Isbar thread

[lonnyandrinda]

Very interesting! Not one of them have a dot on their heads..... I am really thinking that he may be sterile - is that possible? I tried breeding him with my cream legbar hen last year and all the babies were from my ameracana rooster! I've seen him mating with the hens so who knows. Its only him and my Isbar rooster out with the girls....

Yes it is possible. I know one lady that hatched from my eggs grew out a gorgeous roo- and he was sterile. I've not had problems myself or had anyone else report that though.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Aloha everyone~

I just found this thread (I've been on the Blue Isbar thread for a while). We have a quad of Isbars that are from 12/18 hatch: dark blue cockerel, 1 blue and 2 splash pullets. There was a black that didn't make it out after pipping (I set 10 eggs). They are very vigorous and busy, even in very wintry conditions (for NW Oregon anyway...we have a foot of snow and it was around 12 degrees early this week). They still have a heatlamp at night and during this cold snap full time. They are in with some BCM and Rhodebars and are smaller than my Marans (which are larger as a whole than "medium" size Marans). So far I am very pleased with the breed.

I've had the worst luck getting more eggs though. The first order from dfdesigns took SEVEN days to get here USPS (a 2-day Priority trip). There was no tracking information at all until they hit Portland OR four days later...very suspicious. She re-shipped the eggs last Tuesday. Tracking info says they went from Ramona CA to San Diego CA...to PROVIDENCE RI. Unbelievable. They will be in transit 7 or 8 days by the time I get them, IF they ever arrive. Dana marks her packages very clearly with hot pink stickers. I want to be clear she has been amazing through this process and the fault lies entirely in the lap of the USPS.

I'm happy to have the quad that I do, but I'm unsure of the quality of the seller's birds (eBay). I'll know more when they grow up some.

 

[lawatt]

Aloha everyone~

I just found this thread (I've been on the Blue Isbar thread for a while). We have a quad of Isbars that are from 12/18 hatch: dark blue cockerel, 1 blue and 2 splash pullets. There was a black that didn't make it out after pipping (I set 10 eggs). They are very vigorous and busy, even in very wintry conditions (for NW Oregon anyway...we have a foot of snow and it was around 12 degrees early this week). They still have a heatlamp at night and during this cold snap full time. They are in with some BCM and Rhodebars and are smaller than my Marans (which are larger as a whole than "medium" size Marans). So far I am very pleased with the breed.

I've had the worst luck getting more eggs though. The first order from dfdesigns took SEVEN days to get here USPS (a 2-day Priority trip). There was no tracking information at all until they hit Portland OR four days later...very suspicious. She re-shipped the eggs last Tuesday. Tracking info says they went from Ramona CA to San Diego CA...to PROVIDENCE RI. Unbelievable. They will be in transit 7 or 8 days by the time I get them, IF they ever arrive. Dana marks her packages very clearly with hot pink stickers. I want to be clear she has been amazing through this process and the fault lies entirely in the lap of the USPS.

I'm happy to have the quad that I do, but I'm unsure of the quality of the seller's birds (eBay). I'll know more when they grow up some.

you know, i think the fault may lie specifically with Dana's local post office, as the first time she shipped eggs to me, she sent them 2-day priority but i recall they took 3 or 4 days to arrive. definitely seems to be a pattern. thankfully the second box i got from her more recently arrived on time! (and perfectly packaged, i might add!)

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

you know, i think the fault may lie specifically with Dana's local post office, as the first time she shipped eggs to me, she sent them 2-day priority but i recall they took 3 or 4 days to arrive. definitely seems to be a pattern. thankfully the second box i got from her more recently arrived on time! (and perfectly packaged, i might add!)

I hope that people file complaints when this stuff happens. I don't think it's Ramona PO (although in the first case they did NOT do an origin scan) but the San Diego hub. They have gotten sloppy, do not pay attention to LIVE shipment regulations, etc. If enough people report it perhaps something might change.

Dana's eggs are such a lovely minty green, just what I am after. If she ends up somehow collecting on the insurance, maybe I'll try again (EXPRESS MAIL).

 

[shotzy007]

June having her daily egg..she couldnt weigh more than a pound.....but the biggest green eggs ever.

 

[lawatt]

I hope that people file complaints when this stuff happens. I don't think it's Ramona PO (although in the first case they did NOT do an origin scan) but the San Diego hub. They have gotten sloppy, do not pay attention to LIVE shipment regulations, etc. If enough people report it perhaps something might change.

