Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Going Quackers]

I don't think these pictures say anything except ugly. I pulled the five out that are not obviously cockerels and looked them over very carefully and photographed them in a little show pen. They were really upset in the pen, crouching down and not being at all photogenic. I've included pictures of the five I hope

are pullets.

None of these birds have particularly big feet or legs although the Splash #1 is probably the biggest bird of the bunch. "She" is five days younger than the rest.

I went through their feathers and don't see the tell-tale pointy feathers of a cockerel coming in. Their new feathers seem to be rounded, but who knows.

I've kept their reference numbers the same as the pictures posted yesterday. Splash #1 is 15 weeks tomorrow. All the other birds are 16 weeks on Saturday.

Splash #1:






Splash #2





Chick #3:

I'm on the pullet bus myself...

Here this guy is most definitely NOT



red, comb and while not as clear in the pic but points showing up.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I'm on the pullet bus myself...

Here this guy is most definitely NOT



red, comb and while not as clear in the pic but points showing up.

Thanks for the pullet vote. I know the two blues are pullets, but the the splash are confusing me. They have fine legs, so I am pretty sure they are pullets. However, two look me full in the face and jump up at me when I bend over the pen for a closer look. That's very cockerel-ish behavior. One has darker head and hackles, again suggesting cockerel. That one is a darker bird over all so maybe it is nothing and maybe the bird is just a little dirtier than the others as well.

Last night I noticed one of the blue pullets doing that crop clearing maneuver. Her crop was quite distended with no mass inside. I still massaged it and tried to dislodge anything that might be causing a bit of a blockage. No bad breath, but gas. Should I treat for fungal? I have some Nystatin on hand and could easily treat her. I kept her caged separate last night and she still had a distended crop crop in the morning.

Last night I culled three of the rapist cockerels. They were almost 8 months old and were just terrorizing five of the six laying hens that are free ranging with them. Five would give chase like a pack of wolves. If the older rooster was close and they managed to hide under his skirts, they were safe, but it was just awful. I left the two really big black Ameraucanas that had exhibited courting behaviors and culled the two blues and a splash. I hate culling birds!!!!!

I put the three rudest boys in crates yesterday morning and the flock immediately calmed down. The laying hens spread out rather than bunching around the older rooster. If I had any doubts about culling them, the peace dispelled them.

I'm left with two very big black cockerels and the nasty blue rooster who is so good with the hens and so awful with me. I had hoped to cull him, but I have had three birds taken by what I believe is a fox last month so he lives awhile since the hens will run to him when they were attacked by the rapists. One black bird is a nice looking bird but the other has a loose wing. Because my older rooster (19 months old) is just so darned nasty with me, always rushing me and flogging me if he gets lucky, I am culling for temperament first. My family want me to keep him since he is so good with the hens but they have never been flogged and I dread him nailing me with his spurs. I usually can hear him coming because of the rustle of the leaves but once in awhile he gets me. My husband suggests I just carry a rake or something every time I am out the front, but that is just not how I want to live, always looking over my shoulder because he will be following me. The two black cockerels just ignore me and are relaxed around me. I hope they stay that way--it is so pleasant to be around them.

The loose-winged bird had some kind of liver crisis--cause never identified--when he was about 8 weeks old. I expected he would die but over a two week period he recovered enough to be put back with the chicks. When I found him, he was flattened in a corner with no ability to stand or move. I thought he was dead. I say liver because of the bright yellow urates. My avian vet said that with a severe liver problem, there can be neurological symptoms like those he presented. I tubed fluids into him about four or five times a day and waited for him to die. The day after he went down, he was looking a lot perkier but still completely unable to stand. He couldn't even balance when lying down. He slowly recovered. I put a band on him to be able to identify him and he always seemed a little wobbly. He tired more easily and when he tired, the wings dropped. I'm not sure if his loose wings are from a lingering neurological issue or not.

The two blacks were the only cockerels to exhibit any sort of courting behavior and would often stop the rapists when they managed to catch a hen or pullet. They were also the birds that were the calmest around me. They don't watch me the way the other cockerels did. I think that watchfulness is the start of aggression towards me. I sure hope they turn out to be nice-tempered roosters. I am sick of always having to watch my back when I walk around my yard. If they aren't nice, I still have three younger cockerels growing up.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Thank you, this bird will drive me bonkers. I did get pics of the one i know is a cockerel.. i had black, splash and blue eggs under my hen...

 

[deputychicken21]

Hello
I have an Ameraucana that is sick. This is Jessica she has a strange looking soft pouch thing under her lower beak. Her lower beak is too small but she eats wet food with no problem (fermented). She is half the size and weight of here flock mates. All the others are healthy. And of course she had to be the sweetest chick out of the bunch. Any help would be appreciated

The spot under her neck has always stayed damp but I guess thats from her drinking.

Born August 7th 2014
Received 15 chicks, 4 fell over dead after 4 weeks and one has scissor beak but is fat and happy
She has great appetite
She is not lethargic
She has puny legs
She is half the weight of others

 

[hotlipshens]

Deputy I'm sorry I'm of no help. Your poor sweet girl has a pretty serious deformity. So sorry!

 

[deputychicken21]

Deputy I'm sorry I'm of no help. Your poor sweet girl has a pretty serious deformity. So sorry!

Thank you. Im hoping she is just deformed and its not some disease. She is the only one like that. She eats a lot so maybe she will hang in there.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I know that grey is blue, but in comparing her to the two gray birds, I think she is really a black. The splash is very light, mostly white with a few black feathers. The other two are blue, one darker and one with a bit of black splashed in. Whatever colors they really all are though, they are turning out to be very pretty birds. In the pics below, the top one is the "black" with the lighter blue bird. All four amercaunas are in the middle picture with the splash in between the two blues and the darkest one off to the side. Here is my dark bird, Sarah, who I think is a black.

You have light blue and dark blue. Your's is a dark blue bird, not black from what I can see. Blue can vary in shade from one extreme to the other.

 

[hotlipshens]

Deputy I have been fortunate to not have had a cross beak am but a friend who did said she kept her chick as long as possible but it was a loosing battle. They are such sweet birds - I just adore mine and know how sad this must be for you. Sending you zen and cyber hugs!

 

[deputychicken21]

Deputy I have been fortunate to not have had a cross beak am but a friend who did said she kept her chick as long as possible but it was a loosing battle. They are such sweet birds - I just adore mine and know how sad this must be for you. Sending you zen and cyber hugs!

Thankyou very much. We will keep them around as long as possible.

 

[hotlipshens]

Lily I agree with bachbach - blues can really range in color...some of my darkest look like blacks from a distance. Blues will have a lighter undercoat that blacks lack. I wonder, however, if the one you call a light blue might be lavender? Blues usually have a darker head/neck while lavs are a more uniform color.