Silverudd's Blue

[PNWskye]

Yes I remember I thought Poppy was a roo too, that’s why I’m not sure Of my splash- it’s comb and wattles are smaller then the black one but the comb is there and honestly if it is a roo I wouldn’t be too sad because it has the nice dark eyes and I could breed it to my blue and splash hens that I have that also have dark eyes and nice legs color and they are amazing layers! I get 6-7 eggs a week from each and they are my favorite eggs with beautiful speckles most days!
how old is poppy now?

Poppy is 3 months old! He’s a good boy. Loves treats and to be held. He’s not the alpha cockerel and seems ok with it for now. I also love the dark eyes of Silverudd’s Blues, and it’s a preferred trait. Splash with Splash will produce splash babies, but they may be diluted splash. It’s best to breed a splash roo with a blue hen with dark legs! The genetics are so fun with this breed! Look at Poppy sunbathing and snuggling with one of my pups.

 

[PNWskye]

These chicks were 6 weeks 2 days old in these photos. The splash is roo and the blues are pullets. You can see how the pullets could easily pass for roos when photographed individually. I need to work with this line some more to see if this hold true across a larger sample size.

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Pretty! How old are they now? Do you have pics at 4 1/2 weeks old? I only had one chick, so I didn’t have a reference with another. I’ve seen a range of comb sizes at 4-6 weeks old too.

 

[chickenpolo]

Poppy is 3 months old! He’s a good boy. Loves treats and to be held. He’s not the alpha cockerel and seems ok with it for now. I also love the dark eyes of Silverudd’s Blues, and it’s a preferred trait. ❣ Splash with Splash will produce splash babies, but they may be diluted splash. It’s best to breed a splash roo with a blue hen with dark legs! The genetics are so fun with this breed! Look at Poppy sunbathing and snuggling with one of my pups. View attachment 2246090View attachment 2246091

Such sweet pictures! My blue rooster(Tristan) is the lowest rooster of 4 but he does fine by staying out of the other Roos way and keeps a small group of girls with him while free ranging and he seems happy with that. So far he is completely free of any aggressive traits(but he’s only 8 months) but he is protective of his girls and loves to find food for them and watch the sky for hawks! I did know that about splash x splash breeding and that’s why splash was my last choice of a roo for now because I only have the 2 hens and I wanted a blue or black to be able to get darker colors to work with- but things aren’t working out lolI just can’t figure out why Tristan and this new black roo chick have combs like that??? I’m assuming it’s a comb spur, but don’t know for sure. I just don’t want to breed in a bad trait.

 

[PNWskye]

@UThobbyfarmer, what do you look for at 1 week? Feathers, combs? I have some late blooming boys or girls. What do you think? They’re 4-5 weeks old in these pics. The collage has pics with the chicks around one week with Poppy (now known rooster) in the upper left and the two in question on the bottom.

 

[PNWskye]

Such sweet pictures! My blue rooster(Tristan) is the lowest rooster of 4 but he does fine by staying out of the other Roos way and keeps a small group of girls with him while free ranging and he seems happy with that. So far he is completely free of any aggressive traits(but he’s only 8 months) but he is protective of his girls and loves to find food for them and watch the sky for hawks! I did know that about splash x splash breeding and that’s why splash was my last choice of a roo for now because I only have the 2 hens and I wanted a blue or black to be able to get darker colors to work with- but things aren’t working out lolI just can’t figure out why Tristan and this new black roo chick have combs like that??? I’m assuming it’s a comb spur, but don’t know for sure. I just don’t want to breed in a bad trait.

On the bright side, you have at least one hen! I have none so far! There’s a Silverudd’s Blue group on Facebook that may help with your spur question. Check it out!

 

[PNWskye]

These chicks were 6 weeks 2 days old in these photos. The splash is roo and the blues are pullets. You can see how the pullets could easily pass for roos when photographed individually. I need to work with this line some more to see if this hold true across a larger sample size.

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Hi, just checking in...did the blues stay pullet-like or were they late bloomer boys?

 

[Cjsgnn]

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.

How Intresting!!!

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Hi, just checking in...did the blues stay pullet-like or were they late bloomer boys?

One was taken out by a predator at about 12-14 weeks. The one I have left is a hen! She started laying earlier this month at about 22 weeks old. Had the other bird survived I'm pretty confident it would also have been a hen as well. Here's a more current picture. She's the bird with her head up.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

@UThobbyfarmer, what do you look for at 1 week? Feathers, combs? I have some late blooming boys or girls. What do you think? They’re 4-5 weeks old in these pics. The collage has pics with the chicks around one week with Poppy (now known rooster) in the upper left and the two in question on the bottom.

I look for redder comb color and mannerisms when compared with other chicks of the same age and breed. Little roos act cocky right front the get go. They stand a bit straighter and can spar with each other almost immediately. They also tend to be slightly louder and more friendly. If you have a chick who checks off several of these things I'd say there's a good chance it's a roo. I go more by feel, less science.

 

[PNWskye]

One was taken out by a predator at about 12-14 weeks. The one I have left is a hen! She started laying earlier this month at about 22 weeks old. Had the other bird survived I'm pretty confident it would also have been a hen as well. Here's a more current picture. She's the bird with her head up.

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Oh, no! Sorry about your other baby! Glad to hear she’s a she!! Share her egg pic!! How egg-citing!