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

[maryhysong]

Wondering as I am new to B/B/S breeding, I'm thinking these are all splash? They were hatched the 15th

 

[jerryse]

What color parents did you combine to get that pattern? I sometimes notice ticking or slight barring in my lavenders and I was wondering if you could use that as an advantage to create a cuckoo pattern.

The barring came from barred rock several years ago. Ticking and juvenile barring will not get you there.

 

[jerryse]

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This cock is the dad he is my avatar and this is one of the hens. Double pic not sure how I did that.

 

[jerryse]

Wondering as I am new to B/B/S breeding, I'm thinking these are all splash? They were hatched the 15th

Not splash. All blue just different shades.

 

[rbaker0345]

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This cock is the dad he is my avatar and this is one of the hens. Double pic not sure how I did that.

I don't mean to be picky because I am of course humble before you, but I really love the barring and want some for myself as soon as you have them available for sale so I have a couple of questions. First, I notice that your avatar has a bit of a high tail set and that his legs are a bit light, is this just camera angle and the fact that he's crowing or are these traits that you are working out in your breeding program? Second, is there a difference between the color of the hen and the rooster (she looks to have black barring and he looks to have blue or self blue) or is that just a trick of the camera, and how is her leg coloring? Also, did you use production barred rocks or heritage barred rocks when developing the barring? Sorry to ask so many questions, I just love the idea of a barred am.

 

[jerryse]

You have a good eye for detail. Yes the tail angle is high and the legs light . The hen is black cuckoo and the rooster lavender cuckoo. Leg color is a problem with barring. The barring gene interferes with black in feathers and legs. I have made progress on leg color but not satisfied yet. The high tail traces back to production white leghorn that I added about 8 years ago. The white leghorns carried barring and blue hidden. The goal then was super blue egg layers. Tinkered with that for about 4 or 5 years and then started a line using production barred rock. I then combined the 2 lines and added lavender next. 1 hen carries lavender resulting in some lavender cuckoo chicks. I am using a black split for lavender in my lavender pen. He is 1/2 Smith line. I will be working more Smith line into both cuckoo colors. The leghorn blood helped remove brown from the egg color making a better blue. Most of my chicks are black cuckoo split for lavender with just a few lavender cuckoo. Leg color looks good on these splits. In my experience lavender darkens leg color. So the splits may have darker legs than black cuckoo. Selection is ongoing. I cull from hatch day on until finally selecting breeders. Each cross back to pure Ameraucana helps purify the needed Ameraucana traits.

 

[maryhysong]

Not splash. All blue just different shades.

wow, thanks. I would have never guessed these were going to be blue ...

 

[jerryse]

Here is a project for dominant white. They were out free ranging yesterday. I have several chicks out of this pair. I did this because it is easy to see who has dominant white compared to recessive white. The hen is split white/black.

 

[rbaker0345]

Can you explain in a little more detail. I don't really understand what you mean (which is very embarassing because I have a degree in genetics!)

I guess what I don't understand is how, just by looking at that pair, can you tell who is dominant and who is recessive?

 

[jerryse]

Can you explain in a little more detail. I don't really understand what you mean (which is very embarassing because I have a degree in genetics!)

I guess what I don't understand is how, just by looking at that pair, can you tell who is dominant and who is recessive?

Dominant white is a incomplete dominant , So it is leaky with 1 copy. In this case she is black first and 1 copy of white lets some black show. 2 copies and the bird is pure white. Recessive white with 1 copy is a colored bird. 2 copies of recessive white and you have a white bird. So the rooster is pure black and being used to continue the project. I hope to use a good cockerel from this mating with its siblings to get pure white. Many people do not like recessive white surprises popping up in colored variety. Dominant white shows if it is there and can be taken out easier without test mating. I like using color families to improve vigor. Dominant white could be used more in breeding. So white based on black would expand the black family . Black , blue , splash, lavender, cuckoo and then white could be used to improve vigor when needed. Most look for new blood in a selected color or keep two bloodlines in a color . Color families are a favorite for me. I feel this breed needs more color families as some colors have no close relatives to cross to. A case in point is brown red. You can go to black or even buff but by the time you breed back to brown red enough times to restore lacing you have lost most of the vigor again. Better family member colors would include birchen and a pyle based on brown red. Yes I have a few of these. These project colors are laying machines. I was close to losing brown red and decided to fix the problem. There will be close relatives with the lacing . Much better in my opinion.