Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Gossie]

I have a black ameraucana named Penguino. She looked like a baby penguin when she was little. We got her from a breeder that is close to our house. She had a sister named Azul, who was a blue ameraucana, but she unfortunately died during the harsh winter two years ago. Penguino used to be very flighty and didn't like people touching her, but when we moved her into a coop closer to our house, I had more time to spend with her. Now she flies onto my arm to eat a handful of scratch. She is a funny little bird.

 

[Nofowlplay]

awwww..cute little penguin!

 

[Sylvester017]

She looks exactly like a hen that belongs with my black/red combed Banty Roo! She is as pretty as he is! Sadly I lost most of my flock to the dog yesterday

but Mr roo and one other pullet made it. Starting over is the worst , but due to the knew flock size my only two surviving banties are being more accepting to my 3 new amercauna chicks.

And mr dog is in doggy prison (shed) for a few days until he's ready for some vigorous re-training

ugh starting over with chickens is the worst.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adorkable

Sorry about your dog. We had an outdoor Jack Russel Terrier that was fine for 4 or 5 years and this year he decided to kill one of the young pullets that I hatched. My husband dispatched him before I even knew what happened. Our chickens are much more valuable to us than our dog. Good luck with your re-training!

A BYCer posted that they had a dog and cat that were absolutely fine around their flock for 7 years! Then one day they came home to the dog AND cat who forced their way into the pen and killed the entire flock. Animals are animals and certain family pets are not always going to be fine around birds. There are specific Flock dog breeds (not Herding dogs) that are trained for flock guarding but unfortunately they are mostly huge 100-lb breeds that need exercise and don't do well in small yards. Many flock owners think their Labradors are great flock dogs. One had a Spaniel that brought a bantam in her mouth to her owner without hurting the bird (soft-mouth dog breed retriever) which is a natural characteristic of retrievers and lucky for the owner. Unfortunately for the majority of dog breeds (and raccoons) chasing and maiming or killing birds is more for fun and the thrill of the chase rather than for food! My farm Mom's motto is you can't trust babies or puppies - which explains why it was after dispersing our flocks before she allowed me a pet dog on the property.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I have a banty female that has a mostly black comb with a little bit of pinky red showing through. She was born with it and is healthy as can be. Her mother had a completely black comb and no silkie in her bloodline that I know of and her father had a huge red comb along with white toes on otherwise black legs and feet. Unfortunately I lost both her parents to a fox last year. Here's a not great pic of her though. Lol
Its a bit more pink than usual from where I had to chase her a bit for a shot. Lol

On the Am note I just sold all my Ams the other day. The Roos were beautiful boys and so were the girls but they just didn't have the egg color I wanted. Theirs was green green and I want blue.

Seems a shallow reason but there it is. They went to a nice large farm where they can free range though so I'm happy about that. Now I just need to find some more with the egg color I'm looking for.

Yep, she's even black around the eyes. Do you know what she is? What breed her parents were?

 

[ChickenFox]

I have no idea. Her parents come from a Old English Bantam bin at TSC but we all know how well they label their bins. Lol

 

[jerryse]

I have no idea. Her parents come from a Old English Bantam bin at TSC but we all know how well they label their bins. Lol

The black comb and face happens in Old English . Referred to as mulberry comb or Gypsy face . Not associated with black skin in this case .

 

[kaitbray]

[COLOR=0000CD]A BYCer posted that they had a dog and cat that were absolutely fine around their flock for 7 years!  Then one day they came home to the dog AND cat who forced their way into the pen and killed the entire flock.  Animals are animals and certain family pets are not always going to be fine around birds.  There are specific Flock dog breeds (not Herding dogs) that are trained for flock guarding but unfortunately they are mostly huge 100-lb breeds that need exercise and don't do well in small yards.  Many flock owners think their Labradors are great flock dogs.  One had a Spaniel that brought a bantam in her mouth to her owner without hurting the bird (soft-mouth dog breed retriever) which is a natural characteristic of retrievers and lucky for the owner.  Unfortunately for the majority of dog breeds (and raccoons) chasing and maiming or killing birds is more for fun and the thrill of the chase rather than for food!  My farm Mom's motto is you can't trust babies or puppies - which explains why it was after dispersing our flocks before she allowed me a pet dog on the property. [/COLOR]

Well my dog is a Great Dane, so that fits the 100lb mark. He is only 10 months old so it's showing that he truly hasn't been trained he was just submissive when he was a pup and now he's a stubborn adolescent . I have been reading up on how to train him to be a bird guardian which can allow your dog to feel useful with a job and deter boredom and chicken eating. We will see how it goes, takes lots of around the clock training but currently I have more invested in the dog than the chickens but the more chickens he kills the more his value will decrease.

Will be fixing the coop and getting more amercaunas in 2 weeks

 

[scflock]

Well my dog is a Great Dane, so that fits the 100lb mark. He is only 10 months old so it's showing that he truly hasn't been trained he was just submissive when he was a pup and now he's a stubborn adolescent . I have been reading up on how to train him to be a bird guardian which can allow your dog to feel useful with a job and deter boredom and chicken eating. We will see how it goes, takes lots of around the clock training but currently I have more invested in the dog than the chickens but the more chickens he kills the more his value will decrease.

Will be fixing the coop and getting more amercaunas in 2 weeks

I don't have anything to add, I just wanted to say I think that is my favorite avatar ever

 

[Sylvester017]

Well my dog is a Great Dane, so that fits the 100lb mark. He is only 10 months old so it's showing that he truly hasn't been trained he was just submissive when he was a pup and now he's a stubborn adolescent . I have been reading up on how to train him to be a bird guardian which can allow your dog to feel useful with a job and deter boredom and chicken eating. We will see how it goes, takes lots of around the clock training but currently I have more invested in the dog than the chickens but the more chickens he kills the more his value will decrease.

Will be fixing the coop and getting more amercaunas in 2 weeks

The larger the dog it seems the longer it takes for them to reach maturity. Let us know how the Dane trains around the chickens. I personally would stick with a Guardian breed or possibly a Newfie but in our SoCal hot weather neither would be possible since these breeds are usually extremely thick-coated. Our friends have a Russian Ovcharka (flock mountain dog) and they have to get her thick fur shaved off for the summer and it looks so silly on these normally gorgeous dogs!

 

[MrsBachbach]

The black comb and face happens in Old English . Referred to as mulberry comb or Gypsy face . Not associated with black skin in this case .

Mystery solved! Thanks jerryse.