nothing super-recent -- there's a resident bobcat near my home, & none of the chickens have been out of their pens for over a month -- but getting the tall grass near their pens cut today, so fewer hiding places for the feline!
and here's one from over winter:
i actually have four SB roosters at this point, but Jackson (on the left) is my favorite boy... he's still young but increasingly gorgeous.
So beautiful!!!nothing super-recent -- there's a resident bobcat near my home, & none of the chickens have been out of their pens for over a month -- but getting the tall grass near their pens cut today, so fewer hiding places for the feline!
and here's one from over winter:
i actually have four SB roosters at this point, but Jackson (on the left) is my favorite boy... he's still young but increasingly gorgeous.
impressive.
He's growing up!
He's growing up!
My wife took that photo. She might have enhanced it somehow, but he's really getting pretty. He just hit 5 months old and let out his first crow about a week ago. He has since found his voice! Not a mean bone in his body though.
Any word on how they are doing on recreating the White ISbar?A brief history of Martin Silverudd and a few of his breeds
Martin Silverudd was a Swedish monk with a passion for breeding chickens. His desire was to create highly productive chickens that laid beautiful colored eggs. In 1956, Silverudd imported some Cream Legbar chickens from England. They were highly susceptible to disease, so he crossed them with the Swedish Leghorn (with 25% New Hampshire blood) and created the Silverudd's Safir (Sapphire). These laid a blue and/or green egg.
In the 1960's, Martin Silverudd used the Plymouth Rock, New Hampshire, Cream legbar (probably indirectly through the Silverudd's Sapphire) and finally RIR, Alexander line, to create the original Isbar (probably an acronym for Island Silver Barred), also referred to as the Silver Barred Rhode Island Red. The Isbar was a grönäggsvärpare, or green egg layer. This breed became all but extinct in Sweden, but is now being recreated by breeders in Sweden working off of Silverudd's notes. This is a picture of a pair from that project (photo courtesy of Andreas Harrysson and used by permission):
In the 1970's, Martin Silverudd created another green egg laying breed with plumage in the colors of blue, black and splash. It is reported to be 75% Rhode Island Red and 25% New Hampshire, with Cream Legbar added for the blue egg gene. Some texts I have read also suggest that the Swedish Leghorn may have been used. His working name for this breed was Svensk Grönäggsvärpare, or Swedish Greenegglayer. No official description of this breed was filed before Silverudd's death in 1986. Sometime after Martin's death, in the 1990's, this breed became known as Isbar Blå, or Isbar Blue, probably due to some confusion in Silverudds notes. It is this breed that was first imported into the United States in 2012 and became known here as the Isbar or Blue Isbar.
The name Isbar is actually a misnomer for this breed as they are not now nor have they ever been barred. Plus, it causes confusion with the original Isbar as the two breeds are not related. However, Silverudd's working name for this breed, Svensk Grönäggsvärpare, or Swedish Greenegglayer, is too generic as it also used to refer to crossbred green egg layers (similar to our term Easter Egger).
The Svenska Kulturhönsföreningen, or Swedish Culture Poultry Association, was formed in 2012. They maintain a studbook of the foundation flocks of the breeds developed by Martin Silverudd in Sweden and are responsible for the recreation of the original Isbar. This past weekend, at their annual meeting, the Board of Directors and the Breed Coordinators made the decision to officially change the name of the Isbar Blå (Isbar Blue or Blue Isbar) to Silverudds Blå (Silverudd's Blue) - Silverudd's to honor the man who did so much for Swedish breeds and Blue to describe the color.
As the word spreads, I believe many breeders in this country, myself included, will start referring to our stock as Silverudd's Blue.
They are coming along on the project. I get regular updates on my FB page about the project from the Project Coordinator, Andreas Harrysson, in Sweden. God willing and the creek don't rise, we will be importing some eggs from this project this fall and the director will be guiding us to continue it here in the States, too.
They are coming along on the project. I get regular updates on my FB page about the project from the Project Coordinator, Andreas Harrysson, in Sweden. God willing and the creek don't rise, we will be importing some eggs from this project this fall and the director will be guiding us to continue it here in the States, too.
