OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

[cluckitall]

its time I put my ignorance on display, what is the difference in an isbar and rhodebar? ive seen pics of both wondering if some were mislabeled.

Rhodebars are a cross between American Rhode Island Reds and Brussbars, an autosexing English dual-purpose breed. The result is a bird that's an excellent layer, autosexing (yay, autosexing!!!) but slimmer than the Brusbar and probably not as good a dual-purpose bird. Brussbars are GORGEOUS! (So are Rhodebars IMO -- and they are hands-down my sweetest-tempered birds). Rhodebars are predominantly red with wonderful black-and-white barring in the roos, and lay light brown eggs. .

Isbars are from Sweden, not autosexing (bummer!), good egg layers (about 250 a year) of green eggs -- mine lay a nice minty green, some lay mossy ones, one friend says hers lay puke-green eggs, lol! They come in blue, black and splash, are fairly light-weight, and easygoing. (At least mine are.) They're also supposedly good layers through the winter, which would be nice!

They're both newer breeds, developed in the middle of last century. Here's the feathersite page for Isbars with lots of pretty pictures: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGD/Isbar/BRKIsbar.html

Here's the Greenfire page for Rhodebars: http://greenfirefarms.com/store/category/chickens/rhodebar/

And here's a page with the whole British standard for Brussbars and a very pretty roo pictured at the bottom: http://autosexing-poultry.co.uk/wordpress/brussbar/

In my ongoing quest to own one of every breed of chicken known to man, if anyone goes to England and wants to smuggle me one home under her coat? I'd be VERY grateful, lol!

 

[loveourbirds]

do you think they would be worth importing? for a person like me?

 

[loveourbirds]

ive seen pictures of rhodebars labeled as isbars. i have some rhodebar chicks, but i have them mixed with my golden cuckoo marans. the marans are not always feather legged and im having some trouble telling them apart. ill get it figured out, if i have to have tim (a friend who judges) come over and help me.

 

[cluckitall]

do you think they would be worth importing? for a person like me?

If you had a way to get them here, I'd sure buy some! Honestly I have no idea what's involved in importing chickens or how expensive/extensive the paperwork is, so no clue as to whether it would prove profitable or not. I know that's a waaaay bigger mouthful than I'd want to bite off at this point, even if I could But hope you do!

How dark are the golden cuckoo babies? The rhodebar male chicks will look kinda like baby basques -- that same kind of tawny. The female rhodebar chicks should be chipmunk-striped. (I wish getting pics from my phone to my 'pute weren't such a pain -- I've got a few babies right now). My cuckoo marans chicks were all very dark and easy to tell apart, but do the golden ones hatch lighter? FWIW all my cuckoos are clean-legged too, although the egg color is nice and dark -- I've seen both feathered and non-feathered but it does seem with the cuckoos non-feathered is more common.

Man, I'd love to have a friend who's a judge! I'd be bribing him with cinnamon rolls to teach me stuff

There's so much to learn!!!

 

[DelcoChix]

Thanks Cluckitall..now I've got another breed to add to my "someday" list...besides the Cream Legbars now I want a couple of the Isbar girls too....and I'm at the point right now where I have to start selling the cockerals I ended up with, one sold, six to go....so far!...hmmm..wanna swap?

Thanks also for sharing the info on both the Isbars and the Rhodebars...had no idea exactly what they were either, so loveourbirds was not the only one!

 

[cluckitall]

I'm such a sucker -- I saw a picture of an isbar back last September and said "Ooh, BLUE! PRETTY!!!" My want list has got to be forty breeds/varieties long, at least

Loveourbirds, I really want to come see all your pretties someday!

 

[cluckitall]

Thanks Cluckitall..now I've got another breed to add to my "someday" list...besides the Cream Legbars now I want a couple of the Isbar girls too....and I'm at the point right now where I have to start selling the cockerals I ended up with, one sold, six to go....so far!...hmmm..wanna swap?

Thanks also for sharing the info on both the Isbars and the Rhodebars...had no idea exactly what they were either, so loveourbirds was not the only one!

I am so buying a chest freezer. I love chicken!!! And chickens... lol! (And yeah, one more reason I really like autosexing breeds....)

 

[mlaff]

Well, snuck in nit two but 4 baby chicks today. DH still has no idea. 4 new baby sizzles. Lol finished the coop to the point that the older ones can sleep in there tonight. The oldest ones are out by themselves and the smaller ones are still in the brooders since it is supposed to be in the high 40's tonight. Hoping my eggs all show up tomorrow. The lady I bought the sizzles from was as excited as I was about my chocolate silkie project. Now if I can get it started by hatching some pretty choc orp Roos ill be set.

 

[loveourbirds]

If you had a way to get them here, I'd sure buy some! Honestly I have no idea what's involved in importing chickens or how expensive/extensive the paperwork is, so no clue as to whether it would prove profitable or not. I know that's a waaaay bigger mouthful than I'd want to bite off at this point, even if I could But hope you do!

How dark are the golden cuckoo babies? The rhodebar male chicks will look kinda like baby basques -- that same kind of tawny. The female rhodebar chicks should be chipmunk-striped. (I wish getting pics from my phone to my 'pute weren't such a pain -- I've got a few babies right now). My cuckoo marans chicks were all very dark and easy to tell apart, but do the golden ones hatch lighter? FWIW all my cuckoos are clean-legged too, although the egg color is nice and dark -- I've seen both feathered and non-feathered but it does seem with the cuckoos non-feathered is more common.

Man, I'd love to have a friend who's a judge! I'd be bribing him with cinnamon rolls to teach me stuff

There's so much to learn!!!

I didn't hatch the golden cuckoos or the rhodebars. they were just starting to feather when a friend gave them to me. he brought them together so I kept them together, along with some of my basques that were about the same age, and some lemon cuckoo cochin bantams that were about the same size. there was also some orloffs and a couple breeda in the mix. on a cold night we lost power to the outbuilding where they were. im not sure what survived and what didn't all their colors were so close, the cochins were fairly easy to tell. now that they are getting older im starting to see some of the differences I should be seeing, but im not certain on a few. on the rhodebars I think I have 2 males and one female left, 2 females and 1 male on the golden cukoo marans and 2 basque males. there's still 7 basque hen colored im not sure about.

 

[loveourbirds]

i still have some studying on importing. so far i think i have to have the chickens vet checked at the farm, they must have a clean bill of health. the vet papers have to follow them through the foreign port. the united stats port has to have a vet on standby to check them when they arrive, again they must have a clean bill of health. i may be wrong but it appears they must be picked up at the airport. then i have to get them tested and certified for NPIP. i can see all kinds of expense, shipping alone will probably be a few hundred dollars.

I'll have to check in on the costs.

are we sure there is no descent breed-able stock in the US?