Starting my first official breeding projects this year

[The Birb King]

In years past I have mainly just hatched out mix breeds. This year however it's getting serious. This spring I got 5 lavender Ameraucana chicks and 4 Wheaten Marans chicks. I was actually only supposed to get 1 Ameraucana rooster but instead I got 2 Ameraucana roosters and 1 Marans rooster. I sold one of the Ameraucana roosters and I already had 1 lavender Ameraucana hen and 2 splash Ameraucana hens so now I have a breeding group of 4 lavender Ameraucana hens, 1 lavender rooster, and 2 splash hens. And there are also the 3 Marans hens and 1 rooster that I got as well. I also have a trio of Seramas that I was only able to hatch 2 chicks from them last year so hopefully this year I will get more. I dont hatch many mixes anymore because I have recently started showing chickens again and I just like purebreds better. Now I just need to wait 2 months until spring so I can actually hatch some eggs

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Sounds like fun! I love ameracaunas but the breeder I know sold me a half-blind chicken so I don't buy from him any more which is unfortunate because my previous birds from him were beautiful. just this fall hatched one from another breeder. I might hatch some more eggs from her stock next fall if this one works out. Keep us posted!

 

[The Birb King]

Sounds like fun! I love ameracaunas but the breeder I know sold me a half-blind chicken so I don't buy from him any more which is unfortunate because my previous birds from him were beautiful. just this fall hatched one from another breeder. I might hatch some more eggs from her stock next fall if this one works out. Keep us posted!

I just bought mine from a hatchery since it is kinda hard to find certain breeders. In the spring I need to move the Seramas back into their coop so I can hatch some chicks. I honestly wish I just lived somewhere warmer so I could hatch chicks whenever I want.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I was surprised how cold it was when my hen hatched the eggs! I have never used an incubator and this was the first year I let a broody hatch. It was hard to just let her do her thing honestly because the weather was getting ugly and the chicks were so small but everything turned out fine. Are you using a hen or an incubator?

 

[The Birb King]

I was surprised how cold it was when my hen hatched the eggs! I have never used an incubator and this was the first year I let a broody hatch. It was hard to just let her do her thing honestly because the weather was getting ugly and the chicks were so small but everything turned out fine. Are you using a hen or an incubator?

I use both. I much prefer using the broody hen but I probably use an incubator more. Last year about 2 months after I got the Ameraucana and Marans chicks, I had recently build my Serama coop so I put about 10 Serama eggs in the incubator and some larger mix breed eggs. Only 3 Seramas hatched and one died so 2 Seramas and 4 mix breed chicks. They lived in the brooder for a couple days but then I realized a lot of my hens were broody that same time so I decided to sneak the larger chicks under them that night (not the serama chicks I thought they were too small). They successfully adopted those 4 chicks so I moved them into the smaller coop with the adult Seramas so they bigger chickens would not kill the babys. I decided to bring the Serama chicks out too and they were also adopted so all the chicks were successfully raised.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I use both. I much prefer using the broody hen but I probably use an incubator more. Last year about 2 months after I got the Ameraucana and Marans chicks, I had recently build my Serama coop so I put about 10 Serama eggs in the incubator and some larger mix breed eggs. Only 3 Seramas hatched and one died so 2 Seramas and 4 mix breed chicks. They lived in the brooder for a couple days but then I realized a lot of my hens were broody that same time so I decided to sneak the larger chicks under them that night (not the serama chicks I thought they were too small). They successfully adopted those 4 chicks so I moved them into the smaller coop with the adult Seramas so they bigger chickens would not kill the babys. I decided to bring the Serama chicks out too and they were also adopted so all the chicks were successfully raised.

That's really cool! I tried sneaking chicks under my broody but my timing must have been off because she started attacking them the next morning so they had to go in the brooder. Fingers crossed they are my last brooder babies!

 

[The Birb King]

That's really cool! I tried sneaking chicks under my broody but my timing must have been off because she started attacking them the next morning so they had to go in the brooder. Fingers crossed they are my last brooder babies!

I have one really good broody hen who is one of my favorites. Her name is Yokie Jr she is a Yokohama mix and she goes broody at LEAST once every 2 months. Anyway, about a month after her and the other hen were done raising those chicks all 3 of my Serama hens went broody and I was really excited about that. They were sitting on like 6 eggs but sadly none were fertile because my Serama rooster was sick at that time. Im hoping they will go broody again this year!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

In years past I have mainly just hatched out mix breeds. This year however it's getting serious. This spring I got 5 lavender Ameraucana chicks and 4 Wheaten Marans chicks. I was actually only supposed to get 1 Ameraucana rooster but instead I got 2 Ameraucana roosters and 1 Marans rooster. I sold one of the Ameraucana roosters and I already had 1 lavender Ameraucana hen and 2 splash Ameraucana hens so now I have a breeding group of 4 lavender Ameraucana hens, 1 lavender rooster, and 2 splash hens. And there are also the 3 Marans hens and 1 rooster that I got as well. I also have a trio of Seramas that I was only able to hatch 2 chicks from them last year so hopefully this year I will get more. I dont hatch many mixes anymore because I have recently started showing chickens again and I just like purebreds better. Now I just need to wait 2 months until spring so I can actually hatch some eggs

What hatchery? Many claim to sell Ameraucanas that are actually Americanas

 

[The Birb King]

What hatchery? Many claim to sell Ameraucanas that are actually Americanas

Cackle hatchery. I probably wont buy from large hatcheries like that anymore, but they are definetly purebred Ameaucanas.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Cackle hatchery. I probably wont buy from large hatcheries like that anymore, but they are definetly purebred Ameaucanas.

Pics?