Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Penny Hen]

My monitor tint isn't off. Compare the legs to the green of the plants they are standing among.

I finally figured out what you were talking about. You saw the yellow gene that was causing the GREEN legs. The black gene could have caused the slate but the green tint was caused by the yellow and slate together.

 

[CackleJoy]

I did not have good luck there so I thought I would come here and ask people who are here for this breed. I am not realy getting a very warm welcome here. Surely there are pople on this forum that are interested in helping pople get started in the breed they have a passion for.I have tried to get this from feds stores and other sources that don't realy know what a true ameraucana is and kept getting frustrated. I thought coming here I would find people willing to help me find good birds. I felt like here I could chat with pople who know what the breed realy is and not send me to breeders who have ees or mixed breeds that happen to lay blue eggs.

Do you do facebook? There is a lovely page dedicated to Ameraucana's. I'm on it as well as here. Let me say, being new - I rather thought this was a little stiff. However, it is that very stiffness which will help protect you from that breeder who lacks integrity. A group of people exacting enough to raise birds that meet a certain standard must meticulous. I don't know what your experience has been here, but be patient. These people have knowledge we newbies need. We can learn from them. You will find exceedingly generous spirits here so don't give up in your frustration.

I started out so pleased with my birds and crestfallen with the news that they are EE's.

I had run into that breeder... you know the one with blue egg-layers of indeterminate breed! Since then I've gotten a couple of lovely Roo's and some chicks. I can't seem to talk anyone out of any pullets! Had I come to this forum before ordering my first chicks, I'd have a complete flock of Ameraucana's already.

Since joining this forum, I've become educated enough that I can shop Craigslist and websites, and by looking at pictures make a reasonable determination regarding the quality and purity of bird.

I have not purchased any from people on this forum because this time of year a lot of people don't have birds to sell. Either their birds are in molt, not laying for winter (no eggs) or they are hatching out for the next batch of breeders and have already culled last year's flock. I love the Ameraucana's, they are worth waiting for!

What are you looking for? I don't have any to sell (I just have roo's and chicks) but have found BBS, BW and Wheaten by hunting the internet. My oldest BW (I think I'm correct that she's a pullet) is 4 weeks old. I just love her. She head-butts other chicks out of the way to get to the hand for attention. If you stop stroking her chest, she will hope on your hand and look at you as if to say "I did not give you permission to stop!" Never had a cuddly chick before. Amazing!

Blessings on your journey.

 

[CackleJoy]

Do you do facebook? There is a lovely page dedicated to Ameraucana's. I'm on it as well as here. Let me say, being new - I rather thought this was a little stiff. However, it is that very stiffness which will help protect you from that breeder who lacks integrity. A group of people exacting enough to raise birds that meet a certain standard must meticulous. I don't know what your experience has been here, but be patient. These people have knowledge we newbies need. We can learn from them. You will find exceedingly generous spirits here so don't give up in your frustration.

I started out so pleased with my birds and crestfallen with the news that they are EE's.

I had run into that breeder... you know the one with blue egg-layers of indeterminate breed! Since then I've gotten a couple of lovely Roo's and some chicks. I can't seem to talk anyone out of any pullets! Had I come to this forum before ordering my first chicks, I'd have a complete flock of Ameraucana's already.

Since joining this forum, I've become educated enough that I can shop Craigslist and websites, and by looking at pictures make a reasonable determination regarding the quality and purity of bird.

I have not purchased any from people on this forum because this time of year a lot of people don't have birds to sell. Either their birds are in molt, not laying for winter (no eggs) or they are hatching out for the next batch of breeders and have already culled last year's flock. I love the Ameraucana's, they are worth waiting for!

What are you looking for? I don't have any to sell (I just have roo's and chicks) but have found BBS, BW and Wheaten by hunting the internet. My oldest BW (I think I'm correct that she's a pullet) is 4 weeks old. I just love her. She head-butts other chicks out of the way to get to the hand for attention. If you stop stroking her chest, she will hope on your hand and look at you as if to say "I did not give you permission to stop!" Never had a cuddly chick before. Amazing!

Blessings on your journey.

I should say that I found local people via the internet and CL. After looking at pictures, I asked to see their breeding stock and then drove to make the purchase. I also communicated with people on the AM breeders website. They are out of chickens for the year but very nice and educational.

 

[speckledhen]

I did not have good luck there so I thought I would come here and ask people who are here for this breed. I am not realy getting a very warm welcome here. Surely there are pople on this forum that are interested in helping pople get started in the breed they have a passion for.I have tried to get this from feds stores and other sources that don't realy know what a true ameraucana is and kept getting frustrated. I thought coming here I would find people willing to help me find good birds. I felt like here I could chat with pople who know what the breed realy is and not send me to breeders who have ees or mixed breeds that happen to lay blue eggs.

