Iowa Blue Chicken

Iowa Blue chicken is a great dual purpose backyard breed. It was developed in the early 1900s near Decorah, Iowa. And the breed is quite rare now. The exact origin of Iowa Blue chicken is unknown.

But is the subject of a folk legened that is said to have involved the mating of a White Leghorn hen and a pheasant.

The breed is not actually blue according to poultry standards, despite it's name. Iowa Blue chicken has never been recognized officially be the American Bantam Association, American Poultry Association or any other breed standard.

Several hatcheries around Iowa sold the breed into the 1960s. But the Iowa Blue chicken nearly disappeared after those hatcheries either closed or stopped selling them. Some dedicated breed enthusiasts have preserved the breed into the 21st century (though their numbers remain small).

Since then they have been trying to distribute the breed to any interested parties in an effort to restore the breed. Review characteristics, behavior and full breed profile of Iowa Blue chicken below.

Iowa Blue Chicken Characteristics

Iowa Blue chicken is a dual purpose breed. It will produce sex-linked chicks when mated other breeds, especially with New Hampshire or Plymouth Rocks. The gender of the chicks can be determined by color upon hatching.

So it's a great plus if you want to raise males and females separately from a very early stage. Iowa Blue chicken doesn't have true blue feathering (despite being called 'blue').

iowa blue chicken, iowa blue chickens, iowa blue chicken egg production, iowa blue chicken facts, iowa blue chickens facts, iowa blue chicken egg color, iowa blue chickens egg color, iowa blue hen, iowa blue rooster, iowa blue chicken characteristics, iowa blue chicken behavior, iowa blue chicken temperament

Neck, breasts and head are white or silvery white, with a thin black stripe down the middle, which transitions to white-laced black feathers. And the remaining plumage in their body is bluish-black or gray with pencilling.

There are some differences between males and females in the back and saddle feathers. Iowa Blue chicken has red colored single comb, which is upright with six defined points.

They have red colored wattle and medium to moderately large sized red earlobes. Their shanks and toes are slate. Male Iowa Blue chickens weight about 3.2 kg and females about 2.7 kg.

Behavior/Temperament

Iowa Blue chicken is known to be a very good forager, and they will do well in free range conditions. They are vigorous breeders and are early maturing birds. This breed is not particularly flighty and fairly docile.

As a dual purpose breed, Iowa Blue chicken produce good number of eggs and can produce a fair amount of meat. Hens are great layers and will go broody. And they are also great mothers. Males being particularly competent hawk fighters are among the best guardians of a flock.

Now it can be difficult to find the Iowa Blue chicken and the breed is extremely rare. However, it's a great backyard flock. And by raising this breed, you can enjoy it's dual purpose capabilities and help to restore a near extinct breed. Review full breed profile of Iowa Blue chicken below.

Breed Name	Iowa Blue
Other Name	None
Breed Purpose	Dual Purpose (Meat & Eggs)
Breed Temperament	Calm
Breed Size	Large
Broodiness	Frequent
Comb	Single
Climate Tolerance	All Climates
Egg Color	Tan
Egg Size	Medium
Egg Productivity	Medium
Feathered Legs	No
Rarity	Rare
Varieties	Black

Comments

Murray Grey Cattle

The Murray Grey cattle are a breed of beef cattle from Australia. It was developed in the upper Murray River valley on the New South Wales. The breed was developed in 1905 from an initial chance mating of a black Aberdeen Angus bull and a roan Shorthorn cow during the Federation drought. From these matings the resulting thirteen dun-grey calves were kept as curiosities. And then Peter and Ena Sutherland bred them on the Thologolong property along the Murray River in New South Wales. Murray Grey cattle grew faster and were good converters of feed and produced quality carcases. These are the reasons this animals become very popular after their development. And local farmers became interested soon in these animals and began breeding them. The first large scale commercial farms were established in the 1940s. Today the breed is available in many countries. Both live Murray Grey cattle and embryos have been exported to many countries such as Canada, South America, New Ze...

Sorting Cattle

Sorting cattle is important if you have a large number of animals. For better management you will need to separate the animals into different groups depending on their age, size, gender or condition score. If some cattle of your herd need to be examined by a veterinarian or confined due to injury or illness, then separation may also need to be done. Sorting is also needed for separating the calves that need to be weaned from their mothers. And separating the bulls is also necessary after they have done their duty with breeding cows. Sorting Cattle Sorting cattle is not actually a difficult task. It can be done easily if you understand stockmanship principles that take advantage of bovine psychology and behavior. However, here we are describing more about the ways of sorting cattle. Sorting From a Squeeze Chute In this system you can move your cattle through a working corral into a chute system into the squeeze. In this system you can check and process animals f...

