Whiting True Blue Chicken – Breed Profile & Facts

Although Whiting True Blue chickens are a relatively new chicken breed, these birds are prolific layers. They are known for laying large blue eggs. These chickens have a good disposition, and they are also heat tolerant.

Whiting True Blue hens seldom go broody. Overall, Whiting True Blue chickens are a worthy addition to any bird flock owing to their high egg-laying capabilities and their docile nature.

History of Whiting True Blue Chicken

Dr. Whiting from Colorado is the creator of this amazing egg-laying breed. It took Dr. Whiting over a decade to create Whiting True Blue chickens since he had to cross Leghorn and Araucana chickens to create these chickens.

These chickens became popular in North America around the fall of the 1990s. They have since become a breed of choice for poultry farms raising chickens primarily for egg production.

Whiting True Blue Chicken Characteristics

Whiting True Blue chickens come in several colors: blue-wheaten, silver blue, blue-red, and lemon blue. The birds’ feathers come in multiple colors, including black-breasted red, solid blue, and black. These chickens have yellow legs and pea combs due to crossing with leghorns.

These chickens like freedom and therefore provide your birds with plenty of space to help them run around. Whiting True Blue chickens are excellent for free-range farms. Although these chickens don’t let their owners handle them, they aren’t aggressive, and they like human interaction.

These chickens are pretty active, and hence they need plenty of water and food to boost their energy levels. Although they are noisy, they are awesomely heat and cold resistant. In addition, these chickens are curious and friendly.

Whiting True Blue chickens are known to coexist peacefully with almost every non-aggressive chicken breed.

– Size & Weight

Whiting True Blue chickens are medium-sized chickens. Hens weigh around 5.5 pounds, while adult roosters can weigh 9 pounds. Depending on their diet and care, some Whiting True Blue chickens can grow bigger than their average size.

– Temperament

These beautiful layers are inherently charismatic. Whiting True Blue chickens might not be among the easy to tame chicken breeds since these birds value their freedom. They love running all over the place while foraging in backyards and gardens.

These aren’t the easiest chickens to handle since they detest handling. In addition, they don’t make great bird pets since they don’t even allow their owners to handle them.

Nevertheless, these chickens have a pretty friendly temperament. Moreover, Whiting True Blue chickens are quite active and non-aggressive. While Whiting True Blue chickens aren’t necessarily docile, these chickens aren’t wild, and you can keep them together with other breeds.

However, never keep these chickens together with other aggressive birds since they will be victims of bullying by aggressive chickens. Whiting True Blue chickens are capable of withstanding environments with varying climates.

– Lifespan

Whiting True Blue chickens are hardy birds with an impressive lifespan compared to many chicken breeds. On average, Whiting True Blue chickens live between 5 and 10 years. However, diseases and predation can shorten the lifespan of these birds. On the other hand, Whiting True Blue chickens can live longer than a decade when their keepers give them proper diet and care.

Although these free-range chickens are highly vulnerable to predators, they can live longer than their average lifespan if you keep your birds safe from predators. Good living conditions can also help your Whiting True Blue chickens live for over a decade.

For instance, Whiting True Blue chickens living in clean conditions can live much longer than their counterparts living in environments with poor sanitation conditions.

– Egg Production

Whiting True Blue chickens are fascinating egg layers. These chickens can lay up to 300 blue eggs yearly. This number of eggs exceeds the average 250 eggs that most high egg-laying breeds produce annually. Young Whiting True Blue hens lay medium-sized eggs at the start of their egg-laying cycle.

The egg size keeps on increasing as the hens mature. Proper nutrition and excellent care can help your Whiting True Blue hens lay bigger eggs over time. For instance, Whiting True Blue chickens can lay more eggs upon consuming high-quality feed.

Hens that consume loads of proteins have a high chance of laying more eggs. Such hens also tend to lay large blue eggs following prolonged protein intake.

The advantage of keeping Whiting True Blue chickens for eggs is that these chickens lay longer than the average chickens. Furthermore, these chickens aren’t eager to sit on their eggs. Instead, they will lay continuously for up to 3 years.

Although their egg production capabilities will diminish after three years, you will still occasionally get large blue eggs from your Whiting True Blue chickens.

– Meat Production

Although Whiting True Blue chickens are terrific egg layers, they aren’t the best chicken breeds to keep for meat. These birds score dismally in terms of meat production. They aren’t heavy and therefore less suitable for meat production. However, Whiting True Blue roosters can be ideal for meat production since they are bigger than hens.

Even roosters from this breed can’t produce a decent supply of meat like roosters from other meat breeds. Therefore, avoid keeping Whiting Blue chickens for meat since they are pretty poor meat producers.

Instead, keep these chickens for eggs rather than meat. Notwithstanding their poor meat production capabilities, adult chickens can produce enough quality meat to feed a couple of people.

Whiting True Blue Chicken Care

Whiting True Blue chickens have several maintenance requirements compared to other egg-laying breeds. These chickens require specialized care to maintain their egg-laying capabilities.

For instance, Whiting True Blue chickens need plenty of space since they always run around. Furthermore, these birds require plenty of food to maintain their energy levels since they are some of the most active poultry birds. Most importantly, keepers of these chickens are responsible for keeping their birds disease-free.

– Feeding & Nutrition

Whiting True Blue chickens require feed with the right nutritional formulation. These chickens grow quickly and lay more when they have nutritious foods at their disposal.

For instance, baby chicks from this breed have special requirements compared to adult Whiting True Blue chickens. For example, chicks need around 18% to 20% protein after hatching. Protein will help your Whiting True Blue baby chicks build muscles.

