Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[pips&peeps]

He doesn't have a good transition from the back-saddle to tail. You want it to be smooth.

He also looks like he has very dark brown eyes; could be the photo. The eyes are supposed to be bay. (reddish brown)

Here's a photo courtesy of the ABC: (probably a Paul Smith bird)

Here's my Hemo:

 

[lyric]

I'd love some of these to join our flock. I've been looking on Craigslist then thought I'd try here to find older pullets or some about ready to lay.

 

[CRYSTALCREEK]

I personally can't wait for the day when I see a lav with this sort of tail. With no brassiness. And no leakage. And no fretting. And bay eyes. And full muffs/beard. And proper size. With a clean, neat, perfect little pea comb. I must want too much.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

I'd love some of these to join our flock. I've been looking on Craigslist then thought I'd try here to find older pullets or some about ready to lay.

Just be careful looking on CL, lots of people advertise "Ameraucanas" that really have EEs...

 

[Christie Rhae]

He doesn't have a good transition from the back-saddle to tail. You want it to be smooth.

He also looks like he has very dark brown eyes; could be the photo. The eyes are supposed to be bay. (reddish brown)

Here's a photo courtesy of the ABC: (probably a Paul Smith bird)

Here's my Hemo:

Beautiful! Thank you so much for the input. I have saved these pics and am going to use them to compare to from now on. Seems like the cockerel I posted pics of has too long of a back, or too sloped or something as well?

 

[NotAFarm]

Quote:

Cindy, Have you noticed any difference in the harshness of molting between the slow and fast feathering? Do the slow ones have a more severe molt or take longer to "refeather"?

 

[CRYSTALCREEK]

My old boy takes a long time to grow his tail, but I don't know if it is much longer than a fast feathering male takes to grow one. I don't have another male to compare him to, so I can't honestly answer your question, I wish I could. It's something I want to know myself.

All my birds molted hard this winter for some reason. I have delaware mutts (three of them) and a production red and I have literally been getting maybe one brown egg a day the last 3-4 months. I have a split hen who has laid 5 eggs since her molt and not one has been normal yet. They all have wierd fragile creases and lines in them, with scrambled air cells. My birds have an excellent diet, I am confident they are not sick or deprived of any nutrients, just stressed over the molt.

I've got guys on ABC with decades of experience who can't answer what normal feather growth is, except to say that all Ameraucana are fast feathered.

 

[Christie Rhae]

wow... just read this thread on the ameraucana club forum...
http://ameraucana.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=1733&min=0&num=15
Ok that's it, I am gonna have to join that club. This genetic stuff is what is most fascinating to me about breeding chickens. I think I was a geneticist in another life but I just forgot it all. lol!
So interesting...I only get glimmers of understanding but I will keep trying. I think I need to figure out how to make ER based blues instead of blue/ black/ splash ... that sounds really interesting.

I used to breed and show Budgerigars. Of all the variety of colors you can get a parakeet in, there are really only two colors- blue and green. I believe I understand that in chickens there is either gold based or silver based.

 

[CRYSTALCREEK]

wow... just read this thread on the ameraucana club forum...
http://ameraucana.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=1733&min=0&num=15
Ok that's it, I am gonna have to join that club. This genetic stuff is what is most fascinating to me about breeding chickens. I think I was a geneticist in another life but I just forgot it all. lol!
So interesting...I only get glimmers of understanding but I will keep trying. I think I need to figure out how to make ER based blues instead of blue/ black/ splash ... that sounds really interesting.

I used to breed and show Budgerigars. Of all the variety of colors you can get a parakeet in, there are really only two colors- blue and green. I believe I understand that in chickens there is either gold based or silver based.

ER based blues give you the proper lacing that you want. I have learned that most pure blacks with proper beatle green sheen are EE-based with gold at the S-locus.
Proper blue should be based on ER in order to get the good, distinct lacing. You get where I'm going with this?

What I'm gathering from this is that the blacks you use for great blacks are not the same blacks you use for great blues. Kinda throws the whole idea of a BBS pen right out the door, doesn't it?

