Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[jajeanpierre]

I would move them as soon as they are all done hatching and dried off

Shavings or hay for bedding? I'll put hay in the tub I'll use as a nest box, but what about the floor? I think I'll use hay. I just hope that last chick hatches okay. So far, s/he is slow but it is still in the normal range.

 

[Melissa F]

Is three days old too early to tell what these are? I bought the eggs off of eBay and they were advertised as Blue Splash Wheaten Ameraucana. Only three hatched, and they all look different! Just wondering if any experts can tell 1. If they are true Ameraucana and 2. What color will they be? We are especially inlove with the little golden one.

 

[johnderosa1]

Is three days old too early to tell what these are? I bought the eggs off of eBay and they were advertised as Blue Splash Wheaten Ameraucana. Only three hatched, and they all look different! Just wondering if any experts can tell 1. If they are true Ameraucana and 2. What color will they be? We are especially inlove with the little golden one.

Looks like they are EEs....

 

[TheGeekySheep]

Wow, its bad enough when sellers/hatcheries trick people by selling EE's as "Ameraucanas", but to go as far as saying they're a specific color variety when they're clearly not...

I'm sorry that happened to you. They're adorable nonetheless, you should get a variety of colors.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I now consider myself an honest-to-goodness chicken keeper--I have chicks! I honestly did not believe any of these eggs would hatch when I put them under a broody lavender Ameraucana. I was shocked when I candled them and found all seven were developing. Still, I had no faith in mother nature. I was shocked to find six hatched chicks and one that is pipping or whatever you call it when it is trying to hatch--so far, it has managed to chip off a bit of egg shell. These chicks are from my favorite splash hen who has been so sick all this year and my blue cockerel. So far, four blue and two splash with one egg still trying to hatch. I would love another splash, but a live, hatched chick is all I care about. Any suggestions on how to raise them? I really didn't think any would hatch. I had intended to let them out and free range with the existing free range flock. They were hatched in a nest box in the coop. I'm also integrating my twelve juvenile Ameraucanas into the group. The rooster, although nasty to me, is a great rooster for the flock. Thanks for any suggestions.

I would put them and moma in a separate pen for about four weeks. Chicks immune systems should be ready for new challenges by then. Then let them out with mom. She will be ready to leave them in about six weeks.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Shavings or hay for bedding?  I'll put hay in the tub I'll use as a nest box, but what about the floor?  I think I'll use  hay.  I just hope that last chick hatches okay.  So far, s/he is slow but it is still in the normal range.

Move them at night. Put the chicks in a box, get mom in the new nest box, then start putting babies under her. But, as others said, wait til they all hatch. Mom usually waits three days then takes the chicks out for their taste of water and food. Hay is ok for now, but, change it to shavings before two weeks. In my experience raising young chicks, they always end up eating the hay and one or two always end up crop bound. They usually start this by week three. Mom may even eat it if penned up. So, best to change it out as soon as you can.

Oh, and if they are going to be exposed to grass or even shavings, get the baby chick grit for them. You can start giving that to them when they are two weeks old. Just a little at a time. Sometimes they really gobble that up.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Is three days old too early to tell what these are? I bought the eggs off of eBay and they were advertised as Blue Splash Wheaten Ameraucana. Only three hatched, and they all look different! Just wondering if any experts can tell 1. If they are true Ameraucana and 2. What color will they be? We are especially inlove with the little golden one.

They are not blues and they are not wheatens or blue wheatens. The first one might be a splash chick or a poorly colored blue. That's the only one that even looks remotely close. Given the others are EE's, that one could very well also be.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Move them at night. Put the chicks in a box, get mom in the new nest box, then start putting babies under her. But, as others said, wait til they all hatch. Mom usually waits three days then takes the chicks out for their taste of water and food. Hay is ok for now, but, change it to shavings before two weeks. In my experience raising young chicks, they always end up eating the hay and one or two always end up crop bound. They usually start this by week three. Mom may even eat it if penned up. So, best to change it out as soon as you can.

Oh, and if they are going to be exposed to grass or even shavings, get the baby chick grit for them. You can start giving that to them when they are two weeks old. Just a little at a time. Sometimes they really gobble that up.

My last chick hatched late this afternoon. Should I move them tonight? One fell out of the nest box and it took me forever to find it. The other chickens will be coming to roost soon. I had originally thought I would leave them in the tractor coop with everyone, but now I'm not so sure. I honestly didn't expect any to hatch so didn't even think a lot about them. Advice please.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Did I post this picture?

She's not the biological mama--my splash is. I've got five blues and two splash.

 

[jajeanpierre]

What do you think of the color of this chick? The four other blues don't have the yellow on the forehead like this chick. The second picture was taken without the flash, so maybe shows the yellow better. Is that in the normal range of color variation for a blue chick?

I am 99.99% sure these chicks are all from my splash Ameraucana hen and blue Ameraucana rooster. As far as I can tell, they all came from the same hen--same shape, size and color egg. It is possible that some of the chicks are from two other Ameraucanas, but highly unlikely. One of the other possibility was the lavender Ameraucana broody who hatched them, but she was broody and had been for weeks before these eggs were laid. I'm talking pancake/stunned/disoriented broody. I don't think she laid any eggs and they didn't look like her eggs. The other possibility is the blue wheaten hen, but as far as I know, she had never laid an egg in her life. I euthanized her about a week or two ago from complications from internal laying. I just don't believe she laid any eggs.

So, I am pretty sure they are all from my splash hen and blue rooster from Paul Smith.