Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[daveeboy38]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this chicken farming as well. My six chicks and two ducks are now just over four months old. Researching my ducks was fairly easy. These chickens, which I responded to the first ad that I read on craigslist for Ameraucana, have me just confused as to what they really are. I've read so much that I do not know what is what and actually second guessing myself.
Maybe by posting some pics I can get some of you to help me out. First is Lando, pictured above. Is he Ameraucana or easter egger? If he's Ameraucana then what variety? He and my one hen have the true slate blue legs.

Above and next we have Leia. I was convinced she was a hen until about three weeks ago her neck and chest feathers have darkened in color and now her comb has turned red and grown a little. BUT, not as big as the three (for sure) roosters. Their combs grew quickly and turned red at least 6-8 weeks earlier. I'm really hoping Leia is a hen, her tail feathers don't seem to be growing and she is not crowing.

And here is the big mystery, Vader, the coolest and calmest of the six. I believe what I have here is some kind of cross. The other five are bearded. Vader has a single mini comb on top and a real small streak of a comb on each side. Maybe a wee little beard, but not much. I'm pretty sure she's a hen but have no idea what type of breed she is.

The two brown roos in the rear, Obi-Wan and Boba Fett, both have olive legs. It may be hard from this picture but my only question regarding them is breed. On the far left is Anakin. Slate blue legs on her and not as much vivid color as Leia.
I would appreciate any feedback and yes, I like Star Wars, my chocolate labs name is Chewbacca and the two ducks are Ventress and Dooku. Raising these birds has been a joy so far and I wish that I would have started sooner!

 

[jsayles86]

What do you do when one of your hens is picked on (I.e. pecked on) by the rest of your flock? My special needs Ameraucana has never been a flock favorite, but she was starting to fit in when she was picked up in a greyhound's mouth. The dog didn't do any physical damage (she dropped the hen as soon as we yelled at her), but the hen still appears to suffer from shock. She won't come out of the coop, actually under the poop boards, in the morning. I have to carry her into the run where the food and water are. She will not go out into the yard with the others. She doesn't even cluck anymore. She basically is alone until the others pick at her for making strange movements when she is anxious. I am new to chicken keeping and don't know how to handle this. At the moment she is in a dog crate I set up in the run for when she needs to get away from the other chickens. Any suggestions on how I should handle this hen?

 

[jajeanpierre]

What do you do when one of your hens is picked on (I.e. pecked on) by the rest of your flock? My special needs Ameraucana has never been a flock favorite, but she was starting to fit in when she was picked up in a greyhound's mouth. The dog didn't do any physical damage (she dropped the hen as soon as we yelled at her), but the hen still appears to suffer from shock. She won't come out of the coop, actually under the poop boards, in the morning. I have to carry her into the run where the food and water are. She will not go out into the yard with the others. She doesn't even cluck anymore. She basically is alone until the others pick at her for making strange movements when she is anxious. I am new to chicken keeping and don't know how to handle this. At the moment she is in a dog crate I set up in the run for when she needs to get away from the other chickens. Any suggestions on how I should handle this hen?

From the way you describe it, I suspect she is injured. A Greyhound is a pretty big dog and they are bred to kill, so I would suspect the dog bit or crushed her. I would set up a little pen in the yard with food and water until the bird seems to be acting normal again. I would crate her at night as well.

What do you mean by "special needs"?

 

[jsayles86]

What do you do when one of your hens is picked on (I.e. pecked on) by the rest of your flock? My special needs Ameraucana has never been a flock favorite, but she was starting to fit in when she was picked up in a greyhound's mouth. The dog didn't do any physical damage (she dropped the hen as soon as we yelled at her), but the hen still appears to suffer from shock. She won't come out of the coop, actually under the poop boards, in the morning. I have to carry her into the run where the food and water are. She will not go out into the yard with the others. She doesn't even cluck anymore. She basically is alone until the others pick at her for making strange movements when she is anxious. I am new to chicken keeping and don't know how to handle this. At the moment she is in a dog crate I set up in the run for when she needs to get away from the other chickens. Any suggestions on how I should handle this hen?

