Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[mother of many]

Thank you thats what I was thinking. So I have two EE's a male and a female. He looks like a blue wheaten I believe but I am not an expert. I want to breed them and want to give the correct labeling if we decide to sell the extra chickies. My EE hen looks nothing like an EE or Ameraucana. If I didnt see her eggs I wouldn't believe she was an EE.

 

[Percheron chick]

The problem with using him is you will end up with 50% of the resulting pullets as brown egg layers.

 

[mother of many]

I didnt think about that. So i would have to wait till they came of age and started laying. I know this is a silly question but what would they be if i took one of the blue egg laying offspring and breed it back with him? I know it would come out with the same results. But would it be more true to the EE breed?

 

[mother of many]

Or should i just go out and get pure Ameraucanas and start from scratch?

 

[magdelaine]

I can try to explain since I am one of the original breeders that helped create the breed . At that time anything that laid blue / green eggs was called Araucana . We chose tails and beards because of the lethal effect of tufts and the mechanical breeding trouble of no tail . We were told we would never get them into the standard as Araucana . We had a vote and chose Ameraucana as a name . We had to breed to existing colors . We chose the colors and created them . We had to distinguish them from the hatchery mutts being sold . We continue to struggle with the confusion 40 + years later as the hatcheries are calling their birds Americana (spelling) . A bunch of color crosses makes them really hard to tell from EE adding to the confusion . The club took the position of calling any color mixes EE . We get a bad reputation of being very picky because of this . There are several color projects out there . No new colors have been added to the standard in 40 + years . It is a huge undertaking to get them recognized . On top of that some projects have detractors within the club . I have one of those myself . I do not usually discuss them on this forum . I do not care to argue . I have invested a huge amount of time , money and effort into these . Breeders state what their project color is . Selling mixed colors as Ameraucana really complicates things .

Some day, it would be nice if projects and mixed color Ameraucanas were called something other than EE, since EE also covers those birds that are mixed from many different breeds, one of which somewhere down the line was a blue egg laying bird with muffs, beard, and pea comb. I think the fact that EE is a term that serves two completely separate definitions (non-standard Ameraucana and mixed breed + Ameraucana) causes more confusion than anything else. I don't think you all are being overly picky, but anytime you expect one term to cover two unlike definitions you run into trouble. Kind of like insisting that anything not apples be called oranges...even though there are also lemons, peaches, plums, pears, etc. People get confused, and wonder why you have to call a pear "orange", when it's clearly not like an orange at all.

I've only had Ameraucanas for less than half a year, but in that time I've already gotten myself into trouble. I've bred a beautiful splash Am rooster to my white Am hens and hatched out 7 blue Am chicks...I mean EE chicks...one of which actually looks like he's feathering in cuckoo. I'm going to breed them back to white Am hens and to my white Am cockerel, and poof...I've got pure about half pure white Ameraucanas hatching out. The others, from the same dams and sires, will apparently still be EEs... Now I can wrap my head around all this, but it gets a bit ridiculous when you think about it.

 

[Percheron chick]

Or should i just go out and get pure Ameraucanas and start from scratch?

It all depends upon what the end goal is. I think crazy feathered EEs are some of the most visually pleasing birds out there.

 

[mother of many]

I honestly havent really set a goal as far as what I want from them. Its just mainly the easter basket eggs. I love the blueish/ green colored eggs. Its unusual and unexpected. But would like to have more than one green/ blue egg layer.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I didnt think about that. So i would have to wait till they came of age and started laying. I know this is a silly question but what would they be if i took one of the blue egg laying offspring and breed it back with him? I know it would come out with the same results. But would it be more true to the EE breed?

Looks like you have a badly bred blue to me. Leaks all over the place, improper comb, and poor type. How do you know what color egg genes he is carrying? For all anyone knows he may be carrying blue egg genes. What color egg is the female laying? If she is laying brown, then yes the offspring will likely get the brown egg gene from her and whatever the male is carrying. If he has blue then the offspring will probably lay an olive colored egg. If that's ok with you I'd do it just to see what the male carries. If you end up with some brown layers and some olive layers then you will know the male is split for blue. Then you might decide to start over.

 

[mother of many]

I dont know what color he carries but she lays what people are considering blue. It looks kinda greenish to me but not an olive green. I wouldn't mind having an olive egger. I think they are gorgeous also. But I got both of them from the same place just at different times. I got her a week an a half ago. And I got him 3 days ago. I want to breed them to see what the outcome will be because i know she has the blue/ green color gene I know some of her offspring will carry it. At the same time I also want to get him a couple more girls to breed with.

 

[mother of many]

And I thank everyone for their input on him so far. Thank you so much. Its been a long while since I have had any type of chickens. And it seems like more and more breeds are comingout of the woodwork lol.