Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[MrsBachbach]

Thanks, its just the photo that makes Brave look bigger. She is actually probably one of the smallest in the flock. I agree about the tail, even before she was picked on the tail looked off. A few of my birds seem to be getting their back feathers a little later, maybe molting or this is just how they grow in? At what age can you tell the gender of an ameraucana? I probably should have looked into that before I bought them! HA! The lady I bought them from did seem quite knowledgeable, more than me anyway I am trying to learn about all the different colours. I truly appreciate all the info!

You should be able to sex them right now if they are fourteen weeks. Look for the presence of pointed saddle feathers in the area along the back before the tail. Males will develop pointed saddle feathers there and in their hackle feathers. Females just have rounded feathers.

 

[jajeanpierre]

The color "horn" is a many splendid thing......

The SOP definition:


I interpret it to mean any color of cow horn. They usually all have a shiny"ness" to them. Brown, black, white, gray, mixed......

I think the birds pictured above all are probably splash.

Pips&Peeps, would the bird's beak we are discussing, the one on the left, be considered a "horn" colored beak. I know, not great picture but from what you see, does it fit as horn-colored? Have you ever seen a white with a beak that has the dark streaks that the splash often have?

I find standards a challenge to interpret. They use language that really is jargon--you really have to understand the jargon before you are able to understand the standard. I think that at the time they are written, they used jargon everyone understood and was familiar with taken from livestock and horses.

For example, what color is "bay"? According to the SOP (Page 6), the color bay is a "(1) A light golden-brown, and (2) Also used to designate the intermingling of red and yellow in the iris caused by surface capillaries in the eyes of some varieties of fowl." Since Ameraucanas are supposed to have a "reddish bay" colored eye, I interpret that to mean a reddish light golden-brown. How light? How golden? How reddish? When I think of bay, I think of a bay horse which is where the color comes from and light golden-brown is really rare in bays. Most bay horses would never be described as light colored. I went to The Jockey Club's web site (the oldest horse registry in the world, a closed registry since the 1700s) and their definition of bay is "yellow-tan to a bright auburn."

Horn is another color I am confused with. Page 9 in the SOP defines it as, "A broad term commonly used in describing various shadings of color in the beak of some breeds of fowl, e.g., Rhode Island Red, Blue Andalusian, Speckled Sussex, Silver Spangled Hamburg, etc." You have to know what color "horn" is before you can understand the standard because nowhere can I find a description of horn. To me, it is a dull yellowish color with or without streaks of grey or a grey cast over the base dull yellow color.

Interpretation of standards can change over time. What was common knowledge and understanding of a term or expression changes. Last night at the vet's office, I looked through an AKC book of standards from the early 1950s. I showed dogs extensively from mid 1970 until fairly recently. I was surprised at the difference in the pictures of some of the very oldest, popular breeds and what is shown today. The standard has not changed, but the fashion has. Also, few dogs are used for their original purposes, and the standards are written with function the priority.

Just some of my thoughts, thoughts from a novice. Sorry for the drivel.

 

[ladysmith]

Thanks again, the women I bought them from did mention the pointed feathrs, but thanks for clearing it up. I will have a closer look. Brave doesn't have any saddle feathers yet, same as a couple other birds.
Yes I would say they are all splash, no pure white.
Well I have some more investigating to do

 

[jajeanpierre]

Thanks again, the women I bought them from did mention the pointed feathrs, but thanks for clearing it up. I will have a closer look. Brave doesn't have any saddle feathers yet, same as a couple other birds.
Yes I would say they are all splash, no pure white.
Well I have some more investigating to do

Pointed feathers are all relative. Some hens have pointed feathers on their hackles. T hey aren't as long or as thin as a cockerel's, but they still are "pointed."

 

[Regin]

Quote:
I agree, Some breeds are harder to tell than others. The saddle feathers on my Ameraucanas are pretty definite though.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Here are some pictures from the lastest show I went to. I am pretty pleased with how my AMs did, even if there wasn't much competion within the breed.











This Boy is 7 months old. A sumatra placed in front of him.


I had to chuckle at how someone entered one of their AMs. There was a lavendar AM and it was entered as a self blue. Not that it was wrong, I am just not used to a lavendar ameraucana being called self blue.

 

[Folly's place]

Very nice birds! mary

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

...

Very nice birds!  mary
[/quote

Thank you

 

[dstokely]

Here are some pictures from the lastest show I went to. I am pretty pleased with how my AMs did, even if there wasn't much competion within the breed.











This Boy is 7 months old. A sumatra placed in front of him.


I had to chuckle at how someone entered one of their AMs. There was a lavendar AM and it was entered as a self blue. Not that it was wrong, I am just not used to a lavendar ameraucana being called self blue.

I believe that I read the lavendar vs. self blue conversation on the ABC board. Seems that is part of the reason they are not officially recognized yet. Purists like self blue, and others prefer lavendar. Personally, self blue seems to be an old term similar to horn color. My husband and I have a cattle farm and there are no horns on our cows. They have long been out of favor and if you have ever worked cattle, you will understand why.

 

[dstokely]

Here are some pictures from the lastest show I went to. I am pretty pleased with how my AMs did, even if there wasn't much competion within the breed.











This Boy is 7 months old. A sumatra placed in front of him.


I had to chuckle at how someone entered one of their AMs. There was a lavendar AM and it was entered as a self blue. Not that it was wrong, I am just not used to a lavendar ameraucana being called self blue.

They are beautiful by the way. Splash are my favorite!