Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds - Page 1777

Thank you both Jean and Barn Goddess, this has been so helpful and educational!  

We are still new to breeding for show, so we are still learning.  I know I have only scratched the surface of poultry genetics, and still have a lot to learn.  I know many traits are sex linked which is why I questioned the comments on the pullets beards (color leakage tends to show up in male stock ,so maybe it was sex linked, I was hoping).  They do not have any red feathers, but the beard feathers aren't shiny and don't have the green sheen you can see on the rest of the pullet's bodies.  Should beard feathers have the beetle sheen like the rest of the feathers in a good black?  I had been viewing b/b/s as a color family and that the outcomes were like math BB=black, Bb= blue, bb= splash.  I like your argument (or very good point) that the black is diluted by the blue, and actually that explains my situation perfectly.   I have a blue hen and the blue roo and both turn a brassy, dirty looking blue from sun damage.  So it stands to reason that they are passing that tendency on to their offspring and I am seeing it in the beards of the pullets. But that is different to me than leakage, and I hadn't blamed it on genetics, but on my flock management choices.  I have no problem with it being sun damage, I own up to that with pride.  It was the fact that  he thought it was genetic and linked to the gold leakage in the young roo that concerned me.    I am just so happy with this first generation, they are so lovely, their type is very good, the first pullet just started laying this week and has the most beautiful egg color..... leakage to me means culling to get rid of the extra colors,   I don't want to cull these girls, I am to attached/pleased with them.    

 

  So I need to replace my blue roosters with a good type black and we will be in good shape.  Can the shanks on a black be to dark?  Are black shanks wrong?  The judge preferred the light slate blue shade my blue cockerel had at the show and said it was most correct.  Do the melanizers that affect shank color also affect feather color?   If I read your post correctly Barn Goddess, if my blacks are "black enough" the beards should hold up to the sun as well as the body of my birds are now?   I need to buy a new SOP, I bought one off amazon and it is a reprint from 1920, which isn't helping me much ....   Thanks again for all your help, I am feeling much more cheerful.  

Just my two cents from someone who has Black Ams in New Mexico at a mile high altitude, (not the great white north),   Black (any Black) takes a serious hit from sunlight.  ALL my black hens have brown beards prior to molting.  Their beards return to black once molted and then degrade from there.  If it is leakage the discoloration will be present in a bird's feathers as they are growing out..

 

I also have Black Cochins, they do the same thing.  Every color layer I have in my layer pen fades and loses its sheen as the year progresses.  My Light Brahmas have to stay on my porch if I wish to show them.

that is cute...

 

Wow, they are beautiful!

Shanks on a black bird are supposed to be very dark slate to black.

 

I am primarily a blue breeder, and inexperienced at that, so this advice from someone that does work with black is probably far more valuable than mine. What I have found is that black from my blues fade more than "true" blacks. I hesitate to call them "true" black, it's just that I think a person working with black will concentrate on genes that enhance black whereas the blacks that spit out of blue breedings may not have all the same melanizers. A blue breeder, for example, may be more concerned with lacing and not melanisers at all when making breeding decisions. I believe someone looking to work with black might want to know if the black bird is from a blue line or exclusively black. (I know that is the case with Marans. Silkie breeders actually separate black and blue, working with blue/splash and leaving black alone - which leaves me wondering how to label the birds that spit out of my blue/splash looking black!) I wonder if some of the "blacks" being produced aren't, in fact, very dark blue, in other words, carrying the Bl gene, but also loads of melanisers. I've got an Ameraucana growing out right now that I'm wondering about. Down was "blue-ish". Feathers are coming in black but not glossy black. More of a charcoal colour which I find intriguing.

 

An observation I've made with my black v blue copper Marans - the fluff on the bums of the black girls produced by blues fades and "reddens" far more than the butt fluff of the girls produced from pure black copper lines. The black copper girls' bum fluff also tends to start out blacker as well.

 

It does sound like the judge you had working with the 4-H bunch gave you some extremely valuable feedback that has been thought provoking and will, no doubt, help you with your breeding and house-keeping decisions down the road.

I have nothing of imprtance to say, just randomly throwing in a wet bird picture :)

BarnGoddess)1, I love the pics of Mom, Dad, and the marans babies.  Your broody box looks great--I've been looking for some ideas for one.  You need to sell those.

I've broken down and done it. Wasn't gonna do it but when I saw her I couldn't resist.



Also got two black/lavender split ( I think yawl call it) pullets and a pretty nice young black cockerel. They are in the shade and can't get a good pic right now, so I'll do that later. The man may have a lavender rooster for me in a while.