Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[sandiklaws]

I am looking for eggs from a very good line of Black bantams...any suggestions or offers?

 

[Hangtown Farms]

At the last swap, I heard a report of an Old English Breeder who just had birds stolen. Also, I had a group of young men pull onto my property, right over to my coops, on a four wheeler towing a trailer (empty). They were "lost".

My DH ran them off. I had another trio of nere-do-wells return after the police ran them off. I met them with a lead deployment unit.

Rattled my nerves a bit, but when it takes the police 20 minutes to respond around here, you have to be prepared to protect yourself.

Personal friends are the obvious exception. My farrier thinks I'm a hoot (crazy chicken lady), but he enjoys the eggs.

scary. I used to live up a 800 ft driveway at the house I rented. people would drive up it from time to time. usually probably lost as we are in the hills.
one time some guy mentioned he had grown up there. However telling my landlord he said no way. they had bought the property from the original owner who had no kids.
After that when I saw a strange car go up the driveway or a car parked at the bottom I would make sure to grab my hand gun just in case. I have a family and If I dont know you I dont trust you.
Sad I know

 

[Goose and Fig]

Breeding coops.jpg (940×768) Chick Hatchery offering the best day-old chicks

hey everyone this is a picture from chick hatchery John Blehm hatchery. Now hes one of the very best but when i look at this pic i see his pens numbered 19 and 22 has wheaten males in them. Is it normal practice to also breed the wheaten males back to black hens.

Im new to the wheatens, can you breed them to a black hen just like you breed allot of lines back to black. the reason i ask and what maid me notice johns photo is I lost all my wheatens to coyotes except for two roos a blue wheaten and a reg wheaten. I have a few black pullets left and Possibly one blue pullet. Whats the hatch ratio and color when you breed the wheaten male to a black hen. And what do you get when you breed one back to a blue.

Are they wheatens, or are they brown reds? Gosh those are tiny enclosures. Maybe they are just set up to get ready for a show? I can't imagine they live like that all year.

 

[dak]

Are they wheatens, or are they brown reds? Gosh those are tiny enclosures. Maybe they are just set up to get ready for a show? I can't imagine they live like that all year.

Those appear to be Brown-reds on the right end, and are possibly bantams. John will pedigree mate certain varieties and will move a cock from hen to hen on each day. This allows him to know exactly who is producing what.

There are experienced breeders who will breed Black into a variety that in general you shouldn't. It will be part of a very specific improvement project and the majority of chicks produced will likely be culled in the strictest sense of the term . Those cull will never leave their farm.

You wouldn't put a cock in with a hen you are conditioning for show.

 

[rollkeeg877]

these are my to oldest cockerels so far one is a dark dark blue and the other is black





these are some of the chicks i hatched this year

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:

I was just guessing there would be one in each box to get ready for a show, and maybe they put the matching male/female in there just for the purpose of the picture, to display pairs. Or to sell pairs, maybe? I cannot imagine a breeder having their birds actually living like that for more than a few days. Those are practically battery cages.

 

[sandiklaws]

I was just guessing there would be one in each box to get ready for a show, and maybe they put the matching male/female in there just for the purpose of the picture, to display pairs. Or to sell pairs, maybe? I cannot imagine a breeder having their birds actually living like that for more than a few days. Those are practically battery cages.

They probably get rotated in an exercise pen, the top level Cochin and Silkie breeders nearly all keep their birds this way and use AI... at least these guys seem to be allowed to do the "wild thing" LOL

 

[Goose and Fig]

Gosh I hope so. What a miserable existence that would be.
I feel guilty on the days when I have to keep a few birds locked in a 10ft x 10ft coop with a yard attached. I am so glad to be done this year and have them all free ranging dawn til dusk again.

 

[dak]

I was just guessing there would be one in each box to get ready for a show, and maybe they put the matching male/female in there just for the purpose of the picture, to display pairs. Or to sell pairs, maybe? I cannot imagine a breeder having their birds actually living like that for more than a few days. Those are practically battery cages.

Well, I guess you can bring that up with the man who was the President for the ABC club for many years, and is one of the founders of the breed. He is a great source of knowledge on the ABC forum and doesn't go the "old curmudgeon" route when answering questions there. I think comparing them to battery cages is harsh. There is generally a big difference between how serious breeders manage their stock and the poultry huggin/chicken diaperin group often found here.

 

[salt and pepper]

Gosh I hope so. What a miserable existence that would be.
I feel guilty on the days when I have to keep a few birds locked in a 10ft x 10ft coop with a yard attached. I am so glad to be done this year and have them all free ranging dawn til dusk again.

There's a really good chance that they aren't in there all the time, none of the hens have bald spots, or wear and tear on their backs, which would happen if it was only a hen and rooster together. They are beautiful birds...