Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[dstokely]

Good luck with that. I'm still guessing on my 6 wk old ameraucana chicks!

I have 15 Ameraucanas that are almost 14 wks old. I read about the tails/no tails method, either on this board or on the EE sexing link, and I thought I would try it. I have received a couple of affirmations from long time chicken folks that it works. I sorted mine at one week to 6 with no tails,one questionable and 9 tails, ie hens. I identified 3 blues, 1 lavender, 1 blue wheaten/wheaten and I do not remember the other, I think possibly a black. At this time, I can positively identify the 3 blues, the lavender and the blue wheaten. I am still waiting to confirm if there is 1 or 2 more, or if there is just five.

 

[dstokely]

My P.Smith chicks are a week old. If I go by who get's a tail first, I have 9 pullets and 6 roos.


Above is the boy pile. The yellow one is questionable, but it was not as pronounced as my girl pile.


This is the pile I called the girls group, but maybe it is just the chicks that got their tails first.

I like these odds as there are 6 in the no tail and 9 in the tail first pile. I'm a little unhappy that there are 3 out of my 5 blues with no tails and the prettiest lavender. But who knows what they will be in 2-3 months.

Dianne

Here is my original post on the tails/no tails. Three blues, one lavender and one blue wheaten are confirmed males.

 

[hotlipshens]

My first ameraucanas were from a local breeder. Bought 7 three week old chicks. Three had significant tails and of those three, 2 were eventually found to be cockerals and the third is my prettiest pullet. When the Smith chicks arrived, I never even considered confusing myself by looking at tails. Good thing they are so darn cute and I'm so smitten!

 

[MrsBachbach]

Here is my original post on the tails/no tails.  Three blues, one lavender and one blue wheaten are confirmed males.

Well, I wished that worked for everyone. I had alot of tails in my hatch. I ended up with many boys, something like 13 maybe 14 males (not sure yet on a couple) and only eight or nine females.

 

[samouw]

Ok, need some advice, please. I'm not real happy with my hatch this year, for several reasons, but the main one is a lack of muff and beards in a majority of my chicks. This is the first year I've had this issue. In fact, in the past, my roos have produced huge muffs and beards, even when they were bred to non-Ameraucanas, so I know the genetics were there. However, I introduced a new line into my breeding pens last year and I think that's where the problem is coming from.

Anyway, my question is this: Would you automatically cull for lack of muffs and beards or would you let them grow out and see how they stack up overall? In other words, how easy is it to get muffs and beards back into my breeding pen if I keep one or two pullets that may be lacking muffs and beards, but are otherwise nice enough?

Here are some pics of this year's crop (ignore the OE lol):

 

[FVRM]

If I were you I would let them grow out. Right now, I would cull for other things like green legs, body type and any other obvious fault.

 

[pips&peeps]

Ok, need some advice, please. I'm not real happy with my hatch this year, for several reasons, but the main one is a lack of muff and beards in a majority of my chicks. This is the first year I've had this issue. In fact, in the past, my roos have produced huge muffs and beards, even when they were bred to non-Ameraucanas, so I know the genetics were there. However, I introduced a new line into my breeding pens last year and I think that's where the problem is coming from.

Anyway, my question is this: Would you automatically cull for lack of muffs and beards or would you let them grow out and see how they stack up overall? In other words, how easy is it to get muffs and beards back into my breeding pen if I keep one or two pullets that may be lacking muffs and beards, but are otherwise nice enough?

Here are some pics of this year's crop (ignore the OE lol):

Get rid of anything with obvious lack of beard and muff in your younger birds. Then go to your breeding pen and check your hens. This is best done when roosting. You can compare them and there just might be one or two that are only carrying one copy of the gene. This unfortunately means your cock/cockerel only has one copy and I would advise getting rid of him too.

 

[JackieandChicks]

Get rid of anything with obvious lack of beard and muff in your younger birds. Then go to your breeding pen and check your hens. This is best done when roosting. You can compare them and there just might be one or two that are only carrying one copy of the gene. This unfortunately means your cock/cockerel only has one copy and I would advise getting rid of him too.

How do you tell if your hens are carrying one copy by checking them while roosting?

 

[pips&peeps]

If a bird only has one copy of the gene, the beard and muff will be smaller. Sometimes just a little bit, but when you compare the birds side by side you will see it.

 

[hotlipshens]

Do Lavenders tend to have less muff/beard?