Sexing and Breeds

iceplyr

In the Brooder
Aug 9, 2016
11
1
14
Hi All!
I am REALLY enjoying this site and have found an amazing amount of useful information on it! Even made my own bucket waterers and feeders and have also made a gravity fed tube feeder. I'm about to make a second one and I'm also going to make an automatic waterer with 3/4 inch pvc and nipples. It's like second hat to me as I am an irrigation specialist! I may even throw in a few personal curves in the designs!! I have even built my own coops and plan on building a MUCH larger one probably 100X50 or so. Haven't worked it out yet as that is WELL in the future plans.

Any way I have a couple of questions about my [COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]Ameraucana Chickens. Right now they are 14 weeks old. I was wondering how soon I would be able to sex them and how. I see all kinds of videos and either I am doing it wrong or I have 12 hens, which is fine but I will need a male because I plan on breeding them and growing my flock. I used to do this on the farm when I was an older kid but then my family moved to the city :( and I was not able to start again until recently when I moved back to the country. I plan on this eventually taking over a my main source of income and, yes, I know what is involved and entails to do so. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]I also want to know if these are true Ameraucana's or Easter chicks. I'm new to this breed and got them because I thought they looked very pretty. I will get different breads later as well. I also have Rhode Island Reds and Sex Links. They are the same age and there is no doubt one of them is a male. Big comb and waddles. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]So I included pics of some of them. They all seem to have the same size comb and there does not seem to be a stand out in the bunch that would indicate a male. That is fine, I would just need to buy a male.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]Any and all help is appreciated just keep in mind that I HAVE done this before including hatching. In Fact I just bout and IncuView 27 egg incubator with the automatic Humidification kit. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]Thanks in advance and all y'all have been great![/COLOR]







 
So how can you tell if you are getting a real Ameraucana? Also what are the differences that make them a male or female? I have 12 of them and I want to look at them all
 
So how can you tell if you are getting a real Ameraucana? Also what are the differences that make them a male or female? I have 12 of them and I want to look at them all


True Ameraucana will always be sold as a certain color variety. For example Blue Ameraucana, Wheaten Ameraucana, Black Ameraucana, etc. Easter Eggers have no specific colors and so will never be sold as any specific one.

Ask what color eggs they will lay. True Ameraucana will lay ONLY blue. Those selling Easter Eggers are generally aware of their stock's ability to lay green and brown as well.

Ameraucanas will always have beards and ear muffs, slate legs, and a pea comb. Easter Eggers may or may not have any of those and can vary.

At this age, all you need to look at to sex them is feathering. Males have very distinctive feathering in the wing bow and saddle areas. This feathering is sharper, longer, and transparent around the edges. Females will always have rounded and solid-looking feathering in these areas. For younger birds, who have yet to develop dimorphic feathering, the comb is the most reliable indicator. Females will have a pale pink or yellow comb until they are within a few weeks of laying. Males will develop a larger, thicker, and much redder comb as young as four to six weeks but almost always by ten to twelve weeks. Males will be larger, and often friendlier. Their feet will often be significantly larger. Certain color patterns will distinguish males from females at a young age; in the case of Easter Eggers, males are often much brighter and patchier in color than females.
 
You can easily find a roo to add to your flock in the spring, unless, of course you are keeping a closed flock. I will not bring adult birds into my flock, but will add chicks or birds hatched from eggs that I bring in from other breeders. Obviously, no matter where you bring extra birds in, or what the age, there is some risk of bringing in disease. Less risk with chicks or eggs from a respected source. You could go to your state thread in the spring, and see if anyone has a EE or Am roo that they wintered over as a "back up plan". However, you have a roo that would also work nicely if his behavior is acceptable. RIR or sex link roo x EE will most likely produce chicks that give you a nice colored egg basket with some browns, green and aqua colored eggs in the next generation. I use my avatar roo to produce beautiful chicks that give me a nice egg basket. Depending on what he crosses with, he will produce a black or red sex link that lays brown, blue, green, olive, cream, aqua, or olive eggs with the added benefit of walnut or pea combs.

An other, often overlooked aspect of being able to manage a healthy flock with minimal risk from bringing in outside birds is to boost the immunity of your flock: good management practices including use of fermented feed, deep litter in coop and run, early exposure to native soils for chicks, and plenty of space to reduce flock stress are key, IMO. Even encouraging visits from wild turkeys helps with Marek's prevention. If I didn't have an abundance of wild turkeys visiting my yard, I think I'd be looking for a source of turkey poo to add to my bird's run.
 
You can easily find a roo to add to your flock in the spring, unless, of course you are keeping a closed flock. I will not bring adult birds into my flock, but will add chicks or birds hatched from eggs that I bring in from other breeders. Obviously, no matter where you bring extra birds in, or what the age, there is some risk of bringing in disease. Less risk with chicks or eggs from a respected source. You could go to your state thread in the spring, and see if anyone has a EE or Am roo that they wintered over as a "back up plan". However, you have a roo that would also work nicely if his behavior is acceptable. RIR or sex link roo x EE will most likely produce chicks that give you a nice colored egg basket with some browns, green and aqua colored eggs in the next generation. I use my avatar roo to produce beautiful chicks that give me a nice egg basket. Depending on what he crosses with, he will produce a black or red sex link that lays brown, blue, green, olive, cream, aqua, or olive eggs with the added benefit of walnut or pea combs.

An other, often overlooked aspect of being able to manage a healthy flock with minimal risk from bringing in outside birds is to boost the immunity of your flock: good management practices including use of fermented feed, deep litter in coop and run, early exposure to native soils for chicks, and plenty of space to reduce flock stress are key, IMO. Even encouraging visits from wild turkeys helps with Marek's prevention. If I didn't have an abundance of wild turkeys visiting my yard, I think I'd be looking for a source of turkey poo to add to my bird's run.

Interesting about the wild turkeys visiting. So now I shouldn't chase them and panic?
Anyway I wanted to mention about Easter Eggers and True Ameraucanas, which normally cost a LOT more. In most cases Easter Eggers lay more eggs per year than the Ameraucanas.
In my breedings and experiments (albeit very small) I've found the rooster has influences on his daughters. I've had pullets laying in the 4 to five month range and they were all sired by a rooster from a line that laid early. I could tell by their father's line what the girls were going to do.
Then this spring through a series of accidents and predation I found myself large fowl roosterless. A friend gave me a true Ameraucana. He is a sweetheart, excellent flock rooster and everything I would want in a breeding rooster. The only thing I have noticed is that I have his daughters who are now one week over seven months old and only one of ten is laying The others look like they could start any day.
All their mothers started in the five to six month range and the one who started at five months started laying in the shortest days, right at Christmas.
I did keep a lovely Easter egger son from an EE hen who started laying at 5.5 months and may see what happens if I breed him to some of my hens next year.
So little time, so many projects to accomplish!
 

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