Silverudd blue

Medium blue Silverudd blue hen

The Silverudd blue is a chicken breed created by Martin Silverudd in the 1940s in Sweden.^[1] The chickens lay blue/green eggs, weighing 50-65 grams.^[2] The pedigree book of the breed is kept by the Svenska Kulturhönsföreningen - The Swedish Cultural Hen Association.^[3]

Looks[]

The Silverudd blue is a medium-sized chicken. Hens weigh up to 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb), while roosters can be considerably heavier: up to 2.5 kilograms (5.5 lb). It is a friendly, lively chicken, active and quick in its movements and reactions.

Color[]

The chicken itself is black, blue or splashed in color.^[4] The original, genetic base color of the Silverudd blue is black, which is genetically decolored to blue and splashed.

Silverudd blue young hens

Black Silverudd blue chickens have peacock iridescence in their otherwise pitch black/ebony plumage. Their feathers shimmer in the sunlight. The hens are usually a solid black, the roosters display shimmering metallic hackles (neck) and saddle (back), usually adorned with silver, occasionally gold.

Blue Silverudd blue chickens range from a pale grey-blue to a much darker blue, almost indigo tone. The hen can have one solid color, or have a blue tone with darker patches. The blue silverudd roosters display the same kind of metallic hackles and saddles in silver or gold as the black ones.

Splashed Silverudd blue chickens have a white base color, with a blue spotted pattern throughout their feathers. They hatch as white or a creamy yellow, before their adult feather costume is grown out.^[5]

History[]

When Martin Silverudd passed away in 1986, the Silverudd blue breed was called "Swedish green egg layer." It was most likely not finished as a breed. Thus, the breed is today varying in size, egg shell color, and body size. The breed was initially (and wrongfully) called Isbar, but has later been renamed "Silverudd blue" to honour its creator.^[2]

To create the breed, Martin Silverudd used a smaller individual of the New hampshire chicken breed, together with a Rhode Island Red individual. To create the pale blue egg shell color, he used some Creme legbar individuals. The characteristic blue color of the feathers probably is inherited from Australorp chickens.^[2] The breed is regarded as one of the old, Swedish cultural chicken breeds.^[4]

References[]