Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[FVRM]

That pic looks good to me. A tad dark, but egg color isn't bad. I would put them in the green grass and take a pic on a sunny day, that tends to show the color well.

I'm still waitng on the majority of my pullets to start laying. They are old enough. I'm starting to think putting a rooster with them does affect their laying. I put three wheaten/blue wheaten pullets in a pen with a blue wheaten rooster over a month ago and all three of those girls have been laying for a month now. Nice looking color on their eggs too, which was a pleasant surprise. Wasn't sure what their color was going to look like. Never know what the rooster contributes til it's over and done with.
Anyway, they are laying and have been, yet, out of eight others not with a rooster only one black is laying. Two of those eight are wheaten/ blue wheaten and related to the others currently laying. None have any additional lighting either. So, its a bit strange. You would think maybe its the line is just better and starts earlier, but two related but not with the rooster haven't started. So, it's a bit of a head scratcher.

I think a rooster affects them also. I had a pen with a roo in it and all the hens layed non stop but as soon as I moved him out there were less eggs layed.

 

[dstokely]

That pic looks good to me. A tad dark, but egg color isn't bad. I would put them in the green grass and take a pic on a sunny day, that tends to show the color well.

I'm still waitng on the majority of my pullets to start laying. They are old enough. I'm starting to think putting a rooster with them does affect their laying. I put three wheaten/blue wheaten pullets in a pen with a blue wheaten rooster over a month ago and all three of those girls have been laying for a month now. Nice looking color on their eggs too, which was a pleasant surprise. Wasn't sure what their color was going to look like. Never know what the rooster contributes til it's over and done with.
Anyway, they are laying and have been, yet, out of eight others not with a rooster only one black is laying. Two of those eight are wheaten/ blue wheaten and related to the others currently laying. None have any additional lighting either. So, its a bit strange. You would think maybe its the line is just better and starts earlier, but two related but not with the rooster haven't started. So, it's a bit of a head scratcher.

I have a roo with mine. Not a proper one, but I am not going to hatch these eggs anyway. After Christmas, I will be deciding who goes in what breeding pen. That will give them all of January, and hopefully by February, the eggs may be ready. Just don't want any mixed up babies.

 

[chicken farmer2]

I'm building up my Ameraucana stock I'm working on blue, and I was wondering if I should put a splash in my pen, I have one but I heard they can cause your blue to have ticking? Right now I have a blue cock and a black hen (silver based) and 2 blues should I put the splash in their too?

 

[MrsBachbach]

I'm building up my Ameraucana stock I'm working on blue, and I was wondering if I should put a splash in my pen, I have one but I heard they can cause your blue to have ticking? Right now I have a blue cock and a black hen (silver based) and 2 blues should I put the splash in their too?

I don't think ticking is exclusive to splash. I've seen it in blues from black x blue matings. Maybe it's just harder to identify in a splash bird and that's how it gets passed on. I would use the splash. You won't know what she/he is carrying until you grow out some offspring. Unless it's visually obvious.

 

[chicken farmer2]

I don't think ticking is exclusive to splash. I've seen it in blues from black x blue matings. Maybe it's just harder to identify in a splash bird and that's how it gets passed on. I would use the splash. You won't know what she/he is carrying until you grow out some offspring. Unless it's visually obvious.

I'm sorry if I was confusing but I was wondering if the splash would cause my blues to have the ticking, or is it the blacks that make ticking in the blues?

 

[MrsBachbach]

I'm sorry if I was confusing but I was wondering if the splash would cause my blues to have the ticking, or is it the blacks that make ticking in the blues?

I don't know. I've never heard of that and I've been raising them for several years. I don't think it is color specific. I would think it would be more bird specific. Meaning if a splash was produced from a bird displaying ticking, it may likely pass that tendency on. I've produced blues without ticking from splash, so I don't think it is caused because of splash colored birds. I don't think it is caused by black or blue birds either. But that's just from observations. If there is some genetic tendency to produce ticking from splash birds, some expert in genetics here will have to answer that one.

 

[pips&peeps]

Exactly what are you referring to when you say "ticking"?

 

[MrsBachbach]

Exactly what are you referring to when you say "ticking"?

I think he is referring to the random dark or black feathers that are sometimes seen on blues. Sometimes it can be one feather, sometimes several, showing up in areas that are supposed to be blue.

 

[chicken farmer2]

Yeah I'm talking about black marks on feather or a black feather

 

[pips&peeps]

That just shows up whenever, I don't believe it has anything to do with what color the parent stock were.