Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[jerryse]

Hello, all! We had a terrible Ameraucana hatch last March and got 2 if 17 that were incubated. One was a girl, and I'm new to this breed. She's what, 10 months old at this point and still no eggs. Is this typical for the breed?

You need longer days to get eggs . Without 12 - 16 hours of light production can be poor . So without lights on a timer it will be March before she
lays . 6 + months is normal to start laying .

 

[marchick]

Thank you for taking the time to respond and advise, I really appreciate that... I am picking up a new black cock on Friday that came from my hens lines and am going to test mate him... my hens and him are from totally separate lines than the Lav cock, and none of the males in their lines ever showed leakage so am hoping this will be a better result...

Awsome! I hope it works out for you! Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Awsome! I hope it works out for you! Let us know how it turns out.

Will do...

 

[MrsBachbach]

Hello, all! We had a terrible Ameraucana hatch last March and got 2 if 17 that were incubated. One was a girl, and I'm new to this breed. She's what, 10 months old at this point and still no eggs. Is this typical for the breed?

No, not generally. I'd say eight months they should be laying. Is she going in the nest box at all? If she is and nothing happening, I'd cull her. If not, you might wait until spring and see if anything happens at all. Maybe, conditions (stress, mean hens, etc.) are keeping her from laying. Or maybe she is laying elsewhere. Anyway, if she is a late layer, I probably wouldn't breed her even if she does start laying.

 

[bruceha2000]

You need longer days to get eggs . Without 12 - 16 hours of light production can be poor . So without lights on a timer it will be March before she
lays . 6 + months is normal to start laying .

Not to second guess the breeding expert but I would think any chick hatched in March should be laying by now unless they are some super slow maturing breed. I got 7 chicks from Meyer, hatched June 8th. I have a CFL (*) currently on at 6 AM and off at 5:30 PM. I haven't done that in the past but thought it might keep the 3.5 Y/O girls (Ideal, hatched June 13, 2012) laying longer into the fall. Nope, even though there was more than 12 hours of light in mid September. Those girls had no supplemental light when they were pullets and all laid well their first winter. Even the slowest to start (a Partridge Chantecler that laid like a machine when she wasn't broody) started laying in January just before 7 months. I figured it best not to screw with the light after it was obvious the older girls weren't going with the program since it might negatively affect the pullets. AND, the past 2 winters, all the girls restarted with no supplemental light mid to late February well before there was 12 hours of natural light. Caveat here is that I have nine 3.5 Y/O hens and seven 6.75 month old pullets. They are the only chickens I have ever had so I don't have a whole lot of historical data for statistical purposes.

One EE isn't laying yet, one started laying 11/18, one 12/8.
The Black Jersey Giants started on 12/24/and 12/25 respectively.
One White Rock started 11/19, the other 12/21.

Egg production from each (same order in % of days since their first egg):

Total eggs

0

31

18

4

3

36

6​

Days

0

41

21

5

4

40

8​

Per week

5.29

6.00

5.60

5.25

6.30

5.25​

Percent of days

75.61%

85.71%

80.00%

75.00%

90.00%

75.00%​

* which I now realize is probably worthless for increasing laying since it doesn't have the red wavelengths but it does make sure there is light in the coop when it starts to get dark out so they won't miss the auto door closing. It is on a photocell.

 

[jerryse]

Here are today's EE eggs . Produced without extra light . A very diverse gene pool that has Legbar , Ameraucana and
other things in the mix .I have lights in 1 Ameraucana pen . I got 1 egg egg today after 10 days on lights . They should pick up production now .
Generally speaking a diverse gene pool helps egg production . It can be done in purebred lines as well . I try to keep egg production up in all my breeds . I doubt show winners in any breed are great layers .
I like to keep good layers with show potential . Every breeder has their preference . I am satisfied with some winners and production . Even my Legbar are not Laying now . Yet the mixes are laying without extra light .

 

[FridayYet]

My legbar stopped laying really early this year, but started again 3 days ago and has given me 3 eggs. Both Orloff pullets are laying now. EEs just stopped 2 weeks ago, and nothing from them yet. One still looks like a porcupine, so I'm not surprised.

Nice to be getting eggs again!

 

[Red Banks]

My young pullets have started laying. I am getting three to five a day. They have been very consistent.
I know it goes by daylight but it is like spring here 80 degrees! There is no additional light.
All these pullets are under six months. All the eggs are small. Of course, I am thrilled with my first eggs.

Left to Right
Araucana
Ameraucana
Splash Marans
Ameraucana
Blue Marans

 

[THeelChickinKY]

Thank you, jerryse, for the response. It's just so funny because the older girls have finished with molt and are laying again while the other chicks we hatched alongside this one Ameraucana started laying a month or so ago. So still waiting on the first blue egg...

 

[sssharon]

I have an Ameraucana leghorn mix. She lays the prettiest blue eggs. A different time she has laid a blue egg so light in color that it almost looks white. The color has changed again and now they are more blue than they were. Sometimes it will look like her egg has a blue ring around it a little darker than the actual egg.