Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Lilwanis]

Wow,! Thank you so much for your responses! Need to do more research (I am months to years from acting on this depending on a number of factors), and decide on colors (I really love the silvers, at least the pics I have seen, and wish there were a partridge category). I am trying real hard to make myself have a plan of attack, but it is sooooooo tempting to submit to chicken math! I convinced my hubby to let me do this, then talked myself out of it and decided to slow down. Must study genetics!!!

 

[Basel]

I have never had an aggressive Ameraucana. I have a young roo that is a little...... TENSE LOL but he is not the attaching type. All my girls are easy going and will let me pick them up pretty easy. If they are in the coop they stay right there while we work. Like the other post all birds are different...... ( I think my Ams are nicer than my EE )

I second this [except I can't yet compare to any EE's]. Mine are under foot all the time. Or, ON my foot! Literally. Sweet and curious and calm. One follows me around like a puppy. I love their look and the fact that they are not too big. My cockerel [7-8 months old] is an absolute love bug too. Never ever an aggressive act of any sort. Loves to be held and "talks" to me in little purring clucking noises.

 

[shanachie05]

Soo...I have not read this entire thread, but I have a question that perhaps you can answer for me, and has probably been asked and answered before. Do ameracaunas, in general, have a similar disposition to EE's? I have two EE's that are super friendly, and it seems that is the general rule for them. I am interested in breeding toward an sop, and am researching breeds. Since the red headed step child of the ameracauna seem so sweet, I am hoping the "real" thing is also. I know this is a sensitive topic on this thread, so please understand that I am sincerely curious and felt that the breeders and owners of ameracauna would be the best people to ask (I started on the EE thread, but, this makes more sense even if I am a bit intimidated).

I have a bunch of EE's that are super sweet. They bounce out of their pen and look up at me waiting for...something. I haven't figured out what they want yet. They seem to just like being with me. (I mention them because I have both and can compare them.)
I had an incredible Ameraucana, a Blue Wheaten, who wanted nothing but cuddles and loving from us. He'd gallop across the yard if he saw us coming, and was always within 5 feet of my eight yr old daughter. And our recent batch of white Ameraucanas are incredibly sweet. They prefer sitting on our shoulders to being with each other. They are about 6 weeks old I think.
To illustrate a difference, I got 9 black Ameraucanas from a breeder who has hundreds of them. They are all "tense" (I like that word. That's a good choice. Thank you). They run away, but they also grew up in a different environment. The thing is, as soon as I catch someone and handle him or her, the bird settles down and relaxes a little. The year and a half old cock that I have had for about 6 weeks is already better about being handled, though he hates being caught!

I agree it's partly nature and partly nurture. But as far as personalities go, the Ameraucanas have a sweetness and personable-ness that I enjoy tremendously. Our white Ameraucana I fell in love with at a show (and so I bought her) is a pullet I had never met and knew nothing about. Nut fell asleep in my arms within minutes of the first time I ever handled her in the noisy building where the show was being held. It was pretty cool.

 

[Schroeder]

Wow,! Thank you so much for your responses! Need to do more research (I am months to years from acting on this depending on a number of factors), and decide on colors (I really love the silvers, at least the pics I have seen, and wish there were a partridge category). I am trying real hard to make myself have a plan of attack, but it is sooooooo tempting to submit to chicken math! I convinced my hubby to let me do this, then talked myself out of it and decided to slow down. Must study genetics!!!

My experience has shown that the temperment of the EE and most Ameraucanas are similar. I love them. I really like the Silvers too, but I would have to say they have a distinctly different personality than the other Ameraucana varieties. I would call them "skittish." They are very curious, and come running if they think treats are to be had. They tend to eat out of my hands more than my others. However, they spook very easily and go balistic sometimes for no apparent reason. They really like to free range and can be a bit vocal until I let them out. At least this is my experience and I think it is typical.

