Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[jsayles86]

I'm a fairly new chicken owner. I have 3 Ameraucanas, 2 hens (wheaten and blue) and 1 rooster (blue?). Is this rooster a blue? They are 5 months old.
First of all, I wanted to make sure they ARE Ameraucanas, and secondly, are they good examples of the breed? The hens are a little skiddish, though they will eat out of my hand. The rooster is quite friendly and definitely in charge. I haven't seen any eggs yet. They do free range most of the day (my yard is fenced with quite a few trees) so I am worried that they might lay in the yard. Also, how "winter hearty" are they?
Thanks for looking.

 

[dstokely]

I'm a fairly new chicken owner. I have 3 Ameraucanas, 2 hens (wheaten and blue) and 1 rooster (blue?). Is this rooster a blue? They are 5 months old.
First of all, I wanted to make sure they ARE Ameraucanas, and secondly, are they good examples of the breed? The hens are a little skiddish, though they will eat out of my hand. The rooster is quite friendly and definitely in charge. I haven't seen any eggs yet. They do free range most of the day (my yard is fenced with quite a few trees) so I am worried that they might lay in the yard. Also, how "winter hearty" are they?
Thanks for looking.

Looks to me like they are. Your roo looks like mine, just a little older. Your blue hen looks lighter than mine, but still appears to be Ameraucana and so does the wheaten.

 

[cjpines]

I'm a fairly new chicken owner. I have 3 Ameraucanas, 2 hens (wheaten and blue) and 1 rooster (blue?). Is this rooster a blue? They are 5 months old.
First of all, I wanted to make sure they ARE Ameraucanas, and secondly, are they good examples of the breed? The hens are a little skiddish, though they will eat out of my hand. The rooster is quite friendly and definitely in charge. I haven't seen any eggs yet. They do free range most of the day (my yard is fenced with quite a few trees) so I am worried that they might lay in the yard. Also, how "winter hearty" are they?
Thanks for looking.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Well, if your Ameraucanas are sweet, why are mine nasty? 

No, I haven't done any of the things that "they" say will turn a good rooster into a jerk.  I didn't make them pets.  I don't hand feed them.  I don't bother the hens/pullets.  I'm careful and respectful of the hens and them.  There is absolutely NO reason for these cockerels to show any aggression at all to me, and two six-month old ones have dropped a wing to me.  Not good news.

The nasty mature Ameraucana rooster was dropping a wing and sidling up to me throwing sticks and stones on the ground by about 6 months.  I just didn't recognize it as aggression.  Silly me.  New to chickens, I read his body language as tit-bitting.

I think it's the line. 

I'm going to select for nice termperaments and try to breed it out or simply slaughter them all when they are six to eight months old and just keep getting new ones to fill my freezer.  I need a rooster to watch for hawks.  It appears I can't count on any to actually do anything in the event of an attack, but a warning of areal predators is a good thing.

Of the four adult roosters I have, the Ameraucana is dangerous and it will be a pleasure to slaughter him.  I am just sick and tired of always walking around my front yard listening for him rushing me.  The Silkie will very occasionally jump up in the air like a hopping bunny if he feels a person is a thread.  My 6'3" son gets a more aggressive response.  The frazzle will come flying across the yard, flare up and jump at my pant legs repeatedly, falling heavily on his back.  He's a jerk with the hens, too.  I really should try to take a video of it because it is so ridiculous looking.  My fourth adult rooster is a bantam Cochin who lives alone in a pen.  He shows no aggression at all to people.  I wish he had friends, but I need him alone to A.I. him when I finally get around to actually doing it and collecting/hatching the eggs.  I have a trio of bantam Cochin pullets in another pen, but can't put the rooster in with them because one of the hens is a frazzle (double copy for the frizzle gene) and what little pathetic feathering she has would be shredded in one or two days even if she were wearing a saddle.


The Ameraucana can really hurt if  he flogs you.  It feels like someone took a baseball bat to my shins.  He just has to go and I have just put it off and put it off (for all my gruff talk, I HATE slaughtering anything).  I just had surgery on both my wrists, so have a legitimate excuse.

I've had an aggressive EE in the past, so, the Ameraucanas I have now seem tame to me!

