Isbar Chickens come in three colors.  Blue, Black, and Splash.   Since Isbar chickens do not breed true to their color, you will get different colors based upon the parents.  Here are the percentages.

Blue x Blue = 50% Blue, 25% Black, 25% Splash
Blue x Splash = 50% Blue, 50% Splash
Blue x Black = 50% Blue, 50% Black
Black x Splash = 100% Blue
Black x Black = 100% Black
Splash x Splash = 100% Splash

As you can see from the table above, there are ways to predetermine the offspring’s color by knowing who the parents are.   The most sought after color is blue.  However, to get 100% blue you do not want a blue.  You would want a splash and a black.  So for breeding purposes you truly want a mix of all 3 colors in your flock.   That is what we have here at Omega Hills Farm.  Our isbar chicks come in all three colors but they are weighted toward producing more blue than anything else.   Our Isbar eggs are like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you are going to get.

In the picture below you can see our black rooster with a few splash hens and one blue hen.

Sparky and his girls

Yesterday was a big day on the farm.  Our very first home grown bielefelder chicks popped out of their shell!  These little ones are  already spoken for and along with their brothers and sisters  and will have a new home shortly.   We have an incubator full of eggs so they are just the first of many hatchlings to come.

Notice how you can tell the difference between the male and female chicks in the picture below.

It’s easy to tell between the male and female chicks

We have a new breed of chicks on the farm this week. The Augsburger. Due to their imposing image we have affectionately nicknamed them “pollo diablo”.

Augsburger Rooster

This extremely rare breed from Bavaria had a population of under 150 total birds on the planet just a few years ago. Our variety is black with a greenish sheen throughout. This is an older breed that originated near the city of Augsburg in around 1880. The two main ingredients are the French La Fleche and Italian Lamotte breeds.

The most striking feature of this breed has to be the almost buttercup comb. A proper augsburger comb should split into two “single” combs after the first couple of points. This results in what appears to be a cup comb. To be proper there must be two separate blades that come together in the rear. While our chicks do not have their combs yet, it will be fun to watch them grow into the “pollo diablo”!

This current batch is now being housed in “Big Momma”. You can view the live feed of the brooder cam here.

Augsburger Chicks

Augsburger Chicks

Augsburger Chicks

Augsburger Chick

Augsburger Chick

Here is a picture of two new chicks to the farm. A Bielefelder Cockerel and an Isbar chick that seem to be best of buds.  This Isbar is one tough chick.  It is the lone survivor of an order of chicks that came in.  Sad to say his traveling companions did not make it through the trip.  So he had to befriend some of the bielefelder chickens.

Here is a picture of a white leghorn chick that hatched yesterday!