Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[MrsBachbach]

Welp, so much for true blue. Oh well they are stunning to say the least. So I guess I can breed them with just about anything and call them EE's ? That seems pretty easy for the spring time. How easy do those sell? Not trying to make a profit just want to enjoy chicks and not have to butcher them myself. I might get some jersey Giants. If a jersey giant rooster and one of my EE hooked up would that still make the chicks EE or would they be just plain mongrels at that point lol?

I think you better plan on obtaining some girls before you breed. The blue and the splash both look very male in the comb. The off colored one is hard to tell because the comb looks black in areas. At least on my screen it does.

 

[MrsBachbach]

The only chick of 8 eggs set. Love 'her'. Pullet, right!? About seven weeks old.

At this point, it looks female to me.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I'm pretty sure that my three AM chicks are male. Just like the three I hatched last year. These three are blues so about what age would you expect the dark cape to show? I'm keeping an eye out for pointed feathers coming in but they are only 11 weeks old. Still keeping my fingers crossed.

I would think at 11 weeks they would start putting on a few dark feathers that would indicate a male. Usually by 12 to 14 wks you start seeing the pointy feathers in the saddle area.
Notice the dark feathers coming in on this male:

 

[kaitbray]

I think you better plan on obtaining some girls before you breed.  The blue and the splash both look very male in the comb.  The off colored one is hard to tell because the comb looks black in areas.  At least on my screen it does.

Ha ha ha ha oh no! Lol ! I guess since I have only dealt with banties so far, I'm not good at picking standard chicken pullets. It's hard for me to comprehend these Ameraucanas are half the age of my Banties when they are twice the size of them

I had an early blooming rooster with my banties so I guess I just assumed it be just as easy to tell boys from girls with all other chickens too

Here was my bantie roo at 5 weeks old

He's so handsome , you can see by this photo why I would think these 5 wk old ameraucanas were of course all pullets

 

[christine9]

I would think at 11 weeks they would start putting on a few dark feathers that would indicate a male. Usually by 12 to 14 wks you start seeing the pointy feathers in the saddle area. Notice the dark feathers coming in on this male:

Oh thank you. Keeping hope alive! I may have to take some pictures and get opinions. It's always so much easier to sex other people's chicks!!

 

[MrsBachbach]

Ha ha ha ha oh no! Lol ! I guess since I have only dealt with banties so far, I'm not good at picking standard chicken pullets. It's hard for me to comprehend these Ameraucanas are half the age of my Banties when they are twice the size of them

I had an early blooming rooster with my banties so I guess I just assumed it be just as easy to tell boys from girls with all other chickens too

Here was my bantie roo at 5 weeks old



He's so handsome , you can see by this photo why I would think these 5 wk old ameraucanas were of course all pullets

Five or six week old ameraucanas that are showing that much red in the comb are usually a good indicator of males. Female combs stay a pale color until they are much older.
I'm still wondering what's going on in your birds. Even that little banty has black on the tips of his comb. Are their combs turning black or is it the lighting of the camera or what? Have they been pecking at each others combs and I am seeing dried blood or is the color coming from within?

 

[Gentry1350]

When I enlarge it, it just looks black....not dried blood. That is a strange looking little bugger!

 

[MrsBachbach]

When I enlarge it, it just looks black....not dried blood. That is a strange looking little bugger!

Well, it's not right. Unless there is some breed in their background with black combs, I would be concerned.

It can be a sign of serious illness or disease.

 

[Gentry1350]

If you'll look at the enlarged photo again, it looks like it has mottled black legs too. Does the original poster know what type of bantam this is, or did it come from a bantam bin? I'm just curious what this little guy is....he's starting to grow on me!

 

[Ravynscroft]

Well, it's not right.  Unless there is some breed in their background with black combs, I would be concerned.

It can be a sign of serious illness or disease. 

It looks like that is just color in his comb... if you look close, his beak is mottled too, and part of the black in his beak runs up into the comb in front...
I'd worry too if it was just the comb, but on him I think it's just his coloring... just my 2 cents...