Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[sbucciarel]

The blue is looking off.  I don't like the lighter color hackles, he also looks to have some lacing in the blue on his hackles.  Tail angle looks wrong and he just looks off in his type too.  The black would be my first pick.  Do you have any others? 

I have two Wheaton that are smaller than the one I feature here. I'll try to get better pics of them later. Thanks for the advice on the blue. This is my first go round with Ameraucanas, so I don't know what to expect or how to judge which are the best to keep, breeding as close to SOP as possible. The Smith chicks will undoubtedly also have some roos, but they're all just 1 month old right now.

What do you think of the Wheaton in the last two pics?

 

[CackleJoy]

To the person with the chick that has the odd feathers. What are you feeding your peeps?

The place/person/yourself, the blacks that were used. Do they have any lavender in there background. I had a chick a couple of tears ago where there were some black splits bred with blues. I got chicks that had that look to them.

I was thinking the same thing--the feathers look like the awful feathers a lot of lavenders have. Is it a lavender? I don't see any splashes of color on the bird.

I noticed that too (lack of splashes). I think its called fretting???? Pardon the spelling or if that is the incorrect term.

I have. Chicken that looks like that, feather wise. She is an extremely poor bred blue. She has always been healthy, but a bit behind the others in growth. She is over a year now. She doesn't way what she should, but she was a runt

I wondered the same thing about lavender and fretting. I know imported English Lav Orps have that problem but I hadn't heard about it in AM's. This bird has a slight blue shadowing but no actual splashy spots. I also wondered if a silky may have gotten too close. I've PMd the seller to ask. Certainly I'm not upset - this anomaly is just very interesting!

This is my second batch of BBS to buy in - trying for good starting stock. The first batch was shipped eggs (from someone who had exhibition birds) and only 3 hatched. A blue, a black and a sport. The blue had a slight cross beak so I had to sell her even though she had a lovely full muff.

This time around I ordered chicks. Out of 20 I only need a good trio. Anything that doesn't quite please me is getting sold. So I'm not heartbroken or even upset about this bird. Just so strange! I'm giving her away (pretty sure its a pullet) to someone who can't have cockerels so there is no danger of this bird being used in a breeding program.

I did notice that not all the chicks had huge muffs and some are looking kind of clean faced. I'm not keeping those. Genetic question. Does clean faced chicks happen when 2 parents are carrying only one copy of the muff gene?

 

[americaca jtl]

Thanks for the reply, sorry for the confusion, but I'm keeping 2 of the females not the boys (city ordinances) but for show purposes for my son, do I want heavy lacing or not so much?

 

[sbucciarel]

Ok ... there's at least one pic of each of the 4 AM cockerels now. The aggressive one today seems to have taken note that I am the head of the flock and has had an attitude adjustment, so I don't rule him out. Anyone who wants to chime in on favorites, feel free. My goal is to keep the two who best represent the breed.


Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

Photo 8

 

[jajeanpierre]

I wondered the same thing about lavender and fretting. I know imported English Lav Orps have that problem but I hadn't heard about it in AM's. This bird has a slight blue shadowing but no actual splashy spots. I also wondered if a silky may have gotten too close. I've PMd the seller to ask. Certainly I'm not upset - this anomaly is just very interesting!

This is my second batch of BBS to buy in - trying for good starting stock. The first batch was shipped eggs (from someone who had exhibition birds) and only 3 hatched. A blue, a black and a sport. The blue had a slight cross beak so I had to sell her even though she had a lovely full muff.

This time around I ordered chicks. Out of 20 I only need a good trio. Anything that doesn't quite please me is getting sold. So I'm not heartbroken or even upset about this bird. Just so strange! I'm giving her away (pretty sure its a pullet) to someone who can't have cockerels so there is no danger of this bird being used in a breeding program.

I did notice that not all the chicks had huge muffs and some are looking kind of clean faced. I'm not keeping those. Genetic question. Does clean faced chicks happen when 2 parents are carrying only one copy of the muff gene?

