Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Melissa Sakata]

At least you didn't write....beers. lol
Ducky is adorable!

So true, lol. Thank you! She is the cutest splash.

 

[MuscovyMadness]

So true, lol. Thank you! She is the cutest splash.

She really is and I hope to have some just like her next season

 

[chickenmomma16]

I need to run something by everyone... Please bear with me. I have some WBS chicks from an early June hatch and 3 of them are beardless (2 pullets and a cockerel). When I first got them I thought no way I would keep the beardless ones long but there is a pullet and a cockerel that keeps making me second guess myself. The reason being is they have the most color in their tails and the cockerel in his breast, the cockerel is maturing the fastest, he has a super broad back and the best leg color of all my boys (even split 8 cockerels 8 pullets), he is also really dark, he was the first to get a full black chest, and he has the least amount of red coming up through his tail. Nice comb too, even pea comb from day one. So there is a lot of things pulling for this guy and it's not making it easy to cull him. I just need some advice... Here is the full sister (these 2 were the result of a single mating) to the cockerel showing the color of her tail in comparison to another pullet with the most color of my bearded girls. The rest of the 6 bearded pullets have less and less color.

Full sister to mentioned cockerel:

Darkest tail of my bearded Wheaten pullets

My gut says to just bite the bullet and cull all 3 of the beardless ones and just count it as a loss. The second beardless pullet is the only chick from one breeding pen too. But under what circumstances would allowing a beardless Ameraucana to be a breeder be acceptable? If ever?

 

[Chicken5555]

@chickenmomma16
I personally would not breed the beardless, but I am just starting my Ameraucana breeding program and so far the experts have told me not to worry about some of the things that I've been worrying about LOL

For example, my only black Ameraucana with a perfect comb also has purple sheen. The purple makes her a cull, but it's sort of a bummer to me because all the others have slight imperfections in their combs. The female I have that has the best beard has a mildly bent comb. It drives me nuts because I feel like I should worry about the comb but my other female, overall, just isn't as good as the one with the mildly bent comb. So, yeah, I totally get where you're coming from.

Susan Mouw (the breeder I got my beauties from) suggested to me that the first step in choosing the best birds is to blur out the details, look at the overall confirmation of the birds first. If the major stuff looks good, then move on to the details. If you look at a bird's general shape and it does not scream "Ameraucana" then don't breed it. I believe she would tell you not to breed the beardless. The thing about recessive genes is that they are hard to get rid of once you have them. One copy of a recessive can linger in a bloodline for generations and you wouldn't even know it's there until you cross the recessive carrier to another carrier.

 

[Chicken5555]

Quote:

 

[Saris]

@chickenmomma16 Beards are a fairly simple thing to get back in a flock. If you have a cock bird that is homozygous for the beard/muff genes then all chicks will be born with at least one copy. That is a lot of color in the tail to give up for not having a beard/muff. If you have the space to have a pen for test mating or single mating I would work with what you have and keep the beardless girls for a round or two of offspring and just keep careful track of what chicks come from them.They will also help you know if you have a cock bird that is homo or heterozygous for the beard/muff genes.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Personally, I wouldn't use beardless... and not sure I would use any related ones either... as one who has had beardlessness pop up and been fighting it, it is a major pain to fight to get out... jmo...

 

[maralpz2006]

I always thought that this one i was a boy but now i think is a female, she is 4 months old.

what do you think boy or a girl, because her color and comb

 

[Catandherchicks]

I need to run something by everyone... Please bear with me. I have some WBS chicks from an early June hatch and 3 of them are beardless (2 pullets and a cockerel