Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Flaisure]

"Araucanas, or the Easter Egg Chicken as they are commonly referred to, lay eggs in many shades of blue, green and pink. With the array of color these birds bring, in their feathering as well as their eggs, they make a favorite to add to any flock."
Directly from the Dunlap Hatchery breed description for their Ameraucana. 
They have misrepresented Easter Eggers. True Ameraucana only lay blue eggs, and only come in a handful of colorations. 

Good to know!! Mine lays a light green egg

She is sooo sweet. Loves to be held.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Also, Araucanas are a real breed as well that are not ameraucanas or easter eggers. They have no tails and huge face "tufts" that only loosely resemble the muffs and beards of ameraucanas.

They're practically claiming that their birds are three distinct breeds or varieties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucana
http://www.araucana.net/shows-and-showing/standard-guidelines/

 

[Nortonlee]

I have ONE .. LOL.


newly hatched

2weeks

3.5 weeks

4.5 weeks

And the realization sinks in ...  he's a boy.



Any help on the color would be great ..  he's either wheaten or blue wheaten or splash weaten..

how can you tell it's a boy

 

[kla86]

Has anyone bought hatching eggs from Peggy Taylor in Texas? www.rockyspringsfarm.com

I bought 18 and on day seven I candled to find 10 were infertile. I opened them up to confirm, no blood ring or bulls eye, etc.
I wrote to her about it and she seemed quite upset that I complained and basically told me that is normal. We have had eggs shipped in quite a few times and have never had this many not fertile. Usually when they are handled rough they at least start out a few days and then die.

Does anyone know a good breeder who sells Wheaten Ameraucanas that have good body size, comb, colors per the APA standard?

Thanks

 

[OnceInaBlueMoon]

Has anyone bought hatching eggs from Peggy Taylor in Texas? www.rockyspringsfarm.com

I bought 18 and on day seven I candled to find 10 were infertile. I opened them up to confirm, no blood ring or bulls eye, etc.
I wrote to her about it and she seemed quite upset that I complained and basically told me that is normal. We have had eggs shipped in quite a few times and have never had this many not fertile. Usually when they are handled rough they at least start out a few days and then die.

Does anyone know a good breeder who sells Wheaten Ameraucanas that have good body size, comb, colors per the APA standard?

Thanks

I have not purchased hatching eggs from Peggy, but she seems like she would be a reliable seller to me. Apparently she puts a lot of work into her birds, and has been showing them successfully for a few years.

I think you are on the right track. Did you look through the list of breeders on the ABC? The breeders directory specifies who sells what color varieties.

http://ameraucanabreedersclub.org/docs/breedersdirectory_state.pdf

Unfortunately, hatching eggs are never a guarantee. If they are x-rayed or jumbled by the PO during shipping, they are likely to not develop during incubation.

I have been on the receiving end of excellent hatching egg results from reputable breeders....and also on the receiving end of awful hatching egg results from reputable sellers. Each time, I did not hold the seller responsible. Sometimes the odds just don't fall in our favor. One thing I pay close attention to is how well the eggs have been wrapped for shipping. That is usually an indication of the seller's attempt (or lack there of) to promote good hatch rates.

There are a lot of variables that are out of the control of sellers....such as handling by the PO, incubation techniques, etc. I always encourage people that do not want to take the chance on hatching eggs to purchase actual chicks from a reputable seller. Sorry that your hatch is not going well. I know it is disappointing!

 

[pips&peeps]

You cannot determine after an egg has been incubated if it was fertile or not.

I have had two shipments this year that resulted in 5 total chicks and I hatched for someone else two shipments and got one chick.

Most breeders check fertility in their flock by hatching their eggs first and then offering them for sale. Could all be from the travel.

 

[kla86]

Quote:
Thanks for your reply! Peggy was great to talk to and the wrapping of the eggs looked good. I would have loved to continue to buy more. I was just surprised at how she wasn't more apologetic for shipping infertile eggs. And surprised that she was ornery with me. I know hatch rates will be half if your lucky! But I opened these eggs up. I can see a few being infertile but not more than half! right? I have just talked to other breeders who do the same and ensure they should be fertile. I pulled out two blood rings and the rest developed and should be hatching in the next couple days so I will see how it turns out!

 

[kla86]

Quote:
I wondered the same thing until I actually opened them up and saw no bullseye. This was on day 7. I did take a picture of the yolks.

 

[OnceInaBlueMoon]

Quote:
Thanks for your reply! Peggy was great to talk to and the wrapping of the eggs looked good. I would have loved to continue to buy more. I was just surprised at how she wasn't more apologetic for shipping infertile eggs. And surprised that she was ornery with me. I know hatch rates will be half if your lucky! But I opened these eggs up. I can see a few being infertile but not more than half! right? I have just talked to other breeders who do the same and ensure they should be fertile. I pulled out two blood rings and the rest developed and should be hatching in the next couple days so I will see how it turns out!

You're welcome! Just as a means to be helpful, she may not have necessarily shipped infertile eggs...I have had several conversations with a local PO worker that has chickens and used to ship hatching eggs...she has said in the past that if eggs are ever x-rayed, they will likely not develop at all and appear infertile. She once shipped 24 eggs out, and not a single one developed. The next week, she shipped out another set of eggs and 22 of 24 developed from the same pen. She believes it was due to the eggs being x-rayed. That was a fairly dramatic swing in development within a short period of time, so it would make sense. Unfortunately, even if eggs are marked with "do not X-ray," they can still be x-rayed. My understanding is that it is done at random. Also, if eggs are really shaken up during shipping, or if there is a spike in temp during early incubation, it will kill most embryos. I guess what I'm saying is, there are a lot of variables at play. Or, they could have been infertile, although most sellers do test batches before releasing hatching eggs to check fertility. Many sellers refuse to sell hatching eggs. There are several variables involved with hatching eggs that are completely out of their control. My last hatching egg customer had a 100% hatch rate. A customer a few weeks before that had an awful hatch rate (granted her incubator malfunctioned and stopped working). She was a chick customer as well, so I included extras chicks in her chick order when I shipped them out (as a courtesy). When I am able to, I try to help people out as much as possible, because I am more concerned with advocating for the breed than making a profit, but even so, no seller is ever required to make up for a poor hatch. That is why many people have disclaimers regarding hatching eggs. I have terms and conditions listed on my own website. I hope the others hatch for you! Good luck!!!

 

[kla86]

Quote:
That is very interesting with the X Rays! That is very possible that the x rays made those look infertile to me. Oh hatching eggs.. such a pain I always try and buy chicks over hatching eggs because you get emotionally involved and you want them to work out so bad. Thank you so much OnceInABlueMoon! You have been so kind and informative and helpful!