Hi all! I'm very new to Iowa Blues and was wondering what sort of books/sites/guides people would recommend for planning a poultry breeding program? I've read (and reread) what's on this site and want to read even more. All my breeding experience is with dogs (Aussies) and sheep. I'd like to get a starter flock going of Iowa Blues and think I would like birds from multiple lines and cross them, but I could be way off base on that, especially with regards to still bringing the Blues back in general. And apparently it's not the way it's done with fish. (I work with a 'fish guy') Any recommendations/advice would be appreciated! I've wanted to settle on 'a' breed of chickens (okay, with some banties) for a while. So glad I've found Iowa Blues!

Bekka
SE Iowa

I am interested in this as well. Thank you!

Quote: bekkanblue wrote in post #1

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Hi all! I'm very new to Iowa Blues and was wondering what sort of books/sites/guides people would recommend for planning a poultry breeding program? I've read (and reread) what's on this site and want to read even more. All my breeding experience is with dogs (Aussies) and sheep. I'd like to get a starter flock going of Iowa Blues and think I would like birds from multiple lines and cross them, but I could be way off base on that, especially with regards to still bringing the Blues back in general. And apparently it's not the way it's done with fish. (I work with a 'fish guy') Any recommendations/advice would be appreciated! I've wanted to settle on 'a' breed of chickens (okay, with some banties) for a while. So glad I've found Iowa Blues!

Bekka
SE Iowa

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Quote: winnifred0702 wrote in post #2

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I am interested in this as well. Thank you!

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Here is a good article in this month's Backyard Poultry. If you go to their website and look on the main page under "Current Issue" you will see an article titled:

Produce Your Own: A Guide to Help You Start Breeding

Thanks for the article! It's answered some questions and given me more to track down! : ) There is so much information out there anymore, weeding it down can be a challenge.

Bekka, conserning your question about breeding options, it's really going to be up to you and what your flock goals are. Currently there are 4 different lines of Silver Iowa Blues: Sandhill, Dark Horse, Denny Johnston, and Hurley. If you find a particular strain that you're attracted to, then my advice would be to obtain stock from that line and work exclusively with that line adding new "blood" by adding new stock every few years from the breeder you obtained that particular strain from.
If you'd like to shake things up a bit, then obtain stock from two or more of the lines and interbreed them. A word of caution here.....because each line has traits that are specific and consistant to each unique line, when you mix the lines the offspring lose their constistancy and you'll be spending a few years developing a constistancy that can be expected from your breeding pens. The cool thing about this is that if you really study the Standard, hatch a lot of chicks, and cull aggressively to what you invision the Standard to mean to you, at the end you'll have a strain that is unique to your flock. Pretty neat stuff isn't it? Don't misunderstand, developing one's own strain takes time, good management, and eye for the Standard, determination to stay with one's plan, and hatching lots and lots and lots of chicks. But the reward is worth the work. And at the same time you add strength and vitality to a breed in desperate need of both.
Now, one could establish their own strain even if they obtained stock from one source, it typically just takes longer to breed a line of birds with unique traits when the singular line they originated from had a consistant production of type and quality.

Hope this helps some. To answer your question in a much easier way Bekka, pick whichever option you're most attracted to. Neither way is better than the other, it all boils down to a breeders ability to stay diligent and consistant in their project, and a determination to see the project though.