Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[AyeUpChuck]

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Seriously?!?!?!?

Even DH was like those are really cute.... except for that big ole chicken face!

 

[stonecottagefarm]

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I think their leg color is actually pretty good for Wheatens. I don't know so much in Largefowl but the bantams have terrible leg color with most of them having white leg basically. I think your hen is lacking in the tail department for sure. I would like to see a lot more color in those tail feathers and a lower tail. I think that is the hardest thing about the wheatens is that they have such a variance in tail color. The rooster has a couple major faults that I can point out. Some of the others probably already told you this but I haven't been on in a while. He has too much black in the hackle and too big of a comb. Now I'm a bantam person and I don't like to see that much of a back BUT I think a longer back is the norm for Largefowl. I would also like to see a lower maybe fuller tail but now I'm nit picking LOL! As far as your breeding question: Know your birds faults and know what to breed them to to counter act them. I think of breeding like balancing a chemical equation. What do you need on the reactant side to get this on the product side. That is how you should think of it. Like say you are like GEEZ my hen has good muffs I want to keep that but I would like to make her comb smaller. Find a rooster that has a small comb and still a lot of muffs. It is easier to make up for the rooster's faults than a hens because you have one rooster and many hens. So say your rooster has a bigger comb breed him to smaller combed hens. My lavender rooster has a bigger comb so most of my hens have nice little combs. My brown red hens have not so great color so my rooster I made sure had good color.

That's how I think of it. You can't really breed for fertility if that is what you are asking. Heat and the rooster's age are some of the contributors to whether or not the eggs are fertile.

Tyler

Thank you! That really helped. Since she is under 10 months, could the tail change still? When I first got her, her legs were light colored but have darkened in the last month quite a bit. I love her comb, very small. Sounds like I won't really know until I see their offspring what their positives and negatives are as far as being bred together. I don't know if her offspring produces males with ticking in the hackles or not.

 

[Crazy4mypeeps]

All these chick pics are making me want to get a roo. LOL Bad Bad Bad, I know my neighbors wouldn't tolerate it. Plus the two with the feet issues, I'm not sure how well they would do with breeding.

I have a question though, the only one that wasn't effected with frost bite at the lady's place, her comb is much darker than the other two. The lady couldn't remember exact hatch date on these three, as she had so many, and also had been hatching ducks, I'd say around 100 hatches this past winter almost all at once.

By my estimation they are between 5-7 months old. I believe that the other two might have been stunted with the frostbite on the feet, but came from the same hatch.

So when should I expect eggs from the "normal" one? Since her comb is already dark, I've been watching her to see if she is at least curious about the nest boxes and nothing as of yet.

Thanks in advance for the advice. I just love the personality of these girls. They really bring a smile to my face.

 

[TK Poultry]

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Thank you! That really helped. Since she is under 10 months, could the tail change still? When I first got her, her legs were light colored but have darkened in the last month quite a bit. I love her comb, very small. Sounds like I won't really know until I see their offspring what their positives and negatives are as far as being bred together. I don't know if her offspring produces males with ticking in the hackles or not.

Her tail may change some when she molts out but I wouldn't hold my breath. As far as the hackles go I would just make sure the hens have clear hackles themselves that's all you can do. I would grow out ALL of their first offspring that way you know what they are kind of producing and you can make changes accordingly. I wouldn't cull any until 6 months of age or older unless they have major major faults.

 

[pips&peeps]

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Thank you! That really helped. Since she is under 10 months, could the tail change still? When I first got her, her legs were light colored but have darkened in the last month quite a bit. I love her comb, very small. Sounds like I won't really know until I see their offspring what their positives and negatives are as far as being bred together. I don't know if her offspring produces males with ticking in the hackles or not.

Her tail may change some when she molts out but I wouldn't hold my breath. As far as the hackles go I would just make sure the hens have clear hackles themselves that's all you can do. I would grow out ALL of their first offspring that way you know what they are kind of producing and you can make changes accordingly. I wouldn't cull any until 6 months of age or older unless they have major major faults.

Is this pair from the same hatch?? They both have very high tail angles and if you breed them together, you are only going to reinforce that trait.

 

[TK Poultry]

I have a seperate question to ask here. Is it odd to have chickens molting out this time of year. John Blehm sent me a quad of Lavender bantams and now they are molting!

 

[pips&peeps]

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Could be from the stress of shipping. How old are they?

 

[TK Poultry]

pips&peeps :

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Could be from the stress of shipping. How old are they?

They've been here for about a month now. They are a year old.​

 

[pips&peeps]

probably stress

 

[TK Poultry]

I'm just going to keep my eye on them. They look perfectly healthy right now no signs of illness. Right now I'm in the process of getting rid of some worms in the flock so they are getting some wormer. I also have them on monthly medicated feed I give my birds. I was just wondering if I should be alarmed.