The Delaware Blue Hen is a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

strain of American gamecock. It was adopted on April 14, 1939, as the state bird of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. It is one of three U.S. state birds that is not a species native to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History

The Blue Hen is not a recognized chicken breed. According to one story, during the Revolutionary War, the men of Captain Jonathan Caldwell's company, recruited in Kent County, took with them game chickens that were said to be of the brood of a famous Blue Hen and were noted for their fighting ability. The sports teams of the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

are called the Blue Hens, and their

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

YoUDee YoUDee (pronounced yoo-dee) is a mascot of the University of Delaware, along with Baby Blue. It is an anthropomorphic "fighting Blue Hen", and its species is the blue hen, as the state bird of Delaware. While YoUDee appears masculine and can have ...

, derives from the bird. In the 1960s S. Hallock duPont, who bred Blue Hens (though not derived from the original Kent County stock), gave twelve birds to the University, which keeps a small flock at its College of Agriculture & Natural Resources. The birds have been

cross-bred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

with birds of the

Blue Andalusian The Blue Andalusian, es, Andaluza Azul, italic=no, is a breed of domestic chicken indigenous to the autonomous community of Andalusia in south-west Spain. It is distributed through much of the countryside of Córdoba and Seville, and is con ...

breed from Spain, and have acquired many of its characteristics. They are Mediterranean in appearance, and no longer resemble the original fighting birds. The Blue Hen is also the emblem of the

166th Airlift Wing The 166th Airlift Wing (166th AW) of the Delaware Air National Guard (DANG) is stationed at New Castle Air National Guard Base, Delaware. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. O ...

and its

142d Airlift Squadron The 142d Airlift Squadron (142d AS) is a unit of the Delaware Air National Guard 166th Airlift Wing located at New Castle Air National Guard Base, Delaware. It is equipped with the Delaware Air National Guard, C-130H Hercules. Overview The miss ...

, stationed in Delaware.

References

Symbols of Delaware {{Delaware-stub