Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

[karimw]

Quote:
Nice Connie! Did you get anything aout of my last batch of eggs?

 

[Hurley]

2 SPs and a handful of birchens. LOL Got a whole tank full of baby birchens currently along with the 2 SPs.

Looks like I did well with the 5 I hatched previously, though. One cockerel of the 5. The dark weird one looks quasi birchen currently, will be interesting to see how it turns out in the end. But 3 nice pullets and a cockerel for the other 4.

 

[karimw]

2 SPs and a handful of birchens. LOL Got a whole tank full of baby birchens currently along with the 2 SPs.

Looks like I did well with the 5 I hatched previously, though. One cockerel of the 5. The dark weird one looks quasi birchen currently, will be interesting to see how it turns out in the end. But 3 nice pullets and a cockerel for the other 4.

Well good! I pulled all the birchen hens out of Rex's pen and have just the 5 SP hens with him now if you're interested in a more concentrated dozen.

 

[karimw]

NYD Hatch born 12-31. (they always come early

)

Rex's boys



e+ pullet, SP pullet, F2 Iowacana pullet


Same girls, more SP girls below.




Sorry, she's a real camera hog.

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

Kari- This hatch has come along nicely. You've got a great group of cockerels to breed from! I like the uniformity of the group as a whole concerning body type and size. Very impressive. The Silver Duckwing hen has got a great body as well. These pullets are much deeper and full bodied than what we've been accustomed to seeing in the years past. This is and exciting time for the Iowa Blue. Fantastic group Kari. Well done. I can't tell, but it looks like there is little to no autosomal red in your cockerels. Is that so?

 

[karimw]

Quote:
That is correct Curt, none of them have any red at all. I do have it in my SPPR Rock crosses though. Ugg.

 

[IowaBlueCurt]

That has to be very rewarding for you after all the cockerels you hatched out from the last few years and the annoying persistance of the AR!!! I would feel relieved and excited. Now you can really make some great leaps forward with such a wide variety of cockerels to breed from. And we get to reap the rewards of your hard labor as my cockerels from you are AR free as well. This is a great accomplishment considering where you started from!!! You should be proud.

 

[Jake Levi]

Kari that is REAL eye candy !!! Rex is THE sire for a great line.

I'm really looking forward to his offspring here!

You have made some excellent progress in just the time that I have been watching. I am very confident that the Iowa Blue breed is in for a very good year.

Let the hatching begin !

 

[debs_flock]

That's what I thought. They are looking good. That last cockerel that you posted (just before the chicks from Kari) has got a nice frame. He's got a good shape to the breast, and I like his level back. His legs are powerfully thick and you can really see his strength overall. His eye does look on the light side, but this can be overcome. It's a good picture of him, and he's pleasing to look at. Full, deep, and thick, just the way we want to see them. I'll be curious to see what his mature weight will be. I'd keep a close eye on him. Also, Glen's birds have slate legs, but the standard calls for dark willow. Just a thought, but I would make sure to put him on some of the pullets you've hatched from Kari to try to bring out the willow color in the legs. What I don't know is whether the willow is dominant to the slate.

Can anyone out there confirm whether or not the willow will dominate over the slate? Or vice-versa?

It has to be a recessive. I raise Campines which have slate legs. In my Goldens, I've had about 2 show up with willow legs out of many chicks. My breeders have slate legs.

I found this to be odd. I process my culls and started cleaning the feet to save up to make broth/stock. I had a campine with willow legs. When I scalded the feet and peeled them, the skin peeled off had a yellow cast and the feet underneath were the clear slate they should have been. I found this interesting.

 

[debs_flock]

I do need to post some pictures. I am currently raising two batches of chicks, one from Sandhill and one from eggs I hatched from Jim (MrHeinz) (10 out of 10, I was pretty happy with them).

Oh, and two chicks from my own stock.