Ameraucana bred to SOP

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Figured I’d post to here, but I’m not doing any breeding right now. I was wanting to, but I don’t have a male to breed to them. I have a roo but it’s up in the air whether or not he’s an ameraucana or a very sneaky EE. But here’s pictures of my current ones.

#1 ( no name yet )
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#2
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Mumble
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Maude, my possibly sneaky EE
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Daria

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What are the traights to look for when trying to pick male breeders for blue ameraucanas? I have around 9 cockerals that are coming up on 7 months old and I can't stand the crowing any longer and have to narrow it down. I'm seeing some darker and some lighter, some with dark head and shoulders and some with more of an overall tone, some bigger and some smaller, etc etc. What should I be looking for when culling?

I don't know specifics for that breed or color, but here are some basic points to look for in any breed:

--health issues or deformities (crooked beak, wry tail, wrong number of toes, etc)
--foot/leg/skin color
--feathers in the right place for your breed (muff/beard or not, crest or not, feathered feet vs. clean feet, etc.)
--comb type
--correct size. Check whether any of your cockerels are over the maximum size for the breed, and whether the smallest ones are way too small.
--temperament
--the good and bad points of the hens you intend to breed with the male

These are points to consider, but not always reasons to cull a particular bird. You will probably not find a bird that is perfect in every respect, so it will come down to which bird is overall best, or which has the traits that are most important to you.
 
I have a question to pose to anyone who might know the answer. What are the traights to look for when trying to pick male breeders for blue ameraucanas? I have around 9 cockerals that are coming up on 7 months old and I can't stand the crowing any longer and have to narrow it down. I'm seeing some darker and some lighter, some with dark head and shoulders and some with more of an overall tone, some bigger and some smaller, etc etc. What should I be looking for when culling?
Any gold/red/rust leakage is bad. Usually found on the shoulders.
Males are very hard to tell because they take so long to fully mature, and blue might be the hardest.
Well defined lacing, the darker the edge the better, might be the highest trait on the list.

Here's an excellent example of a blue cock and further down the page a young picture of the same guy: http://ameraucanabreedersclub.org/forum/index.php/topic,4291.0.html
 
@kurby22
There's a whole section on Wing Patch and Feather Shredder in the Genetics of Chicken Extremes book, however I'm not sure I can tell you any more now than I could before I read it.... Ameraucana aren't covered in the books since she's European, and it looks different in different breeds. The undeniable one is Wing Patch, where feathers get stuck as pinfeathers and dry out, and never grow in, even after molting. The others looked a bit raggedy in some breeds, looked a little frizzle in others, and one pic of a rooster just looked like he got his tail feathers up against a cage wall or fence. If you've ever used one of those Swiffer duster wands, it looks like that after it's been used. There's no good answer to get rid of it other than removing affected birds from your breeders.

Fluff doesn't look like she has it, so I wouldn't be worried right now.
 
Any gold/red/rust leakage is bad. Usually found on the shoulders.
Males are very hard to tell because they take so long to fully mature, and blue might be the hardest.
Well defined lacing, the darker the edge the better, might be the highest trait on the list.

Here's an excellent example of a blue cock and further down the page a young picture of the same guy: http://ameraucanabreedersclub.org/forum/index.php/topic,4291.0.html
Oh he is beautiful!! Now that you say that about the lacing I do recall that being a very key trait to blue coloring. My BCM pullet has really nice lacing, and then I have a more pet quality blue bantam Cochin with the colors but not great lacing.
 
@kurby22
There's a whole section on Wing Patch and Feather Shredder in the Genetics of Chicken Extremes book, however I'm not sure I can tell you any more now than I could before I read it.... Ameraucana aren't covered in the books since she's European, and it looks different in different breeds. The undeniable one is Wing Patch, where feathers get stuck as pinfeathers and dry out, and never grow in, even after molting. The others looked a bit raggedy in some breeds, looked a little frizzle in others, and one pic of a rooster just looked like he got his tail feathers up against a cage wall or fence. If you've ever used one of those Swiffer duster wands, it looks like that after it's been used. There's no good answer to get rid of it other than removing affected birds from your breeders.

Fluff doesn't look like she has it, so I wouldn't be worried right now.
Thanks, this is interesting and helpful! I’m glad you don’t see signs of it in Fluff. Self blue feathers really do seem much more fragile and easily broken.

This is my Lav Orp roo, his tail is where to me it looks like a used swifter duster haha
 

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Definitely don't want to use Maude, he's got red leakage, that's not desirable in any of the solid colors. His tail sits too high (supposed to be 45 degrees), his comb is not a pea comb, and there's some weird poofiness kind of to the side of his saddles. (So yes, he's probably an EE.)

Although I think he looks kinda cool and would make lovely EEs. If I could make it work, I'd mix that coloring into my spangles in a heartbeat, but I'm pretty sure only Photoshop would get me where I want to go with that. 😆

Daria's and #2's eyes look too dark. I think the standard calls the desired color Bay (like Maude's color). Brown eye color is generally bad across most of the breed standards.

You've got quite the neat mix of hens, so you could just let them all do what they do and hatch a few funky babies for fun.
 
Figured I’d post to here, but I’m not doing any breeding right now. I was wanting to, but I don’t have a male to breed to them. I have a roo but it’s up in the air whether or not he’s an ameraucana or a very sneaky EE. But here’s pictures of my current ones.

#1 ( no name yet )
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#2
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Mumble
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Maude, my possibly sneaky EEView attachment 2874075View attachment 2874080View attachment 2874082View attachment 2874085

Daria

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Maude is a gorgeous boy!! While he may not be a true Ameraucana, he would make gorgeous EE babies!! 😍😍
 
Thanks, this is interesting and helpful! I’m glad you don’t see signs of it in Fluff. Self blue feathers really do seem much more fragile and easily broken.

This is my Lav Orp roo, his tail is where to me it looks like a used swifter duster haha
Awww, he's got such an expressive face...I love him! Yes, that's feather shredder, you can also see it at the ends of the...what is that called, hey Google! ...wing bow/covert feathers. 😁
 
Awww, he's got such an expressive face...I love him! Yes, that's feather shredder, you can also see it at the ends of the...what is that called, hey Google! ...wing bow/covert feathers. 😁
Thank you!! Yes, he’s a super great boy and definitely has an expressive face! He also talks to me a lot. I love him too! I call those wing bow/covert feathers his tiny paint brush feathers haha. Poor guy. Thanks again for the info and help! I look forward to seeing more pics of your Ameraucanas and learning more! :)
 

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