Ameraucana Temperaments

I haven't had as much experience with purebred Ameraucanas as some, but what limited experience I have had has been a real turnoff with the breed. The hens seem to be ok but the cockerels can be the bullies of the barnyard. Mine was of excellent breeding and while calm and good natured around me, my hens hated him and he was a killer to other cockerels. I wouldn't mind going with Ameraucanas but I have no desire to spend money only to find myself with a repeated mistake. The only breed I have found to be cannibalistic have been pure Araucanas. My cockerels have been nasty to people too. They didn't last long, despite the fact I think they have a lot going for them otherwise.
 
An old thread but there's still some input going on.

I've had a Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (my avatar pic at 5 m/o) for 2 yrs now and she's been the love of our flock. We loved her so much we went w/ a breeder of Blue Ameraucanas and this 2nd Blue girl is just as kooky spooky jittery jumpy alert wary and coos when held as much as our BWAm. Ppl who get Amers or even EEs for that matter don't realize these birds are nurturing and kind in spite of their hyperactive jumps and squawks. These girls are non-combative and would rather flee than fight yet are not wimps and have the bravery to throttle and chase stray cats out of the yard. Their primary gentle nature often puts them in the middle to bottom of flock politics so we don't mix heavier popular dual purpose breeds w/ Amers. Amers prefer being sentinels and guardians of barnyard alerts rather than alpha leaders of the flock. Many of them will stay on alert in the coop until the door is closed for the night.

If we can't see our BWAm in the backyard we call her name, she'll squawk back once, and then come running through the tall grasses and plants to find out why we called to her. Our BWAm gets chest-bumped by the Silkies and she could easily throttle them but instead she is non-combative and submissive and doesn't hurt the bantams. OurFlyBabies.com said they always keep a flock of BWAms because of their nurturing kindness - they accept orphaned chicks or injured birds into the flock where other breeds are not so willing. We found this true of our BWAm and hope our new Blue Am will be the same. We contacted a breeder that bred BBS Amers for good temperament and show standards and so far at 4 m/o she acts very much like our BWAm - sweet, jumpy, non-combative and allows handling and petting. Because of her Amer nature she already is submissive and non-combative toward the Blue Breda - they were shipped together and were brooder mates.
 
I have a blue ameracauna and she's awful ! She's very aggressive to other birds, to the point where she's attacked and killed our rooster. When she was little she was our pet and lived in the house with us. We eventually moved her to the coop but she immediately started attacking our flock of 14. She lived in her pen coop in a shared run, separated by chicken fencing. It took months and months... Like neatly a year for her to be able to live with the rest of the birds. She's fantastic with them now but we cannot add any more birds to our flock. This is upsetting Bc we just ordered more babies who will be ready to move in with the others soon. I don't want to get rid if "penguin" but we may have to... Or put her back In her own coop.

It's almost as if she's the rooster of the flock. And she only lays about 3x a year ...
 
I have a blue ameracauna and she's awful ! She's very aggressive to other birds, to the point where she's attacked and killed our rooster. When she was little she was our pet and lived in the house with us. We eventually moved her to the coop but she immediately started attacking our flock of 14. She lived in her pen coop in a shared run, separated by chicken fencing. It took months and months... Like neatly a year for her to be able to live with the rest of the birds. She's fantastic with them now but we cannot add any more birds to our flock. This is upsetting Bc we just ordered more babies who will be ready to move in with the others soon. I don't want to get rid if "penguin" but we may have to... Or put her back In her own coop.

It's almost as if she's the rooster of the flock. And she only lays about 3x a year ...

I've seen many feedbacks about the mean-ness of Blue Amers and the nice-ness of Blue Amers. So far our new Blue Am is behaving but then she's only 4 m/o. She is starting out in temperament just like our BW Amer hen did so we're hoping for the best. The breeder says they're selectively bred for good temperaments and to show standard so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The Breda companion that was shipped w/ the Blue Amer is a real doll, inquisitive, calm, and took to our handling immediately. She even weathered a vet visit this morning w/ flying colors. She played w/ the buttons on the weight scale, preened herself while 3 of us were in the room w/ her, and when the office cat came up to sniff her she just looked at him and went back to her preening. She is the mellowest pullet I've ever had and just the opposite of the spooky, jittery, jumpy Blue Amer. In about 2-3 weeks I'll be putting the two pullets in their own pen outdoors so the old flock will get used to having the new girls around. Eventually between 5-6 m/o I'll completely integrate into one flock.

I'm really surprised at the egg output of your Amer. Our BW Amer (my avatar) lays about 4x/week at 2 y/o (last year it was more like 5x) but she continues laying until she reaches molt and then she'll stop laying for about 2 months. So far she has never been broody and really her job is not mothering - she's more the guardian sentinel of the flock. She's been chasing stray cats out of the yard. She must be doing a good job as teacher because this morning the 2 Silkies and 1 Amer in tandem chased off a stray cat - he won't be back for a long time! It must be terrifying having 3 small Angry Birds chasing you while sounding the barnyard alert at the top of their clucks!
 
I got mine as eggs from StormStryder Poultry. They're in one of the Carolinas (I forget which, at the moment). That's pretty far from you, though, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE these birds, and I'd ordered them more or less because I thought they were pretty and thought it might be nice to have a couple blue egg layers along with my Faverolles.

Edited to add:

Here's their website. Looks like it's North Carolina.
Do you know if they are still in business? Sorry, i know this post is super old....thank you!!!
 

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