Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[scflock]

Ok, this thread is huge and I will go back and start reading, but yesterday I bought my first flock of Ameraucanas. Like so many others, I bought "Americanas" several years ago. I love my EEs, and they will always have a place in my flock, but I have been searching for Ameraucanas for a while now. I have over 100 chickens, and several pens. I have been experimenting with Polish for a couple of years, and they just aren't selling in my area, so this weekend I sold the entire flock to a young man that wanted to breed for 4H. I had found an Ameraucana breeder an hour away on the Breeder's Club website, and bought 17 BBS straight run chicks yesterday. I have a lot to learn about SOP, and what to cull for, but I wanted to introduce myself to the group. I hope to learn a lot from the people with much more experience than me

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
You know it's not hard to do artificial semination. You Tube has videos on it.

 

[scflock]

You know it's not hard to do artificial semination. You Tube has videos on it.

Hey, I didn't know you were on this thread! I ended up selling my polish flock and buying Ameraucanas. I've been going back to read the early parts of this thread, and I'm even more happy with my purchase. The woman I bought them from gave me an Email she received from a Paul Smith of Texas that she bought the birds from. He was explaining to her how to tell which birds came from which pen. I had never heard of him before reading this thread, and now I am thinking I may have scored some really good birds. I hope so

As soon as I get some good pictures I will put them up for you guys to judge

 

[magdelaine]

I had managed to get a white cockerel for my white pullets, and then a terrible thing happened: my dog got a hold of the largest girl and killed her. She had gotten out of the run. The dog is a young GSD and she's being reformed. In the meantime, I took my pretty Estelle's last egg and incubated it. This pretty bird is the result. My question, is this a pullet or cockerel? It's seven weeks.

 

[Sylvester017]

I had managed to get a white cockerel for my white pullets, and then a terrible thing happened: my dog got a hold of the largest girl and killed her. She had gotten out of the run. The dog is a young GSD and she's being reformed. In the meantime, I took my pretty Estelle's last egg and incubated it. This pretty bird is the result. My question, is this a pullet or cockerel? It's seven weeks.

My Blue Wheaten (my avatar when she was 5 m/o) had a light pink comb until it started reddening a bit before she was ready to lay. I think the boys start getting reddened combs sooner if that's any help.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hey, I didn't know you were on this thread! I ended up selling my polish flock and buying Ameraucanas. I've been going back to read the early parts of this thread, and I'm even more happy with my purchase. The woman I bought them from gave me an Email she received from a Paul Smith of Texas that she bought the birds from. He was explaining to her how to tell which birds came from which pen. I had never heard of him before reading this thread, and now I am thinking I may have scored some really good birds. I hope so

As soon as I get some good pictures I will put them up for you guys to judge

Sounds like you made a good decision. Polish are really sweet, and EEs are great too. However, IMO the true APA Ameraucanas are a great choice and sounds like you chose good stock. Good chance of getting more bluish rather than greenish eggs, I think maybe even a better temperament than an average EE, and they're generally non-combative to flockmates. Just one drawback is that Amers (and even EEs) are a spooky kooky jittery jumpy wary breed that owners find they injure themselves easily. My B/W Amer spooked, ran, and skidded her feet across the bricks - I was surprised she didn't peel off skin but she walked gingerly for a couple hours afterwards. My friend's Amer broke his neck in a panic when all he had to do was walk backward to get out. Other owners report leg injuries, amputations, getting trapped, etc. Still for all this hyper behavior they are very kind to flockmates, not terribly interested in flock politics, accept orphaned chicks or injured birds where other breeds are not so willing, and generally avoid flock conflicts. I call this breed the sentinels/guardians of the flock because of their wary alert predator-savvy demeanor. While other breeds snooze at roost our girl will watch warily until the coop door is shut for the night. I love just about every chicken breed on this planet but Ameraucanas are one of a very small handful of chicken breeds that I absolutely adore. GL!

 

[jerryse]

I had managed to get a white cockerel for my white pullets, and then a terrible thing happened: my dog got a hold of the largest girl and killed her. She had gotten out of the run. The dog is a young GSD and she's being reformed. In the meantime, I took my pretty Estelle's last egg and incubated it. This pretty bird is the result. My question, is this a pullet or cockerel? It's seven weeks.