Let me say that the internet is a difficult place in which to ascertain intent and inflection of speech. I didn't see anything that wasn't warm, only folks trying to be helpful, like when I said that ads are lost in the breeds section.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
Yes, that is it. The "black" gene is actually several genes that turn the outer skin pigment black on the legs (in several layers too), but there is still the base color that shows on the bottom of the feet.

And while it can be caused by cameras turning things more yellow than they really are, anybody who wants to check their birds needs to check the bottoms of their feet - not the skin under their feathers. If the soles are yellow then it is a cross.

Sumatras have white body skin and yellow feet under their black legs. That is what they are supposed to have. AM are supposed to have white legs. White legs are dominant, if there is any yellow on the bottom of their feet than they have been crossed, and more than once (they need two copies of the gene that makes yellow legs in order to have yellow legs). Chicken color genetics are much more complicated than other animal color genetics... many many more genes in play there as well as sex-linked ones and not all are charted yet, and how they interplay with the other genes is still under investigation. I am still learning about them. One really interesting note is that the hen determines the sex of the young, not the rooster.

I also can tell you that I saw 5 EEs at the big Stockton show in January, as well as about 6 real AMs - and they were all marked as AMs. The judge removed the three girls (DQ) with the note "color" on partridge patterned green legged birds entered as Wheaten. but he placed one EE "Wheaten" boy with very GREEN legs and there was another "Wheaten" that looks like my RIR/EE rooster that didn't place - and that was me standing there and looking directly at the birds - so I knew their legs were yellow on the bottom. You can show and win with birds that do not match the SOP if the judge doesn't know the breed or doesn't have time to look them up, so I take any claims of winning at "Local" shows with a grain of salt. Any bird with yellow on the bottoms of their feet is an instant DQ for AMs, but this judge didn't know the breed. With all the breeds they have to know, I can't fault them because its a lot to remember - but it doesn't help to get real information out.

Feed stores and hatcheries know nothing about AMs, they don't even know when they are selling red sex-links as RIR. So of course their customers know nothing either unless they do their own research.

 

[Angelicisi]

Heh

She is the Pres of the Ameraucana Breeders Club.....

 

[SullyD]

I got my first blue egg today!! My splash is 33 weeks old! Has anyone else had such a late start to laying? I know the shorter days and the molt had something to do, but I have been going heavy on the protein for almost a month!

 

[heatherscooby77]

As promised, here are a couple of pictures of hackle and saddle feathers taken from my splash 7.5 month cockerel. The first picture was taken without a flash, with the feathers appropriately taped to the back of the APA SOP. The second picture had a flash and the background is actually black.

Is this just fading and bleaching from the sun and old feathers or is it leakage?

Hi everybody!!! I am thinking these feathers are sun-bleached. When you plucked them I bet the side of the feathers that have more gold in them where facing "up". I could also venture to say, do you feed a lot of corn? I have seen black birds get a purple barring look, blue birds get a reddish muddy, and splash a golden tone from corn. I have a friend who raises white leghorns. They will turn a yellow color when they are sun-bleached or eat to much corn. The best thing to do is breed him back to one of his daughters. The male chicks from that breeding will have more obvious leakage. You have to wait until 4-6 months depending on what time of year it is to make the final determination. I am trying really hard to breed some top notch splashes and get better lacing on the blues. To make sure of what I got, I do lots of test mating. I have been crossing Blue Ameraucana hens with a Silver Laced Wyandotte rooster. All the males have Silver leakage versus the gold. Which is what I need to make the lacing better on the blues. Anyway got carried away with myself and totally off the original topic........................... Plus I hope everything I said is CORRECT!!!!! LOL my luck its all wrong....................................................

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

I got my first blue egg today!!  My splash is 33 weeks old!  Has anyone else had such a late start to laying?  I know the shorter days and the molt had something to do, but I have been going heavy on the protein for almost a month!

Congrats! I have had ines start laying later than that

 

[Angelicisi]

Yay! Congradulations!!
In waiting on my splash wheatan pullet. So jealous! Lol
Mines been sitting in the nest box daily for a week toying with me :/ but she's only 21 weeks old...from what I've been seeing I've got awhile to go.

I got my first blue egg today!!  My splash is 33 weeks old!  Has anyone else had such a late start to laying?  I know the shorter days and the molt had something to do, but I have been going heavy on the protein for almost a month!