Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[junebuggena]

Feed might affect the egg yolk color, but it won't change skin color. Skin color is genetic. It reveals that he hasn't been breeding as close to SOP as he claims.

 

[JulesChicks]

That's what I thought.

 

[HorseChick21]

Question from a newbie here ^.^ is sexing by comb color very accurate for AMs? I have 21, 7 week old AMs of various colors (lav,black and blue) and only 4-5 have bright red combs. The rest are still either light pink or pale.

 

[junebuggena]

Red combs before 10 weeks old is always reliably a cockerel, regardless of breed.

 

[HorseChick21]

Thanks for the answer I'm new to AMs, hah, clearly ^.^

 

[MrsBachbach]

I agree they are all pullets too. However, the legs indicate to me that someone jumped the fence a generation or so ago. The seller also has welsummers which have yellow legs and one of the chicks has a single comb......

The seller has stated that he has not brought in any new blood at all, and has been breeding these birds for several years, so that is the obvious conclusion.

There are some really nice photos of wheatens and blue wheatens on the ameraucana breeders club website gallery. We even have a photo of a younger wheaten pullet you can view to see how the leg color changes as they grow.

http://ameraucana.org/gallery.html#_self

Thanks, I'm already familiar with the site. I happen to raise this variety also and have plenty of legs in my pen right now to look at. Much better than pics.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Question from a newbie here ^.^ is sexing by comb color very accurate for AMs? I have 21, 7 week old AMs of various colors (lav,black and blue) and only 4-5 have bright red combs. The rest are still either light pink or pale.

I agree with other poster. Red combs at that age are usually a good indicator of a male.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Thanks Pips and Peeps and Mrs Bach Bach. When I emailed the breeder about sexing and pointed out the legs he pretty much blamed the feed, asking what I was feeding them and saying it was the marigold extract. If that was so, all 4 would have the yellow legs - however, I'm feeding the highest quality feed around here - Scratch and Peck, non-gmo, corn and soy free - I highly doubt there is marigold extract in their chick starter. Ok, just checked and it doesn't. I was mixing with another organic brand and I'm not sure about that one. But anyway, I first noticed the color of the legs in the first week I had them I think and have been watching them hoping they would change.
I have been to the Ameraucana.org gallery many times, however, there aren't any pictures of young cockerels for comparison. You also can't make the picture large enough to see the comb, and for a newbie, there just isn't enough detail to know by looking at those.
I will take a look at the new website as well, thanks Shaffer.

For now, I know I have some pullets, so that is great news. Thanks everyone!

Fyi, you can probably find old threads on ABC site that discuss feed and how they believe it affects foot color. I believe it was corn that was discussed, not marigold. Also, I think they were discussing foot pad color not shanks, but I might be wrong on that detail. Anyway, the effect was believed temporary and the chicks would grow out with correct color. Also, I was told by a respected breeder that you should know for sure what you are going to have by six months. Can know earlier, but things don't change much after six months. So, yours still have time, but I have to admit, those legs are pretty yellow and they very well may not change. Likely for the reason Jean gave.

Btw, here are some pictures of young cockerels so you can see the difference between male and female:

Male ( about 4 or 5 weeks I think) Note the darker feathers coming in.



Female. More uniform tan coloring.



Here are some older ones. About six or seven weeks old I think. The male is obvious next to the females.



They were having their first exploration of the outside pen.

 

[prepperchickens]

Aww. My Ameracuana, Macao (don't ask, husband named her, no clue) is adorable but so skiddish even though she's been handled and spoiled just like the rest of our chickens and guineas all of whom are super tame. Wanted to ask, is this common? She is sweet once you catch Her but acts like you're trying to kill her if you try to pick her up. She's not the brightest either but it's cute.

this pic is a month old she's over 3 mos now and is becoming quite the hen. She's so soft.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Aww. My Ameracuana, Macao (don't ask, husband named her, no clue) is adorable but so skiddish even though she's been handled and spoiled just like the rest of our chickens and guineas all of whom are super tame. Wanted to ask, is this common? She is sweet once you catch Her but acts like you're trying to kill her if you try to pick her up. She's not the brightest either but it's cute.

this pic is a month old she's over 3 mos now and is becoming quite the hen. She's so soft.

Pretty little girl... she is an Easter Egger though, not true Ameraucana... my Ameraucanas are sweet and very affectionate, but my EE's are very flighty... EE's can go either way, but flighty seems to be common...