Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Blue CopperHen]

To produce your best blue, I would probably breed to a black cockerel. What does your blue cock look like? Is he a dark blue or ? If he were dark enough with good type and lacing, I would breed to him. If you breed blue to splash you will get 50% blue and 50% splash. If you breed splash to splash, you will get 100% splash. It would be helpful if we saw a pic of your blue rooster.

 

[jajeanpierre]

To produce your best blue, I would probably breed to a black cockerel. What does your blue cock look like? Is he a dark blue or ? If he were dark enough with good type and lacing, I would breed to him. If you breed blue to splash you will get 50% blue and 50% splash. If you breed splash to splash, you will get 100% splash. It would be helpful if we saw a pic of your blue rooster.

Here's the blue. I am not crazy about his color, but it looks much worse in the picture than it really is. He doesn't have great lacing, but I think that is pretty common for the breed. His feathers are pretty old and faded (free ranging in Texas). I think the feed might be too high in corn--everything I have has now got a yellow cast to their feathers--the white, the blacks, the lavender. Maybe it is just because of their age (all 8.5 to 9 months old). The new feathers come in a good color without the rusty cast. The last picture shows him crowing beside the splash cockerel. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Here's the splash cockerel. Same age as the blue. I love his color. There doesn't seem to be any leakage on either the blue or this splash, just bleaching from the sun.

 

[Blue CopperHen]

I like them both!

 

[jajeanpierre]

Here is the pullet. She has a pale lilac color to her plumage. I don't know if that is good, bad or indifferent. I couldn't get any good pictures of her--she was too busy foraging for the scratch I threw out for them, so her head is down and her butt in the air in most pictures. She's the little fluffy butt beside the splash and the crowing blue cockerels in the first set of pictures I sent.

Would you breed her to the blue or the splash cockerel? Or maybe none of these birds have enough quality to justify breeding?

Thanks for any suggestions, advice and comments.

 

[DMRippy]

I am trying to decide which cockerel to breed to my splash pullet in the spring. Both my cockerels, a blue and a splash, are from the same breeding pen. The pullet is from another pen and the breeder says they are not closely related. He recommended I breed the splash to the splash. He said that splash to blue tended to produce blues that are too light and washed out.

I've sent pictures of the three birds, but haven't heard back from him yet. Since I first contacted him about which cockerel to use, he's had some wicked ice storms so he my queries might not be very high on his priority list.

Can the experienced breeders on the forum offer me some insight into why one would avoid blue to splash, preferring splash to splash? If I want to breed beautiful blues, how do I get them? By using black?

I want to order another bunch of chicks from this breeder, with the intention of breeding blues and splashes. I would really appreciate the experienced breeders' input. Thanks.

This is from what I have read and what I do. A Med Blue is the goal most of the time. A blue to blue mating is best for this. (Any combo is fine but you may have more culling) If you are wanting splash the best mating is maybe blue to splash since you would get 50/50 of each. You ad black to the mix if you want to get darker blue. You add a splash if you want lighter blues. I personally don't breed for splash. Just not my color thing. I breed blue and black most of the time..... in a pinch i will use a blue roo over blue and blacks.

Splash breeding is not hard you just have to be careful to not keep breeding splash to splash. The color will fade to almost a white. You pullet pic above is probably a second gen splash to splash mating or a really light blue to splash. To keep the splash color looking nice and dark you need to breed in a dark blue so it does not wash out.

Maybe someone with more blue breeding knowledge will chime in..... I am just a babe in chickens still but that is my understanding of blue breedings.

 

[jajeanpierre]

This is from what I have read and what I do. A Med Blue is the goal most of the time. A blue to blue mating is best for this. (Any combo is fine but you may have more culling) If you are wanting splash the best mating is maybe blue to splash since you would get 50/50 of each. You ad black to the mix if you want to get darker blue. You add a splash if you want lighter blues. I personally don't breed for splash. Just not my color thing. I breed blue and black most of the time..... in a pinch i will use a blue roo over blue and blacks.

Splash breeding is not hard you just have to be careful to not keep breeding splash to splash. The color will fade to almost a white. You pullet pic above is probably a second gen splash to splash mating or a really light blue to splash. To keep the splash color looking nice and dark you need to breed in a dark blue so it does not wash out.

Maybe someone with more blue breeding knowledge will chime in..... I am just a babe in chickens still but that is my understanding of blue breedings.

Thanks. I hope others chime in to give more insight.

I don't even know what the ideal splash color is.

The splash cockerel has a beautiful color, a nice clear "blue". I showed Collies and Shelties, many of which were Blue Merles. The splash cockerel is the ideal color for a blue merle, so I am very partial to his color.

What is the "best" splash color? I could not find a description in the SOP. That's not to say it isn't in there--the index is so poorly set up and full of errors, I have trouble finding anything. I'm not even sure if there is any breed with splash being one of the acceptable colors. I don't quite understand how Ameraucana splash and lavenders can be shown, but they seem to be at the nationals at least. I've seen pictures of winning splash birds in other breeds as well. There is so much to learn!

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Splash is not in the SOP for Ams. Most breeds it is not an accepted color. your roo looks like a good splash color. I personally like that look. I don't like the washed out look they get when breed to splash too much. I think it really fades about the 3rd cross.

They are show in AOV. Can't win top honors. There are some breeds splash is admitted.... I don't know what breed though.

 

[Hinotori]

Splash is accepted in silkies. It says in the book under bearded splash silkie.

Slaty blue and white that has a faint bluish grey tinge. Blue in the feathers in the form of large irregular shaped blobs as distinct from V-shaped ticking. Main tail feathers and primary wing feathers with a lesser amount of blue than the rest of the plumage.

Undercolor-Slaty blue and sooty white evenly distributed.

 

[rbaker0345]

Has anyone noticed the noose next to this rooster? Is this a harbinger of things to come?