From the way you describe it, I suspect she is injured.  A Greyhound is a pretty big dog and they are bred to kill, so I would suspect the dog bit or crushed her. I would set up a little pen in the yard with food and water until the bird seems to be acting normal again.  I would crate her at night as well.

What do you mean by "special needs"?

When she was just a chick she stopped eating and drinking. We kept her alive by dropper feeding her. Until we knew the sex, she was named Lazarus. She was always undersized compared to the rest of the flock. As she grew we noticed her wings were split, one foot turned in and she was a little lopsided. Then she started twirling in circles whenever she was anxious, usually when other chickens were nearby. Two of the roosters picked on her a lot. They are no more. So that is what I mean when I say "special needs". Thanks for the advice. I will keep her separated for a while. She just seems so lonely.

 

[hennible]

So may ask what you all think this guy is... Not from a hatchery not sure really where he's from but EE or ameraucana?

Sorry no full body pic... But his legs are a deep grey.

 

[jerryse]

So may ask what you all think this guy is... Not from a hatchery not sure really where he's from but EE or ameraucana?


Sorry no full body pic... But his legs are a deep grey.

I would say EE . Generally if you don't know where they come from then they are EE . In this case the comb is narrow and tall . Probably carrying 1 copy of pea comb and 1 copy of single comb . Beard is small so probably only 1 copy of that gene .

 

[hennible]

Thank you. I assumed EE because I'm not sure where he came from.

 

[jajeanpierre]

When she was just a chick she stopped eating and drinking. We kept her alive by dropper feeding her. Until we knew the sex, she was named Lazarus. She was always undersized compared to the rest of the flock. As she grew we noticed her wings were split, one foot turned in and she was a little lopsided. Then she started twirling in circles whenever she was anxious, usually when other chickens were nearby. Two of the roosters picked on her a lot. They are no more. So that is what I mean when I say "special needs". Thanks for the advice. I will keep her separated for a while. She just seems so lonely.

She won't be lonely if her pen is in the yard with the other chickens. Put a towel or something over three sides and the roof to give her a safe area to retreat into. You don't want her to feel vulnerable and unprotected in the crate, which can happen. I don't know how cold it is where you are, but make sure she can get out of the sun. At the same time, if she is seriously injured, she will need supplemental heat for awhile. It's a judgement call and how she eats and drinks will tell you a lot. They can feel trapped in an open pen, so makes sure there are three sides and a roof covering part of the pen. At night you can keep her in a crate in the coop with the other chickens. She'll be with them but safe and most importantly, she won't be stressed.

 

[maryhysong]

This is my first year with purebred Ameraucana so I am still picking my jaw up off the floor. I hatched 8 chicks in two batches of eggs from Pam & Cody Padilla (Padilla's Peeps). I kept a blue and a black cockerel from the first hatch. I took them to the open show at the AZ State Fair. There were a LOT of Ameraucana there, in several varieties; possibly the largest breed class there.

My black cockerel was best of variety, reserve of breed, reserve large fowl and reserve AOSB.



A better pic of him from August.

The real shocker was my blue; best of variety, best of breed, best large fowl, best AOSB AND Show REserve!


With so much competition in their classes I really never expected them to get much of anything, let alone go so far! I have a couple of blue pullets coming along and will be hatching chicks after the girls are laying. But yea, wow!

 

[MrsBachbach]

This is my first year with purebred Ameraucana so I am still picking my jaw up off the floor. I hatched 8 chicks in two batches of eggs from Pam & Cody Padilla (Padilla's Peeps). I kept a blue and a black cockerel from the first hatch. I took them to the open show at the AZ State Fair. There were a LOT of Ameraucana there, in several varieties; possibly the largest breed class there. My black cockerel was best of variety, reserve of breed, reserve large fowl and reserve AOSB. A better pic of him from August. The real shocker was my blue; best of variety, best of breed, best large fowl, best AOSB AND Show REserve! With so much competition in their classes I really never expected them to get much of anything, let alone go so far! I have a couple of blue pullets coming along and will be hatching chicks after the girls are laying. But yea, wow!

Nice! Congrats!