Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[cafrhe]

Here are 2 of the chicks. They hatched Wed afternoon through Thurs some time. Doing more research, they do look a lot like some pics posted as pure AM chicks. I just thought I had read on one of the AM threads that yellow meant it must be a mix.

 

[msv92]

They are adorable

 

[MrsBachbach]

Yes this is how you can tell them apart . Creamy yellow to almost white down is what I was referring to .

Ok, that's what I thought, just wanting to make sure I didn't misunderstand. What, if anything, do you feel is the significance between the white down and the yellow down? Does that tell us anything about the genes they may carry?

 

[MrsBachbach]

Here are 2 of the chicks. They hatched Wed afternoon through Thurs some time. Doing more research, they do look a lot like some pics posted as pure AM chicks. I just thought I had read on one of the AM threads that yellow meant it must be a mix.

What cuties! Mine are all grown up now. Like kittens, too bad they don't stay cute and small!
Also, they look quite normal to me. I can't see their leg color, but it is like jerryse said, the color will turn or extend as they grow. What you want to look out for is the greenish tint or "willow" color. That indicates yellow is present.

 

[Sylvester017]

My silkies are about 4 months old. I believe they will be close to laying age in October. You mentioned weather limits some of the egg laying. Are silkies egg laying affected by colder weather. I live in central Illinois, and am new to the chicken thing. I may not see eggs for a while if they are affected by cooler weather. Thanks for your input.

MrsBachBach has explained this so nicely (below).

It's actually the length of daylight hours(the light) that affect a birds output. Pullets that start up in the fall or early winter will keep on going their first year. After their first year and first molt, then the length of day starts affecting their production rates. Since winter is associated with the shortest days of the year, birds tend not to lay in the winter. When the days start lengthening in the spring, they start back up and usually keep going(unless they go broody) until they molt in the fall. After they get their new feathers grown, days are short again and birds tend to not lay, take their winter rest and break and start up again in the spring. Now, there are some know production egg laying breeds that lay much longer. They may only take off to only molt and then start back up again. Their production lifespan may be shorter though.
So, it's not the climate, but the daylight hours that tell a hen when to start laying and when to stop. Some people will get their birds started up in the winter by adding a small light (warm spectrum, not cool) on a timer in the coop to simulate spring time hours. In a few weeks the birds will start laying. However, some say this can shorten the birds egg laying lifespan as when they are hatched, they are already carrying the total amount of ova (potential eggs) for their lifespan. This numbers in the thousands, but most never make it to ovulation. Personally, I think the bird will die of some other cause or age before it runs out of ova.
Here is an informative article explaining it all.
http://www.extension.org/pages/65372/avian-reproductive-systemfemale#.VdanWpdG5-w
I found it interesting that a bird that lays it's egg after 3pm is likely not going to ovulate until the next day. So, you have an every other day layer in that case. If the bird lays earlier in the day, she will likely lay again the next day. Hmmm...I may have to get out a little earlier to tend to them. I noticed some of them like to wait on me for the feed before they start looking at the nest boxes.

I read of an owner who had a Silkie live to 17 y/o!! However owner feedback seems to have birds average around 9-12 years if all is well and healthy.

Quote:
Thank you for your experience. Yes, our Am girl molts sporadically and over quite a lengthy time and then she slowly gets back from being in the lethargic doldrums and she's doing better now after new feathering except for the heat. Still no eggs. No, our weather is not nice since the drought started 4 years ago. We used to get a day of snow but in the last few years none - we've had a lot of fires too. No freezing temps anymore in our area. Our Am girl suffers so much from the heat and humidity most of the year that we nixxed trying the muffed Russian Orloff because they do much much better in cold climates. We feel so sorry for our Am girl as she pants and sits under the Mister all day in the shade - she is such a sweet kind flockmate that we keep her around!! We will have to stay away from getting LF muffed-cheeked breeds and fluffies like Favies, Crevies, EEs, Ams, etc. My B/W Am layed 2.25 oz pastel blue eggs 4 to 5x/week when she did lay but nothing for 6 months now. She's had 2 adult molts since we've had her but no eggs after this 2nd molt. One of our Silkies layed like a dynamo her first year and now is a sporadic layer at 4 y/o. Our other Silkie always remained a good layer except during molt or when she went broody. The flock dynamics have not changed and neither did it for our friend's EE who also stopped laying. For the sake of the muffed LF breeds we will have to refrain from getting any more of them. Even though they are crested/bearded, feather-legged, fluffy chickens our Silkies have done best for us in our drought condition - they don't have barbicel feathering so the breeze flows right through their fluff - they actually do much better in our heated climate than during snowy slushy muddy weather. During rain we keep the Silkies from ranging so they don't get soaked to the skin - they don't have the rain-repellent feathers like other breeds.

Quote:
BYCers like MrsBachBach, silkiecuddles, Fancychooklady and many others on the Silkie thread have given excellent experience/advice!!!

 

[msv92]

Thank you

 

[cafrhe]

Thanks for the help. I will look for them to get darker legs.

They are very sweet looking little things. I love the blues! Mommy is a very protective new mommy.

 

[cafrhe]

So just to be clear on E vs ER. Because the chicks have creamy wing tips and creamy undersides, they are probably E? I want to be sure I understood that right. Thx!

 

[tigercreek]

So just to be clear on E vs ER. Because the chicks have creamy wing tips and creamy undersides, they are probably E? I want to be sure I understood that right. Thx!

Very hard to determine for sure E vrs ER without genetic testing ...speculation is that

• E (Extended Black) –black/cream day-old chicks, adults predominantly black, but may have some pheomelanin (silver or gold) areas in hackles.
• ER (Birchen)- black/cream day-old chicks, adults predominantly black, but may have more pheomelanin (silver or gold) areas in hackles, wing bows, etc. http://www.edelras.nl/chickengenetics/mutations1.html#gen_mut_elocus

 

[tao chick]

One of my Wheaten Ameraucana chicks at 3 weeks old. What do you think?