Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[sbucciarel]

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!

Thanks ... appreciate that. That is my favorite also. So based on the comments, I can see I have two Wheatens that have significant amount of black in hackles, and one that doesn't. I have a blue wheaten that looks odd in several ways. So, maybe I have one keeper. I would be happy with that.

CORRECTION: I have a correction to make. I said they were Meredith/Pips & Peeps lines and they are Wayne Meredith and Peachick lines.

 

[CackleJoy]

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.

Yes, I can explain the sport and I most certainly appreciate your 2 cents

I agree that it's better to do things right. I didn't mean to insinuate that only 3 or 4 of the 20 were good enough to keep, although if I were to really go look hard at the muff quality then I might change my mind. I don't like breeding from one line only and do hope to get some more good stock soon. I figure most breeders are going to be done hatching for themselves soon and maybe I can buy some eggs or chicks then. Chicks are better than eggs. It's so disappointing to only hatch 3 and end up with one that is right!

Sport may be the wrong term. She's WHITE, not an albino because her eyes are not pink. All over WHITE and no known white in her lineage. Not a spot on her. I was told (I believe on BYC) to hold on to her as she might be helpful in a breeding program. She came from BBS show stock.

Pardon this photo. This was taken during the winter rains and she is a little dirty.
Most recent photo, at about 6 months:


Same bird at about 12 - 14 wks

I don't think I'll put her in the BBS pen but I will hold on to her.

The black pullet I kept. Perhaps she is a really dark blue splash? The feathers do have a bottle green iridescence. Feel free to point out an obvious fault that I may have missed. Oh and there is nothing wrong with her legs, I just happened to snap the picture at a weird angle moment.


I will take pictures of the chicks I want to keep and post them another day. They are only 4 and 6 wks old right now.
Thank you for the input!

 

[chickee]

Yes, I can explain the sport and I most certainly appreciate your 2 cents

I agree that it's better to do things right. I didn't mean to insinuate that only 3 or 4 of the 20 were good enough to keep, although if I were to really go look hard at the muff quality then I might change my mind. I don't like breeding from one line only and do hope to get some more good stock soon. I figure most breeders are going to be done hatching for themselves soon and maybe I can buy some eggs or chicks then. Chicks are better than eggs. It's so disappointing to only hatch 3 and end up with one that is right!

Sport may be the wrong term. She's WHITE, not an albino because her eyes are not pink. All over WHITE and no known white in her lineage. Not a spot on her. I was told (I believe on BYC) to hold on to her as she might be helpful in a breeding program. She came from BBS show stock.

Pardon this photo. This was taken during the winter rains and she is a little dirty.
Most recent photo, at about 6 months:


Same bird at about 12 - 14 wks

I don't think I'll put her in the BBS pen but I will hold on to her.

The black pullet I kept. Perhaps she is a really dark blue splash? The feathers do have a bottle green iridescence. Feel free to point out an obvious fault that I may have missed. Oh and there is nothing wrong with her legs, I just happened to snap the picture at a weird angle moment.


I will take pictures of the chicks I want to keep and post them another day. They are only 4 and 6 wks old right now.
Thank you for the input!

I have a friend that raises some very nice lavenders/splits who lives near Colfax, California if you are interested in getting chicks. She is Harris5 on BYC. Her birds are from Shaffer and Smith.

 

[CackleJoy]

I have a friend that raises some very nice lavenders/splits who lives near Colfax, California if you are interested in getting chicks. She is Harris5 on BYC. Her birds are from Shaffer and Smith.

I may be interested for sure if the feather problem has already been fixed. I went and ordered some Lav Orps that are fresh imports. Sigh. I'm in for a ton of work on those!

 

[Yvonne37894]

I need help locating an Ameraucana rooster, willing to pay for shipping
I keep 4 males!! The best 1 the hawk got, #2 died, #3 culled for leakage, #4 Sterile
I've been looking for a replacement, my only offer so far has been a white.
My genetics aren't good but I know that you cannot mix White with Blue hens

Anyone have a breeding age rooster or cockerel ?
Blue Black or Splash

 

[jajeanpierre]

Yes, I can explain the sport and I most certainly appreciate your 2 cents

I agree that it's better to do things right. I didn't mean to insinuate that only 3 or 4 of the 20 were good enough to keep, although if I were to really go look hard at the muff quality then I might change my mind.