 

[ChickenLeg]

I have several blue wheatens, wheatens, lavs, and even a white ameraucana (silliest one of them all )

But after reading about the friendliness and crazier/cooler colors presented in EE I decided to go ahead and order a few as a Christmas present to myself

That being said, I bought 10 EE pullets from Ideal Poultry, along with various other breeds to put in my layer flock. After researching Ideal Poultry's ameraucanas, I found out they are known more than other hatcheries to cross different ameraucanas to create their EE. Some hatcheries (most) breed with other breeds to form their EE and whatnot, and I'm not saying Ideal Poultry doesn't/hasn't done this.

Anyway... to my point! While looking and searching forums and post I found this pic of a EE rooster from Ideal Poultry, in this photo he is 6months old. Does he not resemble a descent wheaten? I know the legs are off colored, comb isn't the greatest, and he has other faults. As for an EE, he has great feathering and I think he was a great looking bird to be purchased as an ameraucana/EE from a hatchery.

Just thought I should share this descent looking wheaten Easter Egger with you guys ENJOY




By-the-way, this photo is from 2008, therefore I assume they used more pure ameraucanas back then which lead to this well feathered rooster, I'm sure by now enough ameraucana colors have been crossed, and new generations are used sothat it's nearly impossible for something this nice to be purchased again. But who knows maybe they use nice wheaten roosters for their EE pen (doubt it) haha..

 

[Basel]

I have several blue wheatens, wheatens, lavs, and even a white ameraucana (silliest one of them all )

But after reading about the friendliness and crazier/cooler colors presented in EE I decided to go ahead and order a few as a Christmas present to myself

That being said, I bought 10 EE pullets from Ideal Poultry, along with various other breeds to put in my layer flock. After researching Ideal Poultry's ameraucanas, I found out they are known more than other hatcheries to cross different ameraucanas to create their EE. Some hatcheries (most) breed with other breeds to form their EE and whatnot, and I'm not saying Ideal Poultry doesn't/hasn't done this.

Anyway... to my point! While looking and searching forums and post I found this pic of a EE rooster from Ideal Poultry, in this photo he is 6months old. Does he not resemble a descent wheaten? I know the legs are off colored, comb isn't the greatest, and he has other faults. As for an EE, he has great feathering and I think he was a great looking bird to be purchased as an ameraucana/EE from a hatchery.

Just thought I should share this descent looking wheaten Easter Egger with you guys ENJOY




By-the-way, this photo is from 2008, therefore I assume they used more pure ameraucanas back then which lead to this well feathered rooster, I'm sure by now enough ameraucana colors have been crossed, and new generations are used sothat it's nearly impossible for something this nice to be purchased again. But who knows maybe they use nice wheaten roosters for their EE pen (doubt it) haha..

Interesting!

 

[Basel]

Help.

What is the SOP on eye color? Specifically for a blue cockerel/roo? I looked at the Ameraucana site and they just list eyes to be "expressive".

Could someone tell me the correct phenotype [what they should look like], and also, the genotype of the eye color if known?

Many thanks!

 

[johnderosa1]

Ok, this is my first post onto this thread and I am a complete novice when it comes to breeding chickens, I had "Aruacana" chikens when I was a kid and decided to start a new flock last year mainly for nostalgia. I went out and bought an incubator and ordered some "Ameraucana" eggs along with some BCM and Welsummer eggs from e-bay to start my flock. I was especially excited when opening up my "Ameraucana" hatching eggs anticipating the beautiful blue eggs that were described in the auctions.....needless to say the large green eggs were a bit of a disappointment. I began doing some research while waiting for my eggs to hatch and it became apparent that things in the chicken world are not always as described. My green eggs hatched out into beautiful striped easter eggers, my BCMs hatched out into.... well not too sure and my welsummers just didn't hatch.

After my initial failure I decided to start over by buying only from top breeders and figured that in no time I would have a beautiful flock of pure bred, high quality birds that were true to standard, laid beautiful blue, super dark or well spotted eggs for my basket.... I did lots more reading, found out the names of top breeders and started to reach out to them. Hmmm... nobody seemed very interested in selling me any eggs to hatch. In fact, has been really difficult to get an even an acknowledgment from them that they even got my messages (phone or e-mail). Who knew?

