Iowa Blues?

[antlers]

NO not a song after the floods this year. Supposedly there is a breed of chickens called this? Anyone kow for sure, have pictures or know of breeders?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I don't know anything about them, but it is a breed. I knew a man last year that was starting a flock of them.

-Kim

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I think there are pics on feathersite. Sandhill preservation center kinda brought them back, they are one of the big breeders of them and they have info about them on their site.

 

[Keisha]

Theres a description of them on the sandhill preservation site. We bought some eggs and tried to hatch them out, but we had some storms and the power went out , and the eggs didnt hatch well. I live in iowa, 19 miles west of where the breed originated from. A distant family member of mine owns the hatchery there in decorah and we had talked to him about the breed, and he said they hatched them for a while, but they werent real hardy chicks because they were so inbred. Didnt do well at all. He was also talking that at one point they were crossed with a pheasant, but who knows... They turn out to be nice looking birds though, but none of my chicks t hat hatched mangaged to make it.

 

[antlers]

thanks folks!

 

[hooligan]

I have seen them and I think they are beautiful bird, but I thinkl most blues are gorgeous LoL

Are you looking into getting some?

 

[herechickchick]

I know very little of the Iowa blue but I have read that they are NOT blue colored chickens. Am I wrong?

Good Luck

 

[herechickchick]

I found it: from Sandhill Preservation

Iowa Blue: Gray penciled pattern, pale brown eggs, single comb. Please note that these are not a blue chicken. Developed near Decorah, Iowa in the early 1900's. The breed was in desperate need of new blood and I have been working for the past few years to introduce new blood. There is still a slight possibility of an off-type bird. Chick color will range from a warm cocoa brown to black to an occasional mottled one. This breed is a somewhat seasonal layer. They go in spurts. When not broody, we get lots of chicks and then all of a sudden they go broody and we get nothing. This breed is not yet listed in the APA Standard. They do not have yellow legs. They make a nice breed for someone who wants a good forager which will set on eggs.

 

[hooligan]

Wow...I wonder what those chickens I saw really were then?!

Here's some Wiki info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Blue

I checked the Feathersite pix and the ones I saw had the same patterns but the bottoms looked like a powdery blue. Wonder if the guys Andalusians got mixed up in a few of them....(he bred them too). This was the guy I got my Ameracana from that turned out to be a Black Sex Link LoL

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Here is the feathersite link for the Iowa Blue.

http://feathersite.com/Poultry///CGD/Iowa/BRKIowa.html

-Kim