Iowa Blues - Breed thread and discussion

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Thank you, this is all good to know for me, a newbie.
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Nice silver lacing! I don't see any gold which is good. I do see signs of the autosomal red on his back though.
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Man we have to get that cleared up. I don't think I have any without that, though its hard to tell on the females
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As I watch the snow fall, I wonder if my Iowa Blues will finally go into the coop.

Half of them insist on sleeping outdoors, no matter the weather it seems. True homesteader chickens, I guess. They prefer to sleep in the "trees" (or at least the part of a tree I drug into their run for them.
 
Hmm, thought I had traced him back to Sand Hill Preservation, but don't see his name on their site. Only thing I found on him was in connection with master gardener and seed preservation, much like Sand Hill. Couldn't find anything else other than the same story repeated over and over and over again in conjunction with the Iowa Blues.
 
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Has anyone ever tried to ask a hatchery about their selection process? Maybe I'm just being obtuse...

I emailed one this week:
Hello! I realize you must be busy getting ready for the upcoming production season, but I have a question about your Iowa Blue Chickens. I have a small flock myself some of which came from Ideal. I have been working with other breeders in Iowa to publicize this breed, but I’d like to ask what you are breeding for? We find a wide variety of color type in the chicks and are rather at a loss on what we should be focusing on keeping. Any information or resource you can share that would help perpetuate and standardize this breed would be most helpful.
Thank you!


Reply:
Kari –

We use the Standard of Perfection as our breeding guide for all breeds recognized. For all other breeds, we breed true to type. We do not guarantee show quality because that is not the focus of our business. There will be variations in color patterns and colors due to the number of breeders we have on our farm. We hope this information helps. Thank you.

My response:
Thanks for the reply but there isn’t a SOP for Iowa Blues. What I am asking is how do you select your breeding birds to maintain your flock of Iowa Blues?

Reply:
Kari –

We select on what we feel the traits should be. We select based on any traits they have and color patterns. There will be diversity because of the size of breeding flock we have. Thank you.

My last response:
Sorry, is this a secret? What do you feel the traits should be?

Hmmm....................
 
Karimw...obviously it is a huge secret!!!! Or they are having mixed results in their hatches and are trying to vet through this as well... Or there really is no trait selection process going on as I have read most places can't keep the IBs in stock...
 

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