I'm the guy in Illinois that has started raising some Iowa Blues. Here is what I have found with my birds. Most of my birds are from Ideal with a few from Sandhill. Although I have heard Ideal outcrossed their Iowa Blues to get new blood they seem to be very similar to Sandhill's.
MOST LITERATURE STATES: "They typically weigh six to seven pounds with cocks weighing more than hens.
MY EXPERIENCE: As with most others my birds are smaller than this. Roosters are about 4.5 to 5 pounds and hens around 3 to 4 pounds. The roosters remind me of a silver duckwing game rooster and the hens remind me of a leghorn type hen.
LITERATURE STATES: "The comb, wattles, and earlobes are red and are medium to moderately large in size. The single comb has six distinctive points that stands erect."
MY EXPERIENCE: Although it is a single comb the points are not as large and "distinctive" as I expected. However, I think having the smaller comb definately helped the roosters get through the northern Illinois winter in an uninsulated coop with absolutely no problems.
LITERATURE STATES: "Despite their colored name, the Iowa blue has a silvery white head. The neck and breast area of the body has white feathers with a thin black stripe down the middle that alternate to black feathers with white lacing. The lower portion of the breast, body, legs, wings, and tail are black with a bluish tint to gray tone with penciling. The neck of the roosters will resemble their back and saddle portion while hens will have a bluish to gray with penciling on their backs. Beaks of the Iowa Blue are horn, their eyes are dark brown, and the shanks and toes are slate in color.
MY EXPERIENCE: I KEPTt roosters and hens that most closely matched this description. I CULLED roosters that were over laced on their breast, had yellow/red feathers in their saddle, had yellowish colored hackles, and those with very small saddles. All my roosters had slate or black legs and dark brown eyes. I CULLED hens that were all black or had very little silver pencilling around their head and back of their necks. I also CULLED hens with excessive mossy/brown feathering on their back. All hens had black legs and dark brown eyes.
LITERATURE STATES: The Iowa Blue is considered a dual-purpose chicken, being raised for both meat and egg production. The hens lay brown eggs and will go broody without problems. Known as a prolific forager, this breed does well unconfined and makes an excellent choice as a backyard bird. The Iowa Blue is a beautiful chicken breed but due to not being recognized and having standards, many breeders are still trying to improve the breed with crossbreeding.
MY EXPERIENCE: Hens all starting laying at exactly 19 weeks of age. Roosters are muscular but could use some additional size to their frame to be utilized as a dual purpose bird. Eggs are light to medium brown and are medium in size. Excellent forager.
LITERATURE STATES: Chicks are warm cocoa to black in color.
MY EXPERIENCE: Most chicks I have purchased and hatched have been all or mostly black/dark chocolate with a few white markings on their chin, stomach, and/or wings. I just hatched a test batch of eggs and one chick out of 40 is dark brown with light stripes. I am certainly interested to see what this chick matures to be.
I have an email to help connect any who raises or is interested in raising Iowa Blues. I would be interested in starting a breeders database and swapping photos and breeding stock with others to help find a "standard" for the Iowa Blue.
Anyone interested can email:
[email protected]
Thanks,
Jake