Just remember, I'm really new to the breed and really don't know a lot about it.

My experience has been that muffs grow as the bird ages. I have a wheaten hen that had a very small muff as a youngster but now, as a one-year old hen, has a wonderful full beard and muff.


I don't like breeding from one line only and do hope to get some more good stock soon.

My understanding is that when this breed was formed, many breeders bred for the same outward appearance, but went about it in different ways. I've read that the breed doesn't breed as true when you go outside of the lines the way some of the other older, more established breeds do. In other words, two gorgeous birds from different lines might not produce the beautiful offspring expected when bred together, but do produce their superior quality when bred back to their respective lines/families.

The black pullet I kept. Perhaps she is a really dark blue splash? The feathers do have a bottle green iridescence. Feel free to point out an obvious fault that I may have missed. Oh and there is nothing wrong with her legs, I just happened to snap the picture at a weird angle moment.


I will take pictures of the chicks I want to keep and post them another day. They are only 4 and 6 wks old right now.
Thank you for the input!

The pullet above looks pretty black to me. There is no such thing as a dark blue splash. A splash is basically a white bird with random splashes of dark color on the feathers. It looks like her feathers have shafting, but I don't know if that will molt out as she matures. That's the trouble when soliciting the opinions of novices like me--we can see the faults but don't have any perspective.

 

[heatherscooby77]

Yes, I can explain the sport and I most certainly appreciate your 2 cents I agree that it's better to do things right. I didn't mean to insinuate that only 3 or 4 of the 20 were good enough to keep, although if I were to really go look hard at the muff quality then I might change my mind. I don't like breeding from one line only and do hope to get some more good stock soon. I figure most breeders are going to be done hatching for themselves soon and maybe I can buy some eggs or chicks then. Chicks are better than eggs. It's so disappointing to only hatch 3 and end up with one that is right! Sport may be the wrong term. She's WHITE, not an albino because her eyes are not pink. All over WHITE and no known white in her lineage. Not a spot on her. I was told (I believe on BYC) to hold on to her as she might be helpful in a breeding program. She came from BBS show stock. Pardon this photo. This was taken during the winter rains and she is a little dirty. Most recent photo, at about 6 months: Same bird at about 12 - 14 wks I don't think I'll put her in the BBS pen but I will hold on to her. The black pullet I kept. Perhaps she is a really dark blue splash? The feathers do have a bottle green iridescence. Feel free to point out an obvious fault that I may have missed. Oh and there is nothing wrong with her legs, I just happened to snap the picture at a weird angle moment. I will take pictures of the chicks I want to keep and post them another day. They are only 4 and 6 wks old right now. Thank you for the input!

The pullet, (black or blue) above I find very interesting. I don't think she is black. I am going to go with a blue from a blue & black breeding. Her eyes are really light in color.

 

[chickee]

I may be interested for sure if the feather problem has already been fixed. I went and ordered some Lav Orps that are fresh imports. Sigh. I'm in for a ton of work on those!

I think you will find that the feather problem with the lavenders still crops up from time to time, especially in the rooster's tails. You will see this in other lavender breeds as well. Harris5's birds are pretty darn nice since she purchased a quality black rooster from Paul Smith to use in her breeding program.

I have found that combining the best birds from two well known breeder lines ( these are W/BW Ameraucana ) and then breeding the hens back to their son (the best cockerel from this breeding) produced some awesome offspring.

 

[quailtrail]

Lock down tomorrow for my Wheaton and Blue Wheaton. ..I am hoping they hatch well.

 

[Blue Hill Farm]

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?

The SOP for the colour blue reads: 'an even shade of clear bluish slate, each feather having a sharply defined lacing of black.'

The exact shade of ‘clear bluish slate’ is based upon personal preference. I know I prefer a medium slate as opposed to a light, though the lighter contrasts better with dark lacing. Of course, all blue looks best laced imo.