- Thread starter
- #11
Zanna
Songster
I am sooooooo embarassed but as this is a learning forum I am going to confess to my sins due to my inexperience in all of this............Here is my story: I ordered a dozen day old chicks from a breeder of 3 different breeds: FBCM, Blue Americaunas, and Partridge Penes. When she set the eggs, I also set some of my own to replace my production red layers, this was a cross between my New Hampshire Roo and my white leghorn hens (hoping to raise everyone together). I set 42 eggs, 39 hatched! The breeder e-mailed me and she had a very bad hatch rate so said she would try again. Next hatch poor again so try once more. I told her for the 3rd hatch, just to send me what she had. Meanwhile, I only wanted to keep a dozen of my cross so I sold all but 12 on Craigslist as less than week olds. After the breeders 3rd hatch (again poor), she sent me all that hatched from the first, second and third hatches, also a splash americauna pullet (the age of my cross) and some black/lav split orpingtons as packing peanuts to keep the day-olds warm in the mail. Everyone arrived fine but I had several deaths in the first couple of weeks. The dozen from my cross all made it. It got really confusing who was who with all the different breeds and ages!!! I believe I had not noticed but one from my cross must have had slate legs, I thought she was the splash americauna, I must have got my cross and the americauna mixed up. At 4 months 11 of my cross that I had kept were roos and reaking havoc among the flock so we butchered them. The splash that the breeder sent me only got splash looking and I swear had pink legs up untill a couple of weeks ago when they began to turn light slate so I still thought that one was my cross. My cross got the gold around her neck at about 3 months and I thought that was just a fault from the americanas breeders flock. With only the one hen left from my cross I had no comparisons and had not made that cross before. Confusing, but bottom line is I MUST have gotten the two birds mixed up. Here is a pic. of the splash americauna which I am not sure is even a pure americauna (no beard or muffs) and I think she may be a he although at 5 months is not crowing or even trying to mount any hens. The two birds are best friends!!
