ameraucana or leghorn?

[purpledragons]

So I have a leghorn rooster with 5 hens. I just got 5 ameraucana chicks and found out 2 are roosters. which bred is better to keep? I want bred to expand my flock.

 

[junebuggena]

Are they pure Ameraucana, or are the feed store/hatchery 'Ameraucana'? Both are good, but the Leghorns are generally smaller and don't need as much room. My hatchery 'Ameraucana' are Easter Eggers, and they range in size from 4 pounds up to about 6 pounds and my rooster is over 8 pounds.
Which ones do you like better? And most importantly, which of the boys is the most calm, mellow, and least aggressive?

 

[purpledragons]

I got them from the 4h club. They said they ordered them online. I can't tell if the roosters will be aggressive cause there only 4 months. My leghorn is fairly aggressive and at 4 months he wasn't.

 

[junebuggena]

Temperament tends to be inherited in chickens. Aggressive males tend to produce more aggressive birds and should not be used for any breeding. Since the Ameraucana were probably ordered from a hatchery, they are probably Easter Eggers instead. If you keep one of the Easter Egger boys, then crossed the Leghorns with him, the chicks would be mostly white with a few colored feathers here and there, and will most likely lay blue or green eggs. I'm betting you might be able to find a market for polka-dotted, Easter Egger chicks.

 

[purpledragons]

Their not easter eggers. They definitely ameraucanas.

 

[junebuggena]

The only big hatchery that sells true Ameraucana is Meyer, and they only have Black/Blue/Splash. All other hatchery sourced Ameraucana are Easter Eggers.
If they don't match any of the approved and recognized breed colors, they are Easter Eggers.
http://ameraucana.org/gallery.html

 

[purpledragons]

One looks like the silver and the other is white. The hens look like the blue hen.

 

[junebuggena]

Are the bottoms of the feet white or yellow?

 

[donrae]

Depends on what you're wanting in a flock. Since you started with Leghorns, I'm guessing you're looking for egg production more than dual purpose, so I'll go from there.

I'd get rid of the EE roosters and keep the Leghorn. You can breed him to your Leghorn girls for pure bred offspring. Putting him over your EE hens and hatching their chicks will basically give you offspring that lay whatever color egg momma laid, maybe a paler version. But, his Leghorn blood will boost production in those offspring pullets, they'll lay better than their mommas did. Plus, they'll be smaller bodied and eat less, if that's a concern.

I've been a fan of mixing some Leghorn blood into my flock from time to time. Lots of folks are now mixing Leghorns and various colored egg layers and calling them Super Blue Egg Layers--I think even the hatcheries have started doing this.

 

[purpledragons]

There gray?