I am still finding more genetic anomalies.