Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[rbaker0345]

Hatched out my first eggs from my Smith birds. They're lav splits but they all came out black which is okay with me. Out of four eggs that I put in to test fertility, all four hatched out very healthy.

AND I AGREE WITH BETH, SHIPPED EGGS ARE THE WORST I HAVE WASTED SO MUCH MONEY. One exception: Chiqita's bresse eggs. I traded her five jars of jam for 12 bresse eggs and I had nine beautiful little white fluffballs hatch. Very fertile and very shipping hardy. This is the second batch of eggs I traded with her and the first one was a very successful hatch as well.


Speaking of which, I have been trying to get in touch with SandS poultry about some MW eggs (they're close enough that I could pick up eggs instead of having them shipped). Does anyone have contact information or know what is up with them? I have tried contacting them and I get no reply.

 

[rbaker0345]

P.S. For anyone going to the show in Smithfield on Saturday. I have a pure white (with willow legs) ameraucana who is very correct except that he is a bit too small for my tastes (I also don't have any white ameraucanas to breed him to). Would anyone be interested in him if I brought him to the show to sell. I don't have any white hens, but I have a couple of black ameraucana hens or a couple of EE hens that I could sell him with. Let me know if you're interested and I'll give you my cell so we can meet up.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Splash is accepted in silkies. It says in the book under bearded splash silkie.

Slaty blue and white that has a faint bluish grey tinge. Blue in the feathers in the form of large irregular shaped blobs as distinct from V-shaped ticking. Main tail feathers and primary wing feathers with a lesser amount of blue than the rest of the plumage.

Undercolor-Slaty blue and sooty white evenly distributed.

Thanks so much. I'll read what the SOP says about it. Everything I read about splash talks about a white color with splashes on the feathers. My splashes are certainly not white.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Has anyone noticed the noose next to this rooster? Is this a harbinger of things to come?

Too funny! That is a broken swing, but It might be an omen of the future. Both the blue and this splash have been expressing a little displeasure in my presence if I mess with the girls at all. I think they are both on borrowed time, which is why I am worried about which bird to breed to the pullet. The pullet is with wheaten cockerels as well, so I'm going to have to pen the girls separately for a few months to make sure there isn't any viable wheaten sperm. I don't think I will have a lot of chances to breed to the blue as he might end up sent away to camp.

 

[Blue CopperHen]

Both have nice beards and muffs. Surely someone in your area is looking for an Ameraucana rooster?

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

This is from what I have read and what I do. A Med Blue is the goal most of the time. A blue to blue mating is best for this. (Any combo is fine but you may have more culling) If you are wanting splash the best mating is maybe blue to splash since you would get 50/50 of each. You ad black to the mix if you want to get darker blue. You add a splash if you want lighter blues. I personally don't breed for splash. Just not my color thing. I breed blue and black most of the time..... in a pinch i will use a blue roo over blue and blacks.

Splash breeding is not hard you just have to be careful to not keep breeding splash to splash. The color will fade to almost a white. You pullet pic above is probably a second gen splash to splash mating or a really light blue to splash. To keep the splash color looking nice and dark you need to breed in a dark blue so it does not wash out.

Maybe someone with more blue breeding knowledge will chime in..... I am just a babe in chickens still but that is my understanding of blue breedings.

Thanks. I hope others chime in to give more insight.

I don't even know what the ideal splash color is.

The splash cockerel has a beautiful color, a nice clear "blue". I showed Collies and Shelties, many of which were Blue Merles. The splash cockerel is the ideal color for a blue merle, so I am very partial to his color.

What is the "best" splash color? I could not find a description in the SOP. That's not to say it isn't in there--the index is so poorly set up and full of errors, I have trouble finding anything. I'm not even sure if there is any breed with splash being one of the acceptable colors. I don't quite understand how Ameraucana splash and lavenders can be shown, but they seem to be at the nationals at least. I've seen pictures of winning splash birds in other breeds as well. There is so much to learn!

I agree with DMRippy.

 

[DMRippy]

Hatched out my first eggs from my Smith birds. They're lav splits but they all came out black which is okay with me. Out of four eggs that I put in to test fertility, all four hatched out very healthy.

AND I AGREE WITH BETH, SHIPPED EGGS ARE THE WORST I HAVE WASTED SO MUCH MONEY. One exception: Chiqita's bresse eggs. I traded her five jars of jam for 12 bresse eggs and I had nine beautiful little white fluffballs hatch. Very fertile and very shipping hardy. This is the second batch of eggs I traded with her and the first one was a very successful hatch as well.


Speaking of which, I have been trying to get in touch with SandS poultry about some MW eggs (they're close enough that I could pick up eggs instead of having them shipped). Does anyone have contact information or know what is up with them? I have tried contacting them and I get no reply.

That was not a big enough sample of eggs for lavender. I did 3 hatches before I got my first Isabelle Marans on the 4th. Just a few eggs at a time. 3-4. Now I am setting 10-12 at a time..... So far only 2 Lavenders.

 

[delisha]

Quote: I also like your splash girl..pretty and refined

I am trying to decide which cockerel to breed to my splash pullet in the spring. Both my cockerels, a blue and a splash, are from the same breeding pen. The pullet is from another pen and the breeder says they are not closely related. He recommended I breed the splash to the splash. He said that splash to blue tended to produce blues that are too light and washed out.

I've sent pictures of the three birds, but haven't heard back from him yet. Since I first contacted him about which cockerel to use, he's had some wicked ice storms so he my queries might not be very high on his priority list.

Can the experienced breeders on the forum offer me some insight into why one would avoid blue to splash, preferring splash to splash? If I want to breed beautiful blues, how do I get them? By using black?

I want to order another bunch of chicks from this breeder, with the intention of breeding blues and splashes. I would really appreciate the experienced breeders' input. Thanks.

I would use the blue male for two batches of chicks...splash for at least one....I would keep the splash for a back up..you never know if the blue will be a good producer yet..this time next year you will know who to use and how the chicks look and develope.
You might consider getting a black male too..

Both have nice beards and muffs. Surely someone in your area is looking for an Ameraucana rooster?

Good idea to keep a back up rooster..

 

[Blue CopperHen]

I also like your splash girl..pretty and refined

I would use the blue male for two batches of chicks...splash for at least one....I would keep the splash for a back up..you never know if the blue will be a good producer yet..this time next year you will know who to use and how the chicks look and develope.
You might consider getting a black male too..

Good idea to keep a back up rooster..

I agree. I have two Ameraucana roosters, one blue and one splash. The splash is still pretty immature, but I like his type. I am using him to produce easter eggers in a separate breeding pen. It remains to be seen if I will keep my EE pen. I have some super nice Blue Laced Red Wyandotte eggs in the Hova Bator. I only want to concentrate on two breeding pens so that I can stay focused to breeding to the SOP. My plans are to breed Ameraucana and BLRW and keep a small laying flock on the side for table eggs.

 

[Blue CopperHen]

I also like your splash girl..pretty and refined

I would use the blue male for two batches of chicks...splash for at least one....I would keep the splash for a back up..you never know if the blue will be a good producer yet..this time next year you will know who to use and how the chicks look and develope.
You might consider getting a black male too..

Good idea to keep a back up rooster..

By the way, thank you for the feedback on my birds.