Don't misunderstand me. I know NOTHING about breeding black and blue chickens. These are answers that have popped up when I've asked questions pertaining to my lav project, and I stored them away for later use. You want to really get confused? In European countries, there is Bl blue, and then there is "self blue". Self blue doesn't have the lacing. It still produces 25% splash when bred to itself (self blue x self blue). But Americans use that same term "self blue" to describe a color that the rest of the world knows as lavender. ABA doesn't want to use the name lavender because it has always been called "self blue". ABC doesn't want to resort to being forced to call it the improper term, because ultimately, the decision is supposed to be up to the breed club. Throw a few insults into the mix, and that folks, in a nutshell, is why we can't seem to get our lovely lavenders recognized. I'm sure there's more, but I'll let others elaborate.

Chicken color is either black or red. White chickens have color inhibitors that prevent red and black, so think of it as "no color". There is both dominant white and recessive white. One is leaky, one is not. All other colors use pattern genes or modifying genes to change black or red into every other color there is.
So the basic chicken base is either
E -extended black, the most dominant
ER-Birchen, requires additional melanizers to make a solid black bird
e+ Duckwing
eb Brown
eWh-Wheaten

 

[Christie Rhae]

ER based blues give you the proper lacing that you want. I have learned that most pure blacks with proper beatle green sheen are EE-based with gold at the S-locus.
Proper blue should be based on ER in order to get the good, distinct lacing. You get where I'm going with this?

What I'm gathering from this is that the blacks you use for great blacks are not the same blacks you use for great blues. Kinda throws the whole idea of a BBS pen right out the door, doesn't it?

Don't misunderstand me. I know NOTHING about breeding black and blue chickens. These are answers that have popped up when I've asked questions pertaining to my lav project, and I stored them away for later use. You want to really get confused? In European countries, there is Bl blue, and then there is "self blue". Self blue doesn't have the lacing. It still produces 25% splash when bred to itself (self blue x self blue). But Americans use that same term "self blue" to describe a color that the rest of the world knows as lavender. ABA doesn't want to use the name lavender because it has always been called "self blue". ABC doesn't want to resort to being forced to call it the improper term, because ultimately, the decision is supposed to be up to the breed club. Throw a few insults into the mix, and that folks, in a nutshell, is why we can't seem to get our lovely lavenders recognized. I'm sure there's more, but I'll let others elaborate.

Chicken color is either black or red. White chickens have color inhibitors that prevent red and black, so think of it as "no color". There is both dominant white and recessive white. One is leaky, one is not. All other colors use pattern genes or modifying genes to change black or red into every other color there is.
So the basic chicken base is either
E -extended black, the most dominant
ER-Birchen, requires additional melanizers to make a solid black bird
e+ Duckwing
eb Brown
eWh-Wheaten

oh my gosh I love it. I am printing off your post to add to my folder.
I think I have really found my next passion.
I own a very successful salon and do nails. But I don't just do regular nails. I have traveled the world teaching the unique style that I do. I have people all over the world who have subscribed to my nail education site and know who I am. I work for a major nail company and distribute their products. I teach classes all the time for nails. My work has appeared in countless magazine articles.
Do you ever feel like you have gone as far as you can? Like all your goals have been met and there is no more challenge? I sort of feel like that with nails. I still love doing it but strangely my drive in this field has waned. And let me tell you nails is something that has consumed my mind for many many years.
Here is a pic of nails that I did on myself. It is art...not practical.



I am going to be 43 in one week. I think my goals are shifting. Chickens are replacing nails as my obsession. Is that crazy? How opposite could you get?? I can't help it. Chickens is almost all I think about! My clients think I am crazy. My husband and kids love it because chickens is a hobby I do at home... nails is something that takes me away from home...far from home.


Sooooo...
I am trying to find some blue andalusians... I am so excited! Can you imagine a blue ameraucana with lacing like a blue andalusian? A project like this could take years!

In the time it takes I can train my eyeballs to know what I am looking for to breed toward the SOP.