Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[pips&peeps]

Great! I've learned a lot already! I haven't had an Ameraucana type chicken since the mid '90's when I had a lot more birds. Actually, looking back, I think I only had one hen that would meet the standard. Which brings me to this rookie question. When breeding two certain recognized colors of AM's, there is, in some cases, the possibility of a percentage of the offspring that will be a color that is not currently accepted in the SOP. What was the philosophy behind this "rule" when the breed was accepted into the APA?

Yes, when breeding blue to blue or blue wheaten to blue wheaten you will get splash or splash wheaten. Those two colors are not yet recognized but are by products of blue. The bird must breed true 50% of the time and those colors do breed true 50% of the time.

 

[abbevilleoz]

I know I've already commented on her, but this is the first time I've seen her on the PC. That bird is stunning

Ditto !

 

[dstokely]

Paul suggested I always use black to make blue. I assume you will only have one pen, and I know you like the splash, so I would keep the best blue rooster. Then you could throw splash chicks mating him to a blue or splash hen. If you keep a black rooster only, you will never get splash. With a blue rooster, you could somewhat control the color of the offspring with your choice of hens

Glad you reminded me about that. I have 8 hens, 2 black, 3 splash, 2 blue and a lavender. I am going to put 1 black and 2 blues with my new black roo. I will put the three splash with the blue roo and the remaining black and the lav will go with my lavender roo. That will be good pairing for my next hatch, whenever that might be and when I decide to get my new incubator. I am not crazy about having black/lav splits, but that should eventually get my lavender group enlarged. That leaves me with 3 BW hens that are so pretty but missing a BW roo. I may try the blue tailed red to see what I get.

 

[MrsBachbach]

My BBS girls are around 26 weeks. They just started squatting. How long do you think it will be?
I have a rooster from the same group.
I would like to put him with the hens and hatch a few. At what point will he be able to fertilize?

I would say your girls that are squatting should be laying in a couple of weeks. I would put the rooster in now. He is likely ready, but he will need a couple of weeks to perfect his technique.

 

[dstokely]

I know I've already commented on her, but this is the first time I've seen her on the PC. That bird is stunning

Ditto !

Thank you, but now she's gonna think she's a princess. I must say I did get lucky on this one and maybe we will have some pretty blue babies later this spring.

 

[MrsBachbach]

My blue wheaten cockerel is 6 months old with a flock of 9 pullets/hens, same age. He has been breeding them for a month now and I know there is a learning curve. But, he grabs them so roughly on the neck and then pecks their comb and I see blood smears on the feeder so I know the poor girls are hurting. What do you all do, separate cockerels in their own pen and only put them with the flock when you want to hatch chicks?

That would be best with an aggressive cockerel. That guy is still young and youngsters can be overly aggressive. Once he breeds them, their eggs should be good and fertile for a couple of weeks or more. Keep him away from them for a couple of weeks at a time if you are sure they are all bred. Then put him back in for a few days and hopefully as he matures he won't be so aggressive. If he doesn't change after he reaches a year, I would look for another breeder if you want a rooster to keep with them 24/7.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Glad you reminded me about that.  I have 8 hens, 2 black, 3 splash, 2 blue and a lavender.  I am going to put 1 black and 2 blues with my new black roo.  I will put the three splash with the blue roo and the remaining black and the lav will go with my lavender roo.  That will be good pairing for my next hatch, whenever that might be and when I decide to get my new incubator.  I am not crazy about having black/lav splits, but that should eventually get my lavender group enlarged.  That leaves me with 3 BW hens that are so pretty but missing a BW roo.  I may try the blue tailed red to see what I get.

Paul always told me you get your best blues from splashxblack matings. You may get some good blues from bluexblue if your blues are dark. As far as splash, from what I have seen, I get my best splash from bluexblue matings. Your chances of getting a splash are less, but color wise, bluexblue makes the best splash. If it were me, I would keep a couple of those splash with your black male, your blue females with your blue male and one splash female in there with your blue male. Compare color intensity of your splash from your bluexblue matings and your bluexsplash matings. I think you will see more "splash" from your bluexblue matings.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Has anyone had experience with bleed through on the chest and thigh area on Blue Wheatens? Was it easy to clean up? Here are more specific pictures:

This guy has more going for him than against him. There is worse out there. His hackles are clean and tail look clean. Hard to find perfect males, and his bleed is not excessive. If he is the best you have, I would use him. Put your best female with him and grow out some males to see what you get..

 

[scflock]

Paul always told me you get your best blues from splashxblack matings. You may get some good blues from bluexblue if your blues are dark. As far as splash, from what I have seen, I get my best splash from bluexblue matings. Your chances of getting a splash are less, but color wise, bluexblue makes the best splash. If it was me, I would keep a couple of those splash with your black male, your blue females with your blue male and one splash female in there with your blue male. Compare color intensity of your splash from your bluexblue matings and your bluexsplash matings. I think you will see more "splash" from your bluexblue matings.

I wondered if the bluexblue matings made a better splash.
My first batch of chicks was almost entirely from the splash rooster/black hens pen, and the blue chicks were very dark. I sold them all, but the woman lives close, so I will get to see how they grow out. My next 2 sets are a pretty even mix with the eggs from the black rooster over blue hens, so I'm curious to see how they compare

 

[dstokely]

Chick Pictures!!! Excuse the two Olive Eggers in the pictures (barred chicks).

Pretty babies! I want the lavs.