Dana's eggs are such a lovely minty green, just what I am after. If she ends up somehow collecting on the insurance, maybe I'll try again (EXPRESS MAIL).

I should have reported it, but didn't think to at the time -- if it happens again, i definitely will!

and couldn't agree more about the gorgeous color of Dana's eggs -- I've got one 4-month old splash pullet that hatched last fall, can't wait til she starts laying -- and three more chicks just hatched a week ago from my second box from Dana, best guess so far is that the two blues are girls & splash is a boy...

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

June having her daily egg..she couldnt weigh more than a pound.....but the biggest green eggs ever.

Really? That's really light for a breed that should be 4.5 lb. hens...

 

[shotzy007]

guess she was the runt...she eats ALL THE TIME. Because she is the littlest of my hens, I always make sure she has her own food...

 

[Carlas Marans]

I am hatching two separate batches of Isbars. I do not own these eggs, I am a hired hatcher. I have hatched a lot of birds, but I have never hatched Isbars before.

The first group of eggs took over 48 hours to hatch from start to finish. That was the first sign of problems to me. Why was the hatch spread out over such a long time?

The second thing I noticed was how weak the chicks were when they hatched. They were all weak, regardless of when they hatched. In fact, as weak as they were, I was surprised that they managed to hatch on their own without assistance from me.

Thirdly, the chicks have very poor muscle coordination. They do not appear to have specific problems with their legs. In other words, they are not splay legged, but they are extremely uncoordinated and can not walk without falling down. They spend a lot of time on their back crying for someone to turn them over. .

Out of the other breeds hatching, only the isbars share these characteristics. In spite of the weakness, I got a fairly decent hatch, 66 percent of set eggs early death of several eggs) and 89% of eggs going into lockdown.

The second batch should hatch tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if they suffer the same weakness and lack of vitality.

Do these symptoms sound familiar to those of you who have hatched Isbar before? Is there a genetic weakness in this breed? Any information you have concerning your hatch experience is appreciated.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

I am hatching two separate batches of Isbars. I do not own these eggs, I am a hired hatcher. I have hatched a lot of birds, but I have never hatched Isbars before.

The first group of eggs took over 48 hours to hatch from start to finish. That was the first sign of problems to me. Why was the hatch spread out over such a long time?

The second thing I noticed was how weak the chicks were when they hatched. They were all weak, regardless of when they hatched. In fact, as weak as they were, I was surprised that they managed to hatch on their own without assistance from me.

Thirdly, the chicks have very poor muscle coordination. They do not appear to have specific problems with their legs. In other words, they are not splay legged, but they are extremely uncoordinated and can not walk without falling down. They spend a lot of time on their back crying for someone to turn them over. .

Out of the other breeds hatching, only the isbars share these characteristics. In spite of the weakness, I got a fairly decent hatch, 66 percent of set eggs early death of several eggs) and 89% of eggs going into lockdown.

The second batch should hatch tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if they suffer the same weakness and lack of vitality.

Do these symptoms sound familiar to those of you who have hatched Isbar before? Is there a genetic weakness in this breed? Any information you have concerning your hatch experience is appreciated.

It has become generally accepted that US Isbar stock is genetically weak from close inbreeding. But unless you want to shell out $99/chick for GFF newest import line we are kind of stuck with what we've got. My hens are as unrelated to the rooster as I could get them without ordering the new line and waiting for it to grow out. Here are my observations on my isbars:

-While mine do not have a drawn out hatch, they are ALWAYS the last to pip and the last to hatch, by 12-18 hours behind the rest of my breeds. This does not necessarily indicate a problem just something I have noticed.

-For every 8-10 chicks I hatch at least one has leg/coordination/weakness issues- usually they sit on their butt and spin in a circle while kicking their legs. A drop of poly-vi-sol vitamins and a second drop the next day nearly always cures it. So I think there is a nutrition absorption issue.

-They are much more fragile as chicks than my other breeds and more easily succumb to illnesses such as cocci, if I had to guess a number I would say a 15% mortality rate compared to 0-8% for my other breeds. Once they get to about 6-8 weeks old I do not see any more differences though.

These stats have held true for two different flock roosters from two different people on opposite sides of the country, both unrelated to my hens (as far as close relations).

Hope that helps.