Anyway, after almost two years of trying I have NO birds that I am truly satisfied with but with the help of two reputable breeders I do have 3 Ameraucana's that are probably worth keeping and 1 additional bird that might have some value in breeding. My BCMs are a complete loss even after buying lots of eggs and then 20 chicks from someone touting that they were the keepers of the original Wade Jeane line but thats a tale for another forum.

I am interested in establishing a flock that has the potential to produce show quality birds but will at the very least produce birds that breed true to standards. I like larger birds and egg color is very important to me. I want to be confident that if I sell hatching eggs or chicks to someone down the line they will get exactly what they were expecting and not have to deal with all the difficulties that I have to work through.

Anyway, here is what I have to work with: 1 black and 1 blue pullet - no eggs yet but should be any day now. Both are from breeder on the ABC list and come from beautiful blue-green, large eggs. They both have the size I am looking for and to my eyes seem to be true to standards I will take some pictures and send in the next few days. The black pullet has two feathers that have a white tip to them. If this turns out to be her only major defect would she be worth breeding? I have a black cock that came from the same breeder last year that I could put over them but he has some issues... Good points: he is big, the egg color he hatched from was excellent and he has proven to be extremely virile in test hatches. Now for the problems... his comb is a bit large and has added gold hackles and a few gold feathers on his wings since he molted.... He was completely black as a cockeral and had a few gold hackles grow in as he matured. I will send a picture of him as soon as I get a chance. I have 1 blue cockeral from the same hatch but he seems too small to me at 6 mos. I'll let him mature before I do anything with him.

I also have 3 blue wheaten pullets and 1 wheaten pullet. They are from two different breeders, 1 well known for the egg color of her birds and the other one a random seller on BYC. I just started getting eggs from these pullets and two are on the green side even though they were hatched from decent eggs. One of the eggs from the other two pullets is beautiful; B6 in color and a beautiful shape (this is from the "well known" breeder and I will definitely keep her but am not sure which one laid it. My question is regarding one of the pullets that laid a greenish egg. She is beautiful, very large - my best blue wheaten pullet from a form standpoint in my opinion (will send picture). My issues are with egg color and that the other pullets from that breeder have varying degrees of curled toes (inbreeding?). She does not. Is it worth trying to breed to a better egg color or should I just move on from her.

Sorry about the long post but I just wanted to share my experience and get some general comments from the board. I could never have imagined just how difficult it would be to build a halfway decent flock of chickens when I stated out so innocently last year .

John

 

[chicken fever]

Well said and so true!

Don't apologize for it. I think every thread has a 'deja vu' moment. Especially when it is important to the poster or newcomer. Noticing that hatcheries are starting to pay attention means that all the hard work of true Ameraucana breeders is starting to pay off.  Comparing Ameraucanas, 'Americanas', Araucanas and EE's are they way people learn.

 

[samouw]

Soo...I have not read this entire thread, but I have a question that perhaps you can answer for me, and has probably been asked and answered before. Do ameracaunas, in general, have a similar disposition to EE's? I have two EE's that are super friendly, and it seems that is the general rule for them. I am interested in breeding toward an sop, and am researching breeds. Since the red headed step child of the ameracauna seem so sweet, I am hoping the "real" thing is also. I know this is a sensitive topic on this thread, so please understand that I am sincerely curious and felt that the breeders and owners of ameracauna would be the best people to ask (I started on the EE thread, but, this makes more sense even if I am a bit intimidated).

I started in chickens with hatchery-bred Rhode Island reds and Barred Rocks and, after having to cull three roosters for aggressiveness, decided I didn't want to keep those breeds. I lucked out and got a beautiful Ameraucana roo (that's him in my avatar) from Huckleberry Farms, I fell in love with this breed! And, every single Ameraucana that I've gotten since has been the same way, so he's not an exception, but rather the rule - at least in my experience. Even the EEs that have come from him are sweet-natured to me, but take awesome care of their hens. I don't have a single hen with a bare back - and all my RIRS and BRs had bare backs from RIR roos after just one season. Many of my hens will still fly up to my arm or shoulder when I go out to feed - even if they are out free-ranging.

I can't say enough good things about them, frankly.