Furthermore, protein helps promote chicks’ bone integrity and strength in their crucial stages of development. Reduce your chicks’ protein intake to around 16% once they reach 19 weeks. Whiting True Blue chicks need plenty of water-soluble vitamins in their diet. Chicks require all vitamins apart from vitamin C since their bodies aren’t strong enough to synthesize this vitamin.

Minerals are equally essential for Whiting True Blue chicks as they are to adult Whiting True Blue chickens. From hatching, baby chicks need to feed on a starter feed with loads of calcium, magnesium, copper, and phosphorus. Apart from vitamins, older chicks need a steady supply of healthy grains such as soybean meal, wheat, and a moderate amount of corn. Grains contain minerals, protein, and vitamins,  which are quite essential for older chicks.

Adult Whiting True Blue chickens are extremely active birds. Given these birds’ high energy requirements, they need plenty of food to meet their energy requirements. Roosters are highly active, and they require high-energy food items such as grains and seeds to boost their energy levels. Roosters also love rice (both cooked and uncooked) and fresh corn.

Furthermore, roosters thrive well on vegetables since vegetables such as lettuce and broccoli are abundant vitamins. Vitamins will help your Whiting True Blue roosters to develop a robust immune system.

Although protein is equally crucial for Whiting True Blue roosters, these roosters don’t require loads of protein, unlike baby chicks, egg-laying hens, and adult chickens. Giving your roosters feed with a moderate amount of protein will help them build muscles, making them suitable for butchering.

Whiting True Blue Hens need a quality feed to supplement their everyday diet, even if your hens will be foraging their favorite food items outdoors. The feed you provide to your hens should have all the essential nutrients hens need for proper growth and steady egg production.

Hens need a high protein intake like baby chicks. Although your hens will continue laying even when they lack enough protein, the quality of eggs your hens will lay will be remarkably poor when they experience protein deficiency.

Therefore, ensure your egg-laying Whiting True Blue hens consume at least 18% protein daily. Backyard hens will get much of their protein from bugs, but the protein won’t be sufficient, and therefore consider introducing protein supplements to your backyard hens.

Like any egg-laying chicken breed, Whiting True Blue hens also require calcium in their diet. Calcium won’t only help your hens maintain good bone health, but calcium will also strengthen your hens’ eggshells. Sprinkle some calcium supplements over your hens’ regular feed to increase their calcium intake.

While feeding your Whiting True Blue chickens, don’t forget to provide the birds with clean water to help the chicken digest food. Backyard hens become thirsty easily since they move a lot, and having water around is paramount to keeping the hens hydrated.

Place the water containers in clean areas where the hens won’t mess with the water making it dirty. Most importantly, keep changing the water in the containers and clean the containers thoroughly to prevent dirt and bacterial buildup.

– Housing

Whiting True Blue chickens need larger living space than other chickens since they love moving around. Backyard chickens will be walking around throughout the day; although they still need somewhere, they can roost and seek safety from predators at night.

Even when indoors, these chickens will never stop walking around. Therefore, providing enough living room for your chickens is critical. Besides giving your chickens enough space, you should also ensure their cage gives them 100% protection from predators that could be lurking around the cage.

Whiting True Blue chickens need more and bigger nest boxes since they are fantastic layers. If you don’t install enough nest boxes in their cage, these chickens will lay everywhere, and you will have difficulty collecting eggs. Ideally, provide a nest box for every three or four hens in your flock.

– Health Problems

Like other chicken breeds, Whiting True Blue chickens also fall sick. Despite these chickens’ lively and healthy nature, these birds can still catch various chicken diseases.

Among the most health problems that affect Whiting True Blue chickens is the Common Bacterial Disease, which makes these chickens lose appetite, grow weak, and become less active. Not only is this disease deadly to Whiting True Blue chickens, but it is also highly contagious.

Other diseases that affect Whiting True Blue chickens include Avian influenza, Avian Cholera, Salmonellosis, and Avian Tuberculosis. Check for signs of these diseases and isolate the sick chickens to prevent them from spreading diseases to other healthy flock members.

Furthermore, check for signs that your Whiting True Blue chickens could be having a health problem. Some of these signs that require urgent intervention from a vet include sneezing, diarrhea, loss of appetite, reduced egg production, and swollen body parts.

Can Whiting True Blue Chickens Fly?

Yes, Whiting True Blue chickens can fly since they are flighty by nature. However, these chickens seldom fly unless under threat. They will barely fly for long since their wings can’t allow them to fly for long. Furthermore, these chickens are docile though active, and they won’t fly from your backyard once they get used to their environment.

How Much Do Whiting True Blue Chickens Cost?

Whiting True Blue chickens are relatively cheaper birds. On average, Whiting True Blue roosters cost anywhere below $10, depending on the size of the rooster. Hens cost between $8 and $12, while baby chicks sell below $3.

Are Whiting True Blue Chickens Loud?

Yes, Whiting True Blue chickens are pretty loud. These birds can’t remain silent. They are even noisy when eating and laying. Hens are quite loud, although roosters are loud but not as loud as hens. Roosters tend to be loud when warming other chickens of lurking danger.

Conclusion

Whiting True Blue chickens are wonderful chickens for anyone planning on venturing in poultry, specifically with interest in egg production. These chickens are exceptional since they are known to lay blue eggs, contrary to most breeds which lay either white or brown eggs. Furthermore, True Blue chickens have a longer lifespan than most egg-laying breeds.