Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[aoxa]

I agree.Most people do not expect show quality from production bred hatchery stock.A leghorn.Barred rock,R.I.Red none of these could compete with show stock.They are good layers.I feel hatchery bred EE are much the same.Very good layers of blue eggs.The green and brown are gone from many of these commercial flocks.Willow legs are the norm in these.Maybe it would be easier to explain the difference to newbies in these terms.Do not expect show quality in any breed from commercial hatchery stock.It is only my thoughts and probably would not help much.People often get stuck on a idea in spite of new information.

Lots of people don't even know chickens can be shown! You should have seen my family's face when I told them. Who shows a chicken? lol

Rhode Island Reds from a hatchery are further from the standard then EEs are. It's crazy the difference.

 

[dak]

I hope and pray a few of mine in the incubator are show quality. We are keeping 4-5 out of the 17 and starting off through 4-h to familiarize ourselves with showing before the kids head off to the APA/ABA shows. I'll do all the preparing and work at home while my husband takes the kids and their Ameracuana's to the shows. The hatching eggs look beautiful and I pray they stay that way. Lockdown was yesterday. I'm a nervous wreck and I have no clue what I'm doing or where to start. I know for sure I'm sticking with this breed!
Here are some of my eggs I'm hoping to hatch.

If these do not work out, I'll start over next spring buying from the ABA/APA again. Not a cheap hobby to get into either. I wish I knew if I'm heading down the right road.

Make sure to give your young birds enough time to mature before you chose the keepers.

 

[heatherscooby77]

X2 ^

3X

 

[Nicole01]

Quote: Make sure to give your young birds enough time to mature before you chose the keepers.

How long? Will I know by spring time next year?

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
As the one who seems to be getting most of the folks worked up these days I say nicely put to BOTH of you!!

I adore my EEs (I wouldn't have them in my signature if I didn't!) and I too started on this thread arguing about how my beloved EEs were surely Ameraucanas because that's how they were sold to me. But I was not put off by the "those aren't Ameraucana" comments - no matter how short. I set about trying to educate myself and am now the proud keeper of Ameraucanas, EEs, and olive eggers. And I've accepted the fact that there is a difference between EEs and Ameraucanas. And I'm quite happy to accept that there are threads dedicated to keepers of ALL of them.

Strangely enough, it was those very people with the short responses that had the biggest (positive) impact on me so perhaps that's why I am one of them now.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
We are getting hung up on semantics here. The Ameraucana folks are lucky enough to have a term to describe their mutts .... EEs. Nothing shocked me more than trying to talk to a serious breeder (and shower) of Barred Rocks about my hatchery Barred Rocks. He didn't have the time of day for me. Not only did he not acknowledge my birds as Barred Rocks, under his breath, "they should all be culled". Worse than mutts. They didn't deserve to live! Marans folks can be a pretty tough crowd too. If they don't meet the Standard, cull 'em. At least here, with EEs, you are sent to another thread and not the chopping block!!!!!

 

[dak]

How long? Will I know by spring time next year?

That depends on how good you are at judging your stock, and when faults can be detected in your line. When you are getting started, it takes longer. Posting pics here and on the ABC forum can help. If you can find a local mentor familiar with the breed, even better. Judges at local APA shows can also be helpful, but I have found that some aren't overly knowledgable regarding this breed and some don't take Ameraucanas as a breed very seriously. I have found this discouraging at my local APA/ABA show.

 

[Flowerbh]

just want to post so i can follow this thread. Looking to get true Ameraucanas this fall.

 

[janchilds]

So how exactly do you know the difference?

I have both EE's (purchased as expected from a hatchery) and then I have Ameraucanas purchased from respected breeders. Just for fun my daughter took 3 of our lavenders (realizing that they are still projects) and 2 of our blacks to the county fair. None placed. They are young so we weren't expecting much. Those that won the class were all larger more mature birds rounder in body type, and ones I am pretty certain came from a hatchery. I was a little bummed. It's a small fair (400+ birds) and seemed very very relaxed. It was our first attempt at showing chickens and we really did do it just for fun.

Now over in the sheep and pig barn... that's serious business! LOL!

 

[tellynpeep]

My Wheaten/Blue Wheaten Ams are about 4 months old now. I am thinking of keeping one of the cockerels, but do not know what to look for at this stage; they all seem gorgeous to me! Some are obviously faster developers, and already have very red combs and longer tails. Some have fuller beards/muffs. I don't see any serious faults in any of them. The breeder I got them from got her original stock from two separate exhibition lines, so I hope to have some really stunning birds. I just don't want to have to keep all these roosters till they mature!
Anything in particular I should be looking for at this age?
Thanks!