Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[FVRM]

Right there in my avatar dstokely! Here are some more though that show better. The first two are of juvenile males, then a grown male, with a pecked on beard.

Anyway, he doesn't have a very prominent cape. The last pic of a full grown male with a prominent cape. Males vary in their "splash" of color just like females from what I have seen.
Editing to say the post flipped my pics, so pic 1 is 4, etc. Order is 4321.

i like this one!

 

[MrsBachbach]

i like this one!

He was one of my favorites.

 

[sweetbeak]

Hi all, I have a question about my black hen, she's 21 weeks old, not laying yet but some of the other chicks the same age as her which are rhode Island reds just started laying.

My main question is, the black ameraucana was hatched from a tiny brown egg, I am confused as to what color she will lay. Because of her breed will she lay greenish eggs or brown cause she hatched from a brown egg?

Excuse my ignorance but in Australia it's very rare to find these birds.

Any advice would help.

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Manningjw]

Hi all, I have a question about my black hen, she's 21 weeks old, not laying yet but some of the other chicks the same age as her which are rhode Island reds just started laying.

My main question is, the black ameraucana was hatched from a tiny brown egg, I am confused as to what color she will lay. Because of her breed will she lay greenish eggs or brown cause she hatched from a brown egg?

Excuse my ignorance but in Australia it's very rare to find these birds.

Any advice would help.

Thanks,
Paul

Hi Paul,

Did you happen to see the rooster? If he possess blue egg genes there likely a 50% chance your little black pullet will lay green eggs, or 100% if he had two copies (one gets passed on, and the trait is dominant). Blue shell with a brown coat over it produces the green color. There are many genes involved in the production of brown shells so it is most likely that she has at least one hatching from a brown egg. If the rooster came from the same stock as the hen who laid the brown egg, I would expect her to lay an off white/brown egg herself.

Just for your own information: hatching from a brown egg means that the hen that laid the egg was not Ameraucana. She looks similar because of the beard, but chickens can possess beard and other features that look similar to Ameraucanas but if they don't have every trait including 2 copies of the blue egg shell gene they are not necessarily Ameraucana.

Crossing my fingers for you that the rooster had a blue egg gene!

Joey

 

[sweetbeak]

Hi Paul,

Did you happen to see the rooster?  If he possess blue egg genes there likely a 50% chance your little black pullet will lay green eggs, or 100% if he had two copies (one gets passed on, and the trait is dominant).  Blue shell with a brown coat over it produces the green color.  There are many genes involved in the production of brown shells so it is most likely that she has at least one hatching from a brown egg.  If the rooster came from the same stock as the hen who laid the brown egg, I would expect her to lay an off white/brown egg herself.

Just for your own information: hatching from a brown egg means that the hen that laid the egg was not Ameraucana.  She looks similar because of the beard, but chickens can possess beard and other features that look similar to Ameraucanas but if they don't have every trait including 2 copies of the blue egg shell gene they are not necessarily Ameraucana.

Crossing my fingers for you that the rooster had a blue egg gene!

Joey

Thanks Joey, when I purchased the eggs i asked for a mix of rhode Island and Ameraucana, but never saw the rooster, so I'll just keep waiting and update on when she lays. I have another chick that is 9 weeks old and looks exactly the same but came from a blue egg.

The waiting game continues.

Thanks

Paul,

 

[sweetbeak]

I'm hoping blue green eggs but brown eggs are also ok, i love my girls

 

[Keybrite]

I recently acquired this roo, Ken, and was told he is Ameraucana. I looked at the Ameraucana Breeders Club site and he appears to be a Blue Wheaton. But the person who gave me this roo said he was one of the chicks she bought from TSC. From some of the threads I read, it seems unlikely this is a purebred Ameraucana. Did I get lucky? And if so, do you think he is show quality?

 

[MrsBachbach]

I recently acquired this roo, Ken, and was told he is Ameraucana. I looked at the Ameraucana Breeders Club site and he appears to be a Blue Wheaton. But the person who gave me this roo said he was one of the chicks she bought from TSC. From some of the threads I read, it seems unlikely this is a purebred Ameraucana. Did I get lucky? And if so, do you think he is show quality?

He does look like a blue wheaten, so you may have got lucky, but being from TSC, I would be really surprised. He isn't show quality. His hackle and saddle feathers have way too much black in them. Ideally, they should be red with little to no black. It's not uncommon to see some black striping in the lower hackles, but this guy seems to be all black down there. So, that kind of makes me question his purity.

 

[Wishapup]

I recently acquired this roo, Ken, and was told he is Ameraucana. I looked at the Ameraucana Breeders Club site and he appears to be a Blue Wheaton. But the person who gave me this roo said he was one of the chicks she bought from TSC. From some of the threads I read, it seems unlikely this is a purebred Ameraucana. Did I get lucky? And if so, do you think he is show quality?

His beard is excellent though--very full!

 

[sunshynertc]

I have two young Ameraucana hens. A friend of mine says that because they lay mint green eggs and not blue eggs that they may not actually be Ameraucana hens. Since I am a novice back yard chicken breeder I would like to know if they lay green and not blue eggs could they be a different breed.