Some backround:
I got into chickens from my local 4-H livestock club. The chickens (and other animals, goats, sheep,cows,pigs,ducks,turkeys,etc) are kept at a local park/farm. The have a large flock, 20-30 birds of various ages and breeds. Nugget is the only one that is mine. They do not keep roosters. This year, all of the chicks were Ameraucanas.
Review:
I was very excited t meet my chick for the first time. Around 2 weeks old, they were in a fenced off area inside the coop with a window so the public could see them. All the chicks were very skittish and would run to the corner of the pen. After a few moments some would settle down a little, though would still run if I moved suddenly. Fast forward a few months, they have just been released with the older birds. While Nugget, and most of them (they're 8-10 weeks around now) would still run from me, and they are fast, some wouldn't run right away. Still fairly skittish at this age.
While Nugget is always a pain to catch the adult Ameraucanas (and some other breeds) will come right up to me and let me pet them, though it's a rule that we can't pick up chickens that aren't ours without the owner there. The adult Ameraucanas seem to leave the young ones alone, though the other breeds don't nessasarily. We get 5-20 eggs a day, from a flock of about 20-30, with about 8 young ones, so I don't know how much they actually lay, but I've been told they lay very well. Similarly, I can't tell you how loud they are because, aside from the other breeds mixed into the flock, the ducks nearby are way too noisy for you to ever hear any of the chickens.
The last thing I'd like to mention, and maybe this isn't specific to the breed, I'm still fairly new at this as my two chicks at home are only 4 weeks, is how interesting and different their personalities are. One will go up high every chance it gets, while another seems to be afraid of hights. It's extremely funny to watch them run around.
I got into chickens from my local 4-H livestock club. The chickens (and other animals, goats, sheep,cows,pigs,ducks,turkeys,etc) are kept at a local park/farm. The have a large flock, 20-30 birds of various ages and breeds. Nugget is the only one that is mine. They do not keep roosters. This year, all of the chicks were Ameraucanas.
Review:
I was very excited t meet my chick for the first time. Around 2 weeks old, they were in a fenced off area inside the coop with a window so the public could see them. All the chicks were very skittish and would run to the corner of the pen. After a few moments some would settle down a little, though would still run if I moved suddenly. Fast forward a few months, they have just been released with the older birds. While Nugget, and most of them (they're 8-10 weeks around now) would still run from me, and they are fast, some wouldn't run right away. Still fairly skittish at this age.
While Nugget is always a pain to catch the adult Ameraucanas (and some other breeds) will come right up to me and let me pet them, though it's a rule that we can't pick up chickens that aren't ours without the owner there. The adult Ameraucanas seem to leave the young ones alone, though the other breeds don't nessasarily. We get 5-20 eggs a day, from a flock of about 20-30, with about 8 young ones, so I don't know how much they actually lay, but I've been told they lay very well. Similarly, I can't tell you how loud they are because, aside from the other breeds mixed into the flock, the ducks nearby are way too noisy for you to ever hear any of the chickens.
The last thing I'd like to mention, and maybe this isn't specific to the breed, I'm still fairly new at this as my two chicks at home are only 4 weeks, is how interesting and different their personalities are. One will go up high every chance it gets, while another seems to be afraid of hights. It's extremely funny to watch them run around.