The First Exclusive BREED: Heavenly Sequoias™

When I began my chicken journey, I never dreamed I would love chickens as much as I do, nor did I imagine how creative it would be to breed for egg color, feather variations, and bird type. 

After a year in of learning about egg colors, types of chickens and feather variations and the ability to change genetics through creative breeding, I wanted to create my own.

I am a tall person and enjoy bigger animals, so it isn't surprising that I would want to create a large breed. I love thick, feathery, and sweet tempered breeds, and with that...I started crafting the Heavenly Sequoia™.

The very first HSq chicks were all blue, jumbo in size, and extra feathered. They were curious, friendly, and very mellow in nature. The photo above is an example of a 6 week old cockerel.

My first and second hatches gave me five Sequoia cockerels and four pullets. Three boys were a much darker blue and Wyatt along with another cockerel was a lighter blue. I had a surprising spangled version who was a knock out as a chick. I have photos below of his progression.

At that time, I really wanted to focus on the lighter blue, so I kept Wyatt as my main breeding rooster. In this photo, he was about 10-months old. Still quite the juvenille. He hadn't even started crowing yet.

I found that all of my boys matured much slower than every other breed I owned. HSqs crow later and breed later, but the hens start laying at a normal 5-7 months. I was shocked that two of my girls laid rose/mauve colored eggs and another laid eggs that had speckles. I did not realize that the eggs would be so HUGE in size. But it makes sense for the breed.

This photo is of an almost 2-year old Wyatt. His has gone through one molting and his body has filled out quite a bit. This is a perfect confirmation photo of this breed. His back is long and his tail is at a 45 degree. He is wider than taller and his legs are chunky and heavily feathered. His chest is very broad and his head is strong and regal, clean with long lobes and medium to long wattles. His face is masked red with sharp yellow/orange eyes and a medium length beak.

The signature Tiara™ comb is currently not found on any other breed. The roosters have a thick and short single row of pointed Navettes with another row of points that can extend out on either side of the center comb. I am referring to the extended outer points as Side Navettes and shorter points as Side Accents.

Not all HSq roosters have had the signature Tiara™ comb, which is why I am only currently using Wyatt and Thor as my breeding roosters. The hens also have a small Tiara™ comb which ranges in size and color. 

Sequoia chicks come in blue, smoke, splash, fawn, spangled, and laced. The most common color is light to medium blue, but I am being surprised by the new colors I have been getting out of each breeding hatch. As I hatch new chicks, I take meticulous notes, so I can determine which lines I want to keep in my breeding program and which lines I want to wait on for a future endeavor.

I will show the trio of this photo in a moment, but I wanted to focus on the Sequoia pullet as a juvenile. It is an awkward stage, more for the cockerels than the pullets, but I want to note with Lana that her feathering is closer to a smoke than a blue. As she has aged though, her feather coloring has lightened. Thor has been the same, which you will see below. Lana also has more of a Pea comb than a Tiara comb and small dark wattles, so though she is still a beautiful hen, my personal focus will be to have breeders with a pink Tiara and small pink wattles like Hannah.

The pullets start to lay between 5-7 months, are not broody, and they are not aggressive toward one another. 

This is Hannah as an adult hen. You can see what she looked like as a baby chick to the far left. As an adult hen, the feathers are light to dark blue with a darker lacing on the tips of each feather. This give an illusion of layered flower petals. I will have photos of the eggs down below.

Hannah has a pink Tiara comb and small pink wattles. They are a beautiful accent to her blue feathers and delicate facial features. This is my preference for my personal breeding sop, but it isn't necessary for the breed as a whole.

You can see how wide and plump her body is, the tail is at a 45 degree angle and her face is slightly pink masked. Her legs are heavily feathered and her head is regal and strong.

Egg color has been consistently a light pink, heavy bloomed rose/mauve (I have added a little water on the second egg so you can see the bloom) peach with speckles, and a medium brown with and without light or dark speckles. Sometimes the rose/mauve eggs will have speckles, but they will be cream colored instead of dark.

Here are Sequoia eggs from some of our newest girls who are laying the light pink eggs. The bloom is SO pretty. I just love the variety I get with this breed. They are Heavenly!!

The size of the Heavenly Sequoias™ are significant when put up against a medium and large sized egg. Most of the time, Sequoia eggs don't allow an egg carton to fully close. This breed lays 200-250 eggs per year.