Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Mahonri]

Quote:
You can tell right away if the color is not a standard one. Green legs are a give-away as well. BTW- I have a lovely true blue wheaten girl that lays white eggs. Egg color does not determine breed.

... but you wouldn't put her in the breeding pen, right?

We all want the Bluest of BLUE eggs out of our Ameraucanas.

I'll never forget a couple of years ago how dissapointed I was to have and EE that laid a light tan cream colored egg... I wanted GREEN!

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
You can tell right away if the color is not a standard one. Green legs are a give-away as well. BTW- I have a lovely true blue wheaten girl that lays white eggs. Egg color does not determine breed.

... but you wouldn't put her in the breeding pen, right?

We all want the bluest of blue eggs out of our ameraucanas.

I'll never forget a couple of years ago how dissapointed I was to have and EE that laid a light tan cream colored egg... I wanted GREEN!

Right- my white-egg layer is a project bird. I am keeping her chicks, and their chicks to see what kind of colors they will lay. My first 2 EEs both layed brown eggs- I was so dissappointed, but at least they have good personalities. That's one reason I started making my own EEs/OEs.

I'm surprised the hatcheries aren't selling olive eggers yet- or are they?

 

[megcpat]

But they should all carry some potential, at least one copy of the blue egg gene, that could be bred to create offspring who lay colored eggs. That's the barest minimum required to be considered anEaster Egger.

To be an Ameraucana, they must be one of the (Eight?) accepted color varieties.

 

[chickee]

I think color and comb type are probably a good way to tell a true Ameraucana from an EE. Here is one of my EEs that is Buff (not solid buff like a true Ameraucana) and she has slate legs and lays an egg the same color as an Ameraucana. Here is a picure of her and a picture of the egg she lays. My first 2 EEs ever, when they were first offered at feed stores in the 80's, one layed an Olive egg and the other (no kidding!) a Robins blue egg!! She was black with no beard or muff, just looked like an Astralorp. The other hen was colored in the brown/gold color common to EEs today.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
You can tell right away if the color is not a standard one. Green legs are a give-away as well. BTW- I have a lovely true blue wheaten girl that lays white eggs. Egg color does not determine breed.

Egg color is one of the qualifiers on my yard . My first Ameraucanas will hopefully start laying this fall . Every one of them will first be tested by an outcross to another breed . The resulting chicks will be marked as to its parents and tested to see if they all lay blue/green eggs . If one of my first Ameraucana prooves to be not heterozygous for blue eggs it will be marked as an EE regardless of any other traits . Aa far as the chickens on my yard are chosen : leg color , beards , color pattern , and body type don't mean a thing if they produce offspring that lay white or brown eggs .

 

[dak]

Quote:
You can tell right away if the color is not a standard one. Green legs are a give-away as well. BTW- I have a lovely true blue wheaten girl that lays white eggs. Egg color does not determine breed.

Egg color is one of the qualifiers on my yard . My first Ameraucanas will hopefully start laying this fall . Every one of them will first be tested by an outcross to another breed . The resulting chicks will be marked as to its parents and tested to see if they all lay blue/green eggs . If one of my first Ameraucana prooves to be not heterozygous for blue eggs it will be marked as an EE regardless of any other traits . Aa far as the chickens on my yard are chosen : leg color , beards , color pattern , and body type don't mean a thing if they produce offspring that lay white or brown eggs .

Homozygous.

To have two copies of the same gene. ie. blue/blue

Heterozygous, Two different copies. ie. blue/brown

 

[HBuehler]

Thank-you I was about to post the same thing. Personally I don't want any Heterozygous genes in my Ameraucana flock...or my EE flock

 

[megcpat]

The white eggs...... does this have anything to do with gene copies for egg color or is it more to do with how their individual pigment glands are working? I've had white egg layers pop up out of pretty well established homozygous breeders and I have one Araucana hen who used to lay the most stunning blue egg but now lays white. I expected the eggs to be blue again when she began a new cycle but she has just begun again and they are as pure white an egg as can be (it's not due to a worm infestation - I manage for that). So, I am confused about the white eggs. Were there white egg laying breeds used to create the current Ameraucana varieties and copies for white egg genes in the pool or is this unrelated?

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
I have no idea where the white comes from- or where my girl got it. I would think that wheaten was more of a wild type, natural color for them. Have to research that! Dirty Girl hatched from a lovely blue egg- so who knows? I bred her to an unrelated roo, and have a couple really gorgeous chicks. Hoping they'll lay blue, but if not- they're just going to be yard candy. I'm not going to bother taking it another generation if the egg color doesn't improve- I have enough other ameraucanas around here & the lavs to work on egg color with.

 

[neuchicontheblock]

My Americauna roo was killed by a feral cat last evening. I have 2 wheaten and one lavender hen. Anyone in CT or southern MA (Berkshires) have a roo?