Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[scflock]

FYI, Cackle Hatchery is now offering LF black Ameraucana chicks.  They bought chicks from me to start their flock.

That's interesting, and a good option for some people, but I bet 3 years from now they won't be anywhere near what they started with

 

[samouw]

That's interesting, and a good option for some people, but I bet 3 years from now they won't be anywhere near what they started with

Hatcheries aren't known for culling and selective breeding, so you're probably right. Sad, really. They will just mass produce regardless of quality and pump those chicks out onto the unknowing public...

Definitely not in the best interest of the breed.

 

[FowlStuff]

That's interesting, and a good option for some people, but I bet 3 years from now they won't be anywhere near what they started with

This is why I always suggest buying hybrids for eggs and meat from "commercial" hatcheries and "standard" bred chickens from breeders. But, also not all breeders are equal and even thought all LF black Ameracuanas are descended from the line I originally created some lines have seen improvements and some decline. As I breed for continuous improvement, many of the birds I bred from 10 years ago would be culls/rejects today. Cackle was interested in egg color with the chicks they bought, but the genes are there for those that buy chicks from them to select and breed from to breed show quality birds.

 

[abbevilleoz]

FYI, Cackle Hatchery is now offering LF black Ameraucana chicks. They bought chicks from me to start their flock.

I like Cackle Hatchery for the simple fact that they post videos of their breeders not just chicks. They have a full channel on YouTube. (Never ordered from there, though.)

 

[scflock]

I like Cackle Hatchery for the simple fact that they post videos of their breeders not just chicks. They have a full channel on YouTube. (Never ordered from there, though.)

My cuckoo Marans came from Cackle. They are great birds for hatchery birds, but like John said, I would buy AMs from a breeder

 

[abbevilleoz]

I checked out their Salmon Faverolles but they looked a little thin in frame and muff for what I wanted.

 

[FowlStuff]

My cuckoo Marans came from Cackle. They are great birds for hatchery birds, but like John said, I would buy AMs from a breeder

There are many show quality flocks that have been bred up from commercial hatchery chicks and sometimes those chicks are used just to outcross with to bring in desired genes. "Hatchery" birds were used to create the Ameraucana breed and many varieties. You have to get the genes from somewhere.

FYI, Cackle's "seed stock" of LF white Chanteclers also came from me and fellow breeder Greg Oakes.

Note that those that buy show quality birds and show them are generally not "breeders", but fanciers/exhibitors. There is nothing wrong with that as long as they acknowledge it and are not posing as experienced breeders.

 

[samouw]

Wow!  And congratulations.

Thank you!

While I am excited about what these blacks have done, I really get excited when one of my wheatens or blue wheatens place well, as those are the varieties I started with five years ago and have been working with since.

The blacks I've been showing are beautiful, but the credit goes to their breeders, Paul Smith and Clif Redden.

This fall, though, the blacks, the wheatens, and the blue wheatens that I take to shows, will all be as a result of my breeding plans. Then it gets really exciting!

 

[scflock]

Note that those that buy show quality birds and show them are generally not "breeders", but fanciers/exhibitors.  There is nothing wrong with that as long as they acknowledge it and are not posing as experienced breeders.

And that would be me. I'm a fancier, not a breeder. That's why I would rather start with breeder quality birds. I couldn't take the time, nor do I have the experience, to breed SOP birds from hatchery stock. I stand on the shoulders of giants, but I don't claim to do any differently. I like having pretty birds, and yes, I do sell chicks from those birds. I would rather start with good stock, learn to maintain and hopefully improve that foundation, and sell good chicks that are representative of the breed to customers that may or may not show. Before I joined BYC, I was a propagator. I bought chicks at the feed store, and sold those chicks as what they were advertised to me. I think there's more honor in being a fancier and selling quality chicks than there was in being uneducated and selling AmerIcaunas

 

[KernH]

And that would be me. I'm a fancier, not a breeder. That's why I would rather start with breeder quality birds. I couldn't take the time, nor do I have the experience, to breed SOP birds from hatchery stock. I stand on the shoulders of giants, but I don't claim to do any differently. I like having pretty birds, and yes, I do sell chicks from those birds. I would rather start with good stock, learn to maintain and hopefully improve that foundation, and sell good chicks that are representative of the breed to customers that may or may not show. Before I joined BYC, I was a propagator. I bought chicks at the feed store, and sold those chicks as what they were advertised to me. I think there's more honor in being a fancier and selling quality chicks than there was in being uneducated and selling AmerIcaunas

Well said and honest. Kern