Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[samouw]

Ive been seriously raising and perfecting my chickens for 4 years, I spend time with them everyday and I strive for my line to fit the SOP.
BUT they are still just chickens, no matter how pure and perfected your chicken is, it is still just a chicken. A hobby, an egg source, a meat provider, a pet, a friend, a chicken.
My hands are clean on this issue, didnt mean to get anyone's feathers up in a bunch hehe... goodnight mates

While you are correct; they are "just chickens", the lost money spent on a trio of pure bred Ameraucanas only to learn they are a bunch of EEs is not "just money". When someone spends their hard-earned money to buy, house, raise, and condition a group of chickens only to learn they are not pure bred, they are not spending "just money". They are spending what could have otherwise gone for a pair or trio of true Ameraucana, from a respected breeder. Then maybe, just maybe, when their pure bred Ameraucanas have some nice little pure Ameraucana chicks - they will get a little of that "just money" back.

To lead someone to believe that their birds are Ameraucanas, when we know they are not, is not only doing them a disservice, it is a disservice to everyone who comes here to this thread to learn. So, please - limit your jokes to politics, sex, or religion - in this thread, it is much easier to accept.

 

[scflock]

While you are correct; they are "just chickens", the lost money spent on a trio of pure bred Ameraucanas only to learn they are a bunch of EEs is not "just money".  When someone spends their hard-earned money to buy, house, raise, and condition a group of chickens only to learn they are not pure bred, they are not spending "just money". They are spending what could have otherwise gone for a pair or trio of true Ameraucana, from a respected breeder. Then maybe, just maybe, when their pure bred Ameraucanas have some nice little pure Ameraucana chicks - they will get a little of that "just money" back.

To lead someone to believe that their birds are Ameraucanas, when we know they are not, is not only doing them a disservice, it is a disservice to everyone who comes here to this thread to learn.  So, please - limit your jokes to politics, sex, or religion - in this thread, it is much easier to accept.

I have a thread in Random Ramblings that covers all 3
I got lucky with my Ams, but screwed with my BCM. I have wasted a year and hundreds of dollars on a flock that will all be culled when I find good stock

 

[Sylvester017]

Ive been seriously raising and perfecting my chickens for 4 years, I spend time with them everyday and I strive for my line to fit the SOP.
BUT they are still just chickens, no matter how pure and perfected your chicken is, it is still just a chicken. A hobby, an egg source, a meat provider, a pet, a friend, a chicken.
My hands are clean on this issue, didnt mean to get anyone's feathers up in a bunch hehe... goodnight mates

Your posts are exactly what we need! Some bloggers are too timid or shy to bring up the subject and your jest got a good dialogue going not so much for us Ameraucana owners as for those who have had the misfortune now or in the past to be duped into thinking EEs were the same as Ameraucanas. This was good interesting dialogue to make buyers aware to do their research before believing the dubious labels of Ameraucana tied to EE advertising. TY!

 

[Sylvester017]

I love my Easter Eggars, I always have, but this thread is what made me seek out real Ameraucanas. My first flock of Paul Smith should start laying any day now, and I am so excited to work with these birds. These are my first breeder quality chickens, and there is no comparison to the hatchery birds I bought before

EEs are every bit as lovely as Ameraucanas and some even say they're lovelier! What's sad about hatchery or feed store EEs is that you don't know what their adult feather pattern/color will be or what color egg they'll lay or if they ever grow out the cute muff cheeks that so many people love. An EE with no muffs is rather sad-looking. But for those of us who want an actual blue egg layer (not green or pink or white) in one of the 8 APA standards of Ameraucana this is not the thread to post EE photos unless you are having a serious query trying to understand the difference between EEs and Am's. I have seen my friend's EEs compared to my Amer and her birds are monstrously ponderous compared to my lithe and agile lighterweight Blue Wheaten Amer. After owning an Amer for 2 years and seeing my friend's flock of EEs there are noticeable differences in body type and behavior.

One complaint we both have about her EEs and my Amer is that they are not the best layers after age two. One positive we agree is that both these birds are kooky spooky jittery jumpy skittish wary alert birds. They are our most non-combative birds we've ever owned. My Amer will do anything to avoid flock politics and would rather flee than fight an aggressor. No breed can catch my Amer when her long legs are running. Yet I can calmly walk up to her and lift her into my arms and she coo's like a dove. I don't think blue-egg genes are the best egg layers but there certainly is a sweetness gene associated with Amer's. If our girl was not so sweet and submissive and non-combative toward her flockmates I would've re-homed her for being a non-layer but we keep her around for her great temperament. My friend has kept her EEs also - not only because of their colored eggs of green, pink, and cream - but because they make congenial flockmates. Recently they have been the only survivors left from a stray Jack Russell Terrier attack on her chicken pen. That's not to say Amer's always escape predator attacks but they seem to have an uncanny knack for survival and I have heard many accounts where an EE or an Amer were the only survivor of a flock attack because of their quickness and ability to maneuver and dodge pursuers. If only my Amer was a horse I'd enter her in the Kentucky Derby LOL!!! She runs like a blur!
BTW - my avatar is my BW Ameraucana at 5-months-old.

 

[Sweet Coastal]

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Can anyone comment on birds. I bought them as Ameraucanas but I'm not sure how to tell if they are true. They are 6 weeks old.

Thanks

 

[Sweet Coastal]

 

[Sweet Coastal]

 

[Sweet Coastal]

 

[Sweet Coastal]

 

[csr326]

They are not Ameraucanas they are Easter Eggers. They don't meet the standard of the breed