Andalusian Black Cattle Farming

Andalusian Black cattle farming is not too popular, even in it's native area. It is a relatively rare breed which is valued for meat production. But today, the breed is listed as 'endangered', and total number of the breed is very less. The Andalusian Black cattle is a taurine cattle breed, and it was originated in west Andalusia, Spain. It is also known by some other names such as Negra de las Campiñas, Negra Campiñesa and Spanish: Negra Andaluza. The Andalusian Black cattle is actually a beef cattle breed which is raised primarily for meat production purpose. The breed is found in two main areas of west Andalusia (from Cordova to the foothills of the Sierra Morena), and in the provinces of Seville, Cádiz and Huelva. Today, total population of the Andalusian Black cattle breed is very less. And there were about 800 purebred cattle in the year of 2007. Total number of this breed decreased mainly for crossbreeding with other local cattle breeds. Other reason...

Belted Galloway Cattle Farming

Belted Galloway cattle farming is popular, especially in it's native area. It is a beef cattle breed and raised mainly for meat production purpose. The breed is also known by some other names such as Beltie, Oreo Cow and Panda Cow. The Belted Galloway cattle breed was originated from Galloway in the west side of Southern Scotland. It is a heritage breed, and is well adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and wildswept moorlands of the region. Exact origins of the breed are unclear. But it is often surmised that the white belt of the breed may be a result of cross breeding with the Dutch Lakenvelder belted cattle. And the breed is named so mainly because of the belt. An association for the breed named the Belted Galloway Association was formed in 1921 in Scotland. And the name of the association was changed to Belted Galloway Society in the year of 1951. The association keeps and records pedigrees for Belted Galloways and oversees the registration of White and Re...

Cleaning A Cow

Cleaning a cow in the proper way can keep the animal look and feel fresh. Cleaning also help to prevent external parasites. You may also need to clean your cow to show it off at your local county fair or other occasions. And you need to clean your cows more often especially if you have dairy cows. You can integrate a spraying system for cleaning a cow once a day or so. Along with cleaning the body, you should also provide a footbath for better health of the cow's hooves. However, here we are describing more about the process of cleaning a cow. Sprinkler System Add Sprinkler in a Pre-milking Wash Pen You can construct a pre-milking wash pen with sprinklers for cleaning multiple cows. In this system, install sprinklers all along the pen you hold the cows in before milking. Using concrete for the floor will be good. It will help to keep the floor dry quickly and you will not have a constantly muddy area. You should spray sprinklers both up and down to wash the cows th...

Agerolese Cattle Farming

Agerolese cattle farming is not common, even in it's native area. It is a dairy cattle breed which is raised mainly for milk production purpose in it's native area. It is a pretty rare breed and not available outside it's native area. The Agerolese cattle is actually from the area of Agerola, in Campania in southern Italy. It was developed from cross-breeding of indigenous Podolica cattle with Bruna Italiana, Italian Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle. The breed is particularly associated with the Sorrento Peninsula and Monti Lattari. The Agerolese cattle is one of the 16 minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognized and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture. There were a total of 200 animals available according to a census completed on 1 January 2002. And the conservation status of the Agerolese cattle breed was reported by the FAO as 'endangered-maintained' in 200...

Ankole-Watusi Cattle Farming

Ankole-Watusi cattle farming is pretty popular, especially in it's native area. It is a multi-purpose breed of domestic cattle which is raised and valued for show, draught, meat and milk production purpose. The Ankole-Watusi cattle is a landrace breed, a type of Sanga cattle and originally native to East Africa. It is also known as Ankole Longhorn, and also sometimes known simply as Ankole or Watusi. Ankole-Watusi cattle is actually an ancient breed, and ancient rock paintings and depictions of these animals have been observed in the Sahara region and in the Egyptian arts and pyramid walls. The Sanga breed has spread to the Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and some other parts of Eastern Africa, becoming the base stock of the indigenous African cattle populations. It has most of the usual Zebu characteristics such as the pendulous dewlap and sheath, hump of variable size and the upturned horns. The Ankole-Watusi cattle have played a very important role in the lives of various ...

Search This Blog