Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Lrkel]

Can I get a little info on down colors for Wheaten/BW? I have three shades this hatch. One very light with a grayish cast, two light yellow, and one dark yellow.

 

[Reyvaughn]

At least you are well aware of what you're up against. I haven't been keeping up with the thread lately, so my apologies. It was really directed more at MyTDogs question about how common it is though.

No offense taken at all! Sorry if it seemed like I took it that way. I was just explaining that although they may not be desirable to most, I am not intimidated by it. I was upset at first, but hey, it isn't the end of the world.

 

[ronott1]

Quote: Please post pictures of the eggs when they start laying!

If not here then on the Northern CA thread.

Ron

 

[Kibi78704]

Jean,
Thanks for the reply. I got these as chicks from Whitmore Farms in Maryland. (http://www.whitmorefarm.com/content/5088)

I do have one male black hybrid/EE, Boychik, who has yellow legs; he also had the delayed feathering that allowed me to identify him as a male at a week or so, and has black and white primaries. He was the first to develop a comb, has rudimentary wattle bumps, is one of the largest, and was the first to crow. His eyes are more pale and more red than any of the others. He was the lead roo-let until recently and is a favorite of mine (and several pullets) – so I have several pictures of him. I toyed with keeping him for the delayed feathering trait, but have pretty much decided to send him to Freezer Camp because of his other bad traits. I assume you agree with this assessment?

All of the blues and blue splashes (?) have slate legs; all of the other blacks have black legs. As far as I can tell, no one has green legs. Everyone, including Boychik, has full ear muffs and beards. Everyone (besides Boychik) has reddish brown eyes and pea combs - though they are only undeveloped bumps in the pullets. No one (besides Boychik) has even a hint of wattles.

There are a few male blues, and a few that I call blue splashes because they have (very few) black and/or white feathers, but are mostly blue. I have two male blacks who are almost identical – they are the largest cockerels at almost 18 weeks. I am thinking that these are the ones I should keep, primarily for their size, but then I waffle and think I should keep one of the blues or a splash in hope of lightening the color of the blues - the blacks seem to pant more in the Texas heat. My indecision is what has sent me to this thread. (Can you tell I am a complete newbie? Lol.)

I will take pictures when I can, with luck this afternoon.

If you have a Facebook account, I have many, many pictures of them posted there (as public). The ones I uploaded here are more of the closer pictures, though.
Cheers,
Kibi

 

[pips&peeps]

Did that cockerel hatch or come with the others?????? If so, I would be leary of using them as pure stock. The yellow skin gene is recessive, so that means he has two parents that are carrying it. The rest could be carrying it also.

 

[Kibi78704]

These are not the best pictures - they were all taken in dappled light. If these are all EEs, I'm crushed!
...but, I'd rather know than not. Which ones have green legs? They all look to be black or slate to me, but maybe it is wishful thinking on my part.

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5 Boychik - EE/Hybrid He is very unlike any of the others.


#6


#7


#8 (Are these what you call green legs?)


#9


#10


#11 (Same as 10)


#12


#13


#14

 

[Goose and Fig]

Holy cow that's a lot of roosters.

 

[Kibi78704]

Yeah, lots of roos. Whitmore only ships in lots of 25, always straight run. They actually sent 26, I lost one the day they arrived, and another the day I let them free range.
As for the hybrid - I have no idea how he got mixed in. He has always stood out, from the day I got them. They may all be carrying that gene, or his egg may have gotten mixed in with the pure stock by accident - I have no idea.

As you can see, they are unbanded and I've kept the whole mob together from the day I got them. It's time to start culling - probably past time. I've been waffling about it for 4 months, and decided to ask advice.

Now, I don't know what to do at this point. I guess I could treat them as EEs, and send all the cockerels to Freezer Camp. Or, I could take a chance and see if the recessive turns up again. It will be tough to breed it out, but at this point, I don't know what else to do. I can't really afford to have the whole flock gene tested.

Suggestions?

 

[Goose and Fig]

I have always known Whitmore to be reputable breeders. (Of other breeds, anyway) That oddball is probably an exception, so I would just exclude him and start looking at your boys for type. Having them all grown up together, there will be some that appear more mature. You can go through them first- pick out any with bad tails or big wonky combs. It will be a place to start, anyway.

The less-matured ones might be worth holding onto for a bit longer to see how they develop. Once you take the bigger, dominant guys out of the picture, they'll spring up pretty quickly.

 

[Kibi78704]

THANKS! I was afraid I was going to have to scrap the whole project. I was just going down to give them treats and try to get that rid of the lead weight in the pit of my gut.