The Ameraucana Thread: Where everything and anything about the breed can be discussed (APA, Non-Stan

[Saved]

Hi
I am new and I have worked hard to find Pure Bred Ameraucannas. While I can respect what others are trying with their crosses I am here to Protect the True Ameraucannas . I have some knowledge of Genetic from other Genera's .

Yet I am Truly a know nothing in this one. Any and all help is requested as we ,my wife and I make this venture. We have had some very hard lessons that we have learned . We made one start only to have our chickens killed. That was a few months ago and a different address. We were shocked when the news Media reported some one in another state being murdered along with their chickens in their own home on their own property. The County wanted to use this property as a parking lot and drove this man to kill himself and his birds. His home is now a parking lot!

I am not politically minded and Frankly not inclined to be so. I am here just to discuss Ameraucannas and breeding techniques only.

 

[my sunwolf]

The ear tuft gene in araucanas is lethal, if you breed two birds that both have tufts, over 75% of the chicks will die in the shell, and right after hatching, and the one that survive have a good chance of deformities. This is why you must breed a bird with ear tufts to a bird without. Araucanas also have a lower fertility rate than other breeds, because of them being rump less, the feathers get in the way, and they don't have as much support. because of this, you need to keep their hind feathers trimmed. Hope this helps! The Araucana in know to lay the bluest egg. But it is possible for the ameraucana to lay one just as blue (just not as common)

The fertility problems actually stem from the fact that they have no capacity for a tail. This means that hens don't have the tail leverage to lift their vents higher and keep them open for the roo during breeding. Along the same thread, the roo can't expose his vent as well. In the case of the Araucana, low fertility is not primarily from butt fluff, though because of the "lift" problem that fluff definitely can be in the way and trimming can help fertility. Just to clarify.

 

[salt and pepper]

The fertility problems actually stem from the fact that they have no capacity for a tail. This means that hens don't have the tail leverage to lift their vents higher and keep them open for the roo during breeding. Along the same thread, the roo can't expose his vent as well. In the case of the Araucana, low fertility is not primarily from butt fluff, though because of the "lift" problem that fluff definitely can be in the way and trimming can help fertility. Just to clarify.

Oh, I knew the tail was the main problem, I just forgot in detail how so. Thank you for clarifying =)

 

[my sunwolf]

Oh, I knew the tail was the main problem, I just forgot in detail how so. Thank you for clarifying =)

It pretty much cracks me up that these poor kids have fertility problems because of the rumplessness

The lethal gene connected with the tufts is what scared me away from trying to breed Araucanas, though I would love to have a few in an Ameraucana breeding program.

 

[salt and pepper]

It pretty much cracks me up that these poor kids have fertility problems because of the rumplessness

The lethal gene connected with the tufts is what scared me away from trying to breed Araucanas, though I would love to have a few in an Ameraucana breeding program.

I as well would love to have some pure araucana. I thought I at least had a mix, but her tail just grew in late. Pretty EE now. Can EE hens be pure white? The other problem would be for me to have to travel far just to get the birds. And then the difficulty of breeding... I think I'll start with something easier!

 

[my sunwolf]

Hi
I am new and I have worked hard to find Pure Bred Ameraucannas. While I can respect what others are trying with their crosses I am here to Protect the True Ameraucannas . I have some knowledge of Genetic from other Genera's .

Yet I am Truly a know nothing in this one. Any and all help is requested as we ,my wife and I make this venture. We have had some very hard lessons that we have learned . We made one start only to have our chickens killed. That was a few months ago and a different address. We were shocked when the news Media reported some one in another state being murdered along with their chickens in their own home on their own property. The County wanted to use this property as a parking lot and drove this man to kill himself and his birds. His home is now a parking lot!

I am not politically minded and Frankly not inclined to be so. I am here just to discuss Ameraucannas and breeding techniques only.

Welcome to BYC and to this thread

I'm sorry about your previous chicken losses. There are loads of people on this site who can help with breeding advice. There is another Ameraucana thread that is incredibly dedicated to current breed standards here if you want to head over and take a look, though it can get a little scary.

 

[Outrun Acres]

Hi
I am new and I have worked hard to find Pure Bred Ameraucannas. While I can respect what others are trying with their crosses I am here to Protect the True Ameraucannas . I have some knowledge of Genetic from other Genera's .

Yet I am Truly a know nothing in this one. Any and all help is requested as we ,my wife and I make this venture. We have had some very hard lessons that we have learned . We made one start only to have our chickens killed. That was a few months ago and a different address. We were shocked when the news Media reported some one in another state being murdered along with their chickens in their own home on their own property. The County wanted to use this property as a parking lot and drove this man to kill himself and his birds. His home is now a parking lot!

I am not politically minded and Frankly not inclined to be so. I am here just to discuss Ameraucannas and breeding techniques only.

Welcome to the thread and the wonderful world of Ameraucanas! There are many knowlegable subscribers on this thread; even one that helped create the Ameraucana breed. There is much controversy over the classification system for this breed. (purebred, vs. non-standard vs. EE.) This is a friendly forum where all things about Ameraucanas can be discussed which include EE's, crossbreeds, project birds, non-standard birds and APA standard birds. Everyone here will respect your personal views and opinions, but if you only want to discuss and learn about purebred birds you may want to check out the ABC (Ameraucana Breeders Club) website and there is another BYC thread that only discusses APA standard Ameraucanas. I will list the links below for you.

http://www.ameraucana.org/faq.html

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...or-posting-pictures-and-discussing-our-birds/

 

[Outrun Acres]

I as well would love to have some pure araucana. I thought I at least had a mix, but her tail just grew in late. Pretty EE now. Can EE hens be pure white? The other problem would be for me to have to travel far just to get the birds. And then the difficulty of breeding... I think I'll start with something easier!

I am pretty sure EE's can be any color since they have no standard. I wouldn't be surprised to find some white EE's since white is an APA standard color for Ameraucanas. I started looking for Ameraucanas for that same reason. I live close to the University of Arkansas and the professor who runs the poultry unit there gives away hatching eggs from his birds. He had black breasted reds for awhile and I was contemplating about trying to hatch out some eggs. I'm glad I decided not to start out with that difficult breed and have decided to do Ameraucanas instead. Sounds like a lot of hard frustrating work if you are trying to hatch out eggs with that breed. But I really want some beautiful birds and blue eggs! Those tufts are kind of funny looking anyway

 

[maryhysong]

I have a white EE pullet; lays a nice light blue egg.

 

[Wildviolets]

My Ameraucana, or whatever they are, are not rumpless. I will post what pics I have now. I am beginning to think my two black hens may be bantams...ummmm??? They lay beautiful blue eggs. Our big roo is Billy Bob and we were told he was only "part", along with the red one. The little black ones were bought from a breeder who raises them for shows.












This red one is just part Amercauana or whatever....she has the purple legs