I think the fretting of lavenders is related to the lavender gene. Or, like pea combs and the blue-egg gene, maybe there is a gene or genes for that weak feather you see in lavenders that is/are located very close to the lavender gene on the same chromosome so tend to be inherited together. I don't know why the feathers are lousy, but lavender feathers tend to be really lousy.

When I first saw a picture of your bird, I thought it was a lavender, not a splash. I have one lavender hen and there is some darker color on the head and hackles like your bird.

I wonder if at one point the breeder was using a black in their bbs breeding program that was split for lavender. A split for lavender bird will be black but carry the recessive lavender gene. If that recessive lavender gene got into their breeding stock, it will eventually pop up.

Can you explain the "sport" you got from your hatching eggs you got. Are the 20 you have now from the same breeder?

If you are starting a breeding program, I would be very cautious using foundation stock from a breeder that is sending you chicks that have so many flaws that are atypical of what a quintessential Ameraucana should look like. If out of 20 birds, you only get 3 that are breeding quality because the rest lack breed characteristics, I would be inclined to not use any. A bird lacking breed characteristics is a disqualification per SOP; and if many should be DQ'd at a show, I wouldn't want to use any of their relatives. Hopefully, you are mistaken and they do in fact have proper muffs. Foundation stock should be the very best. You don't need to be dealing with a lot of recessive genes that just shouldn't be there such as lavender in your bbs gene pool or lack of proper muffs and beards. I think the breed is established enough for you to be able to find breeding stock that consistently produces proper type.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[FLF]

What is going on with the wierd feathers on the blue wheatens neck? Ive never had blue wheaten, so I'm no expert, but it looks like his beard wraps around to the back of his neck? Except there is a delineation between those feathers and his actual beard when looked at from the side?

Ok ... I bought some eggs some time ago from Meredith/Pips & Peeps lines and 4 of them hatched and (ha ha) all four are cockerels. Here's the two I like the best. What do the experts think of them? I've also got a dozen month old chicks from Paul Smith and I will combine my Smith line with these ... I'm thinking. What do you think?

 

[sbucciarel]

What is going on with the wierd feathers on the blue wheatens neck? Ive never had blue wheaten, so I'm no expert, but it looks like his beard wraps around to the back of his neck? Except there is a delineation between those feathers and his actual beard when looked at from the side?

Don't know. That's why I'm posting the pics for evaluation. This is my first batch of Ameraucanas.

Here's a pic of him from the front
Photo 6

There is a delineation between those feathers you see on the neck and his beard.

 

[Northie]

Removed question, will ask somewhere else.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Ok ... there's at least one pic of each of the 4 AM cockerels now. The aggressive one today seems to have taken note that I am the head of the flock and has had an attitude adjustment, so I don't rule him out.

Anyone who wants to chime in on favorites, feel free. My goal is to keep the two who best represent the breed.


Photo 1


Photo 2


Photo 3


Photo 4


Photo 5


Photo 6


Photo 7


Photo 8

I'm not experienced enough to make a comment on their breed type. I like that the bird in Photo #2, #3 and possibly #4 have no ticking/striping in their (his?) hackles. The blue has what seems like a big area of blue feathering in the hackles behind the ear. I don't know if that will molt out. I think the striping/ticking in the hackles tends to improve with age and successive molts--or it did in the line my Wheatens came from.

I quite like the bird pictured in Photo #2 and #3, but as I said, I do not have an experienced eye.

Experienced Wheaten breeders: Is the ticking/striping in the hackles a big problem in the variety?

 

[heatherscooby77]

Ok ... I bought some eggs some time ago from Meredith/Pips & Peeps lines and 4 of them hatched and (ha ha) all four are cockerels. Here's the two I like the best. What do the experts think of them? I've also got a dozen month old chicks from Paul Smith and I will combine my Smith line with these ... I'm thinking. What do you think?

My pick is this guy. I see zero black in the hackle. The others have way to much. I think his tail is going to be an awesome angle. He has a nice tight comb. Love him!