General Information
- Breed Purpose
- Dual Purpose
- Comb
- Single
- Broodiness
- Frequent
- Climate Tolerance
- All Climates
- Egg Productivity
- Medium
- Egg Size
- Medium
- Egg Color
- Tan
- Breed Temperament
- Calm
- Breed Colors/Varieties
- Silver, Charcoal, Smoky and Birchen
- Breed Size
- Large Fowl
The Iowa Blue is an American breed that was developed in the early 1900's near Decorah, Iowa by John Logsdon. The original stock came in a unique form of the silver penciled pattern that made the hens appear to be a blue-grey color from a distance, hence the name. It was available through the 1960’s from several hatcheries, but it lost popularity and was nearly extinct before several dedicated breeders began efforts to preserve the remaining flocks in the 1980’s. It is currently undergoing a re-surge in popularity. The Iowa Blue breed club is currently working on fulfilling the requirements for APA recognition, they anticipate meeting the requirements by 2017.
The Iowa Blue is a dual-purpose bird, exceptional foragers with good predator awareness, and the roosters are good flock protectors especially against hawks. The hens are good layers, will go broody and are good mothers. They are an excellent breed for the homesteader and are becoming more popular with the backyard flock owner looking for a friendly productive brown egg layer.
A number of different breeds have gone into its make up, originally including Black Minorca, Rhode Island Red, White Rocks, and legend has it, a pheasant cock was used to produce the original stock.
It is currently found in four colors, Silver, Charcoal, Smoky and Birchen. They are single combed with medium sized comb and wattles. They are quite weather hardy, tolerating both heat and cold.
Iowa Blue chicks
Iowa Blue juveniles
Iowa Blue hen
Iowa Blue roosters
For more information on this breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-iowa-blue.986073/