Looks like a pullet to me . Do you have any cock or cockerels in Ameraucana of any color . FYI if you can not find another you can use another color and breed back to white . White removes all color . First generation would have color .

 

[Sylvester017]

Aren't silkies black skinned? Maybe he has some silkie in him. Black or slate legs are common enough, combs not so much. Trying to think of breeds with black combs.

Looking at her updated pics, I see black coming in on the wattles also. On his feet you can see white skin so I doubt he has black skin like silkies. He is a strange one. Never seen a mottled comb. Hope something isn't wrong with him.

Hi - 3 breeds with black combs that come to mind - but are not likely common backyard USA breeds - are the Korean Ogye, Swedish Black Hen, and Ayam Cemani. They are melanistic like the Silkie. Another rare breed that has spotted legs is the Orust and I've only seen pics and info about them on Greenfire Farms. The little black and white chick is a real puzzle, isn't he?

 

[scflock]

Sounds like you made a good decision.  Polish are really sweet, and EEs are great too.  However, IMO the true APA Ameraucanas are a great choice and sounds like you chose good stock.  Good chance of getting more bluish rather than greenish eggs, I think maybe even a better temperament than an average EE, and they're generally non-combative to flockmates.  Just one drawback is that Amers (and even EEs) are a spooky kooky jittery jumpy wary breed that owners find they injure themselves easily.  My B/W Amer spooked, ran, and skidded her feet across the bricks - I was surprised she didn't peel off skin but she walked gingerly for a couple hours afterwards.  My friend's Amer broke his neck in a panic when all he had to do was walk backward to get out.  Other owners report leg injuries, amputations, getting trapped, etc.  Still for all this hyper behavior they are very kind to flockmates, not terribly interested in flock politics, accept orphaned chicks or injured birds where other breeds are not so willing, and generally avoid flock conflicts.  I call this breed the sentinels/guardians of the flock because of their wary alert predator-savvy demeanor.  While other breeds snooze at roost our girl will watch warily until the coop door is shut for the night.  I love just about every chicken breed on this planet but Ameraucanas are one of a very small handful of chicken breeds that I absolutely adore.  GL!  

Thanks for the input. My EEs are a little more skittish than my marans, but nowhere near what the Polish were. They were beautiful birds, but I have so many that I couldn't spend the time with them to keep them docile. When they started laying, the rooster got very aggressive, and I think this contributed to their flightiness. I would have kept them if the chicks sold, but I don't think SC is ready for polish yet
I'm really looking forward to working with these birds. BYC has taught me that I have much more to learn about chickens, that's why I looked for the biggest Ameraucana thread I could find. I will try and get pics tonight. Hopefully I got at least 8 or 9 pullets

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for the input. My EEs are a little more skittish than my marans, but nowhere near what the Polish were. They were beautiful birds, but I have so many that I couldn't spend the time with them to keep them docile. When they started laying, the rooster got very aggressive, and I think this contributed to their flightiness. I would have kept them if the chicks sold, but I don't think SC is ready for polish yet

I'm really looking forward to working with these birds. BYC has taught me that I have much more to learn about chickens, that's why I looked for the biggest Ameraucana thread I could find. I will try and get pics tonight. Hopefully I got at least 8 or 9 pullets

Polish are adorable and actually quite good in the garden and some people raise ONLY Polish because they like them for a good all-round breed - there certainly are a lot of varieties to choose from. But you do need to address your customer base. So many breeders are finding it better to concentrate on just one or maybe two breeding projects outside of their own personal utility flock because of the time, expense, and heartache of breeding to SOP. Marans are not a breed I care to have again but there will always be a customer-base in hopes of finding a good chocolate egg and Marans are here to stay. My personal new love is the Blue Breda - the cockerel we had to re-home was a sweetheart and his new owners adore him. Our new pullet is a petite dainty new love of ours - she'll never get bigger than 4 or 5-lbs, never lay XL or Jumbo, probably will not be as prolific a layer as our Ameraucana, and reportedly the breed seldom broods, but she more than makes up for it as a gorgeous gentle non-combative pet to add to our gentle non-combative flock. She is currently sitting on top of my slippered feet as I stroke her beautiful new adult feathers growing in.