Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[chickee]

chickee,,,I agree with everyone's opinion of this marvelous pullet


May I ask what was your approach to removing the incorrect hackle color and getting that magnificent tail? Even with the high quality stock I can only assume you did lots of hatching and lots of culling, please share your approach

thanks
Dan

Your right on the heavy culling. You need to study the Ameraucana standard and get an eye for correct type and color. I have been working with small numbers because I have limited pen space, so I haven't done that many hatches to get to this point. 2 years ago I hatched W/BW eggs from Pips&Peeps and bought W/BW chicks from Paul Smith and culled down to my best two hens, one Blue Wheaten and one Splash Wheaten, and one Wheaten rooster. I was not achieving the desired results with breeding the two separate lines together (later found out that it is best not to do a complete outcross) so I kept a BW son out of the rooster and then bred him back to the two hens. By doing this I was doubling up on one of the lines, and this pullet (pictured) and her 8 sisters are the result. Now I have to cull heavy on the pullets and really be selective with which rooster I use next on these pullets or I will mess up what I have achieved. I made the mistake of not keeping their father to breed them back to, but he became too hen aggressive and I didn't have a separate pen for him. I am thinking that I need to breed them back to a Pips&Peeps rooster for the best results. I was going to use a Cree line rooster (not a complete outcross since this line has been bred into Pips&Peeps line) I hatched this year, but I am not liking the way this line is looking. They are small and narrow bodied and appear to carry just one copy of the beard gene.

I am really just a newbie to breeding Ameraucanas and am learning through trial and error. It would be great if some of the breeders who have put years into breeding Ameraucanas would share some of their successful breeding practices to help the people who want to breed towards the standard.

Thanks to everyone for their nice comments. It is very motivating for me

 

[mstricer]

Okay, since we're back to Ameraucanas... I have a few photos of some 5 month old blue pullets, and was hoping you all could evaluate in terms of judging. Ex: Are the tails okay? Is it acceptable if they have blueish earlobes? How important are combs? I think I remember that eye color is not too important. And most important of all: how do their shapes look??







Feather question: I don't have any photos, but some of my girls have this "fanning out" problem where their feathers begin to look extremely fluffy and stand out from their bodies, mostly on their backs. This is NOT rooster damage as I don't have a rooster in with them right now. How do I fix this? I'll try to get a photo of this, it looks really odd and I haven't seen it on anything other than Faverolles before.

Splash question: Is there a benefit to breeding with a very defined splash bird (one with individual darker feathers among the white feathers) versus a more "mottled" splash bird (one with dark flecks on various feathers)? Is it connected to blue lacing at all?

Thanks for any advice in advance!!

I'm going out on a limb here. I have a hen just like that she was the product of me breeding my Lav AM to a Black BR, they are beautiful and mine has turned out to be a wonderful mother. She lives in with the layers and my brooders. Lays a nice big green egg

 

[unkadan]

chickee,,
Thank you for the explanation, did you keep any of the pullets brothers? If so and you have a good one, using him over that pullet should lock in the good points she has and his as well, of course that requires that he is a good example of what you want in a cockerel.

I am new to this as well so maybe someone with the experience will chime in

again congrats on what you have, I always say "I'd rather be lucky than good" ,,,,,,you done good!

Dan B

 

[Deb B]

In early June I bought two W/BW chicks at a poultry swap. They both turned out to be cockerals. One is a Wheaten, the other Blue Wheaten. They are about 14 weeks old now. Of the two, the BW seems to be larger, has bright blue legs, and his lacing is coming in nicely. The problem with him is when he lost his down feathers he lost his beard. It hasn't grown back and in fact he has some small wattles which I don't think he should have. His Wheaten brother has a nice beard, but he is smaller and his legs are taking on a slate coloring. All in all I like the look of the BW better so far except for the absence of the beard. What are the chances that he'll grow in a muff and beard at this point?

Here are some pics.

 

[mstricer]

Need more Wheaten AM's. Jean where is a good place to get eggs?

 

[chick-among-us]

I want wheatens from Jean!

 

[ottbjumper06]

I want wheatens from Jean!

x2!

 

[chick-among-us]

I got Em first!! Hahahahaha

 

[dak]

chickee,,
Thank you for the explanation, did you keep any of the pullets brothers? If so and you have a good one, using him over that pullet should lock in the good points she has and his as well, of course that requires that he is a good example of what you want in a cockerel.

I am new to this as well so maybe someone with the experience will chime in

again congrats on what you have, I always say "I'd rather be lucky than good" ,,,,,,you done good!

Dan B

I'd say breed her back to her sire.

 

[DMRippy]

chickee,,
Thank you for the explanation, did you keep any of the pullets brothers? If so and you have a good one, using him over that pullet should lock in the good points she has and his as well, of course that requires that he is a good example of what you want in a cockerel.

I am new to this as well so maybe someone with the experience will chime in

again congrats on what you have, I always say "I'd rather be lucky than good" ,,,,,,you done good!

Dan B

I'd say breed her back to her sire.

I think she said she sold him.