Try trimming the vent feathers to see if that helps . Some lines are fluffier than others . Not a common problem but it happens . Here is a quick way to tell how fluffy your birds are . You should be able to see the drumstick . If you see mostly the scaled portion of the leg then they are fluffy...
It is normal . Lavender are black and 2 recessive lavender genes dilute black to lavender . They are based on extended black . Black extends into those white areas as they grow . So in this case Lavender extends to cover those areas .
Later I will have black/lavender breeding pen set up . Hens are currently being used for another project for myself . I will put a Lavender rooster over them later . I will have to recheck PA but I have shipped there before . Could have changed rules . There will be Lavenders hatch as the hens...
You are over thinking . Eye color is stated in the standard . Expressive rules out a sleepy or droopy looking eye . Small ear lobe . Well the Muff and beard tend to hide the ear lobe . This rules out very large and easily seen lobes . For comparison on backs you need to look at other breeds ...
The feather issue is linked to lavender . Genetic diversity is the best way to improve vigor and laying . So yes new blood helps . I chose diversity for those reasons . You will get less show winners that way but I consider egg production to be near the top of my list .
I started with a lavender rooster from John . So yes I crossed them to black hens to start my lavenders . Good results . The thing to remember is it is very important to select the best from any cross . It is not so much what you put in .It is all about what you keep .
I had a white chick from some of Paul's bloodline . I think it got into his lavenders through some new blood . I considered it a bonus . I now have a start on some whites . It is a pullet .
That would take a long time . Usually you use other bantams . In the case of Ameraucana the bantams were created first and then large fowl .
John used black AM bantams and lavender Old English and Lavender D'Anvers . He used the bantam AM on black large fowl to create the lavender large fowl. I...
That is leakage . Said to be not enough melanizers present . So how did it happen ? Well lavender males look silvery in the neck and saddle . So silver leakage is really hard to spot on lavender .
Shows up when crossed to black . So a black/lavender male with no leakage is very useful in...
It is possible for blue to be hidden under white . It is often the case in some breeds . Usually present to give a whiter bird . The rooster does look lavender but some lines have blue mixed in . Not recommended to mix the two . I recently informed someone on the Facebook Ameraucana project...
That is blue . Lavender is recessive and takes 2 copies to show lavender . That mating can not produce lavender . So your rooster was blue or lavender and blue . If you use him you will get black lavender and blue . The blue and lavenders could have both genes .
It means someone has not done a good job culling their breeders . It is not easy sometimes for beginners to grasp genetics . The beard and muffs are a dominate trait . So breeding birds with 1 copy of this gene allows non bearded chicks to appear .
In this case it is the barring gene that is sex linked . A barred hen can only have 1 barring gene that she can only pass to her sons . This causes the white head spot on the male chicks . I call them purebred when they breed true . Breeding back to Ameraucana each generation and keeping barred...