Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[tampachick]

Louise, sister by adoption of Thelma (a RIR). Louise is definitely the quieter of the two!

 

[tampachick]

My beautiful girl, Peaches. She passed away a little over a week ago. It's still very painful.

 

[dtown2002]

That's a pretty bird. I know what it feels like to loose a chicken, but mine was a chick!! When we got her she started to loose feathers and she wasn't growing like my EE was. Then we put them out in the coop and she was still the size she was when we got her. I noticed she wasn't eating much. Then one morning my sister came running in having checked the coop for eggs (from our older chickens) and she said that Rizzo (her name) was laying down and she wasn't moving. We all ran out and it turned out she was dead. We made a little grave for her.

 

[dtown2002]

She is the chicken in my avatar

 

[tampachick]

That's a pretty bird. I know what it feels like to loose a chicken, but mine was a chick!! When we got her she started to loose feathers and she wasn't growing like my EE was. Then we put them out in the coop and she was still the size she was when we got her. I noticed she wasn't eating much. Then one morning my sister came running in having checked the coop for eggs (from our older chickens) and she said that Rizzo (her name) was laying down and she wasn't moving. We all ran out and it turned out she was dead. We made a little grave for her.

I am sorry for your loss as well. Being in Tampa, I have to wait until the ground is dry enough to bury Peaches. She had an enlarged crop when I got her 3 months ago, but being new, I didn't realize the potential severity. She died in my arms from (I later learned) an impacted crop. I have kicked myself every day. She was so sweet and gentle and definitely left a hole in my heart.

 

[bruceha2000]

You have to remember, the Araucana breed, in America, that we know, was not even in existence until the 1970s. Up until then, all blue/green layers were called Araucana. There was no Araucana, Ameraucana, Easter Egger distinctions made, they were all called Araucana, regardless of their physical features. And they were not a proper breed, even in South America. They mostly were what is considered Easter Eggers today. It's the Araucana and Ameraucana that have Easter Egger in them, not the other way around.

I find it unfortunate that (in the USA!) the name Araucana from the "Heinz 57" birds of the pre 1970's was given to a reproducible breed. No idea why the APA did that given there were thousands (tens, hundreds of thousands ??) of birds that did not meet the newly accepted APA Araucana SOP but had been called Araucana for decades.

I imagine there must have been the same "conversations" about buying a "True Araucana" vs "What used to be called Araucana but is now called" .... um, well they didn't make a "ruling" that all those thousands upon thousands of "what we used to call Araucana" and their descendents must now be called something else.

We call them Easter Eggers, many hatcheries still call them Araucana. I guess that is more honest/accurate than when they call them Ameraucana since the Ameraucana name was new and given to birds that had specific features. That said, I *THINK* most of us expect a hatchery EE to look most like an Ameraucana, not at all like an APA Araucana.

 

[FreedomFarm13]

So, I'm a little concerned about my new bw girls...my breeder said they were probably about 2-3 weeks old, which is obviously not the case, then someone on here said they look to be about 6-8 weeks old, but to be honest, I've never seen 6-8 week old chicks with tails this nice. Is this normal? I've been having bad luck with all my chickens lately, so I'm obsessing a little...maybe you lovely people can put my mind at ease...? Here they are:

 

[junebuggena]

Louise, sister by adoption of Thelma (a RIR). Louise is definitely the quieter of the two!

My beautiful girl, Peaches. She passed away a little over a week ago. It's still very painful.

Pretty Easter Eggers.

 

[MrsBachbach]

So, I'm a little concerned about my new bw girls...my breeder said they were probably about 2-3 weeks old, which is obviously not the case, then someone on here said they look to be about 6-8 weeks old, but to be honest, I've never seen 6-8 week old chicks with tails this nice. Is this normal? I've been having bad luck with all my chickens lately, so I'm obsessing a little...maybe you lovely people can put my mind at ease...? Here they are:

Nothing wrong there. Good color for a blue wheaten.
One thing I have seen happen is blue tails turn black and your bluewheaten end up being a wheaten. When they are young I have found the best way to be sure is spread their wings and look at coverts. I've seen black feathers there whereas the tail feathers look blue. But those do look old enough that they likely are blue, but you can check the wings to be sure.

 

[FreedomFarm13]

Ok, thank you. How old would you say they are? I've been getting conflicting opinions...