Hmmm, if he's dropping his wing and doing a dance, I really think he wants to mate you!!! That's what every rooster I've ever had does with the hens. But, it does mean he wants you to submit to him.
I only have one rooster here who will occassionally drop his wing when I enter his pen, but it never goes farther than that. He keeps his distance. Other's try to escape from me and then I have this one blue wheaten rooster who is just the best dang male I've ever owned. I can easily just go pick him up. No agression from him at all. Thing is, some may have culled him early on because when he was younger he would peck my leg every time I went in the pen. Some would see that as aggression. I think he was just wanting food. Like I said, he turned out to be the best male I have ever owned because he doesn't run and doesn't attack. I currently have some juvenile blue wheaten/wheaten males that like to talk to me when I get down to their level. They will come right up and chat, while others scatter. No, I don't know what they are saying.

One other thing to consider when choosing for temperament is how aggressively they will breed or protect for that matter. It could be a factor. A happy medium may be the best of both worlds.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I'm a fairly new chicken owner. I have 3 Ameraucanas, 2 hens (wheaten and blue) and 1 rooster (blue?). Is this rooster a blue? They are 5 months old. First of all, I wanted to make sure they ARE Ameraucanas, and secondly, are they good examples of the breed? The hens are a little skiddish, though they will eat out of my hand. The rooster is quite friendly and definitely in charge. I haven't seen any eggs yet. They do free range most of the day (my yard is fenced with quite a few trees) so I am worried that they might lay in the yard. Also, how "winter hearty" are they? Thanks for looking.

They look legit! Nice looking birds.

 

[ochochicas]

I bought this bird in the spring and she was supposed to be an Ameraucana. Later someone told me she is an Easter Egger because she is the wrong color and she would lay green eggs. She just turned 5 months old and started laying beautiful blue eggs. There is nothing about her that would make me think she isn't an Ameraucana. My question is, is she one of the approved Ameraucana colors? She has slate legs. Thanks!



A picture from when she was younger.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I bought this bird in the spring and she was supposed to be an Ameraucana. Later someone told me she is an Easter Egger because she is the wrong color and she would lay green eggs. She just turned 5 months old and started laying beautiful blue eggs. There is nothing about her that would make me think she isn't an Ameraucana. My question is, is she one of the approved Ameraucana colors? She has slate legs. Thanks!



A picture from when she was younger.

The only misinformation you were given was that she *would* lay green eggs -- EE *may* lay eggs in shades of blue OR green. Your bird is most definitely an EE - her legs are green (not slate) and she is not any of the accepted colors for Ameraucana, both of which disqualify her for being an Ameraucana. If you bought her because you wanted colorful eggs it is of little consequence - if you do want true Ameraucanas for a breeding project, showing, etc you are best to work with a reputable breeder. I, personally, love EE because of the wider variety of colors and patterns and the "surprise grab bag" you get when you start with a group of chicks who all turn out differently.

 

[emily88]

I bought this bird in the spring and she was supposed to be an Ameraucana. Later someone told me she is an Easter Egger because she is the wrong color and she would lay green eggs. She just turned 5 months old and started laying beautiful blue eggs. There is nothing about her that would make me think she isn't an Ameraucana. My question is, is she one of the approved Ameraucana colors? She has slate legs. Thanks! A picture from when she was younger.

She is lovely. I have an EE that is a non-standard colored. Please anyone corrected me, but any Am that is a nonstandard color is an EE. My question is what happens when someone that doesn't know much about breeding Am breeds an assortment of colors will they get EEs?

 

[ochochicas]

Thanks for all the info!

I bought some Hatchery birds before I knew better. I just wanted blue and green eggs and have no intentions of breeding Ameraucanas, so all is good. Of the "pullets" I bought she is the only one that was actually a pullet. The cockerels were culled already. I love my little bird and her cute blue eggs. I was just wondering if she was really an EE or not.

 

[delder2009]

She is lovely. I have an EE that is a non-standard colored. Please anyone corrected me, but any Am that is a nonstandard color is an EE. My question is what happens when someone that doesn't know much about breeding Am breeds an assortment of colors will they get EEs?

for my understanding it doesn't matter if both parents are ameraucana if the color is not for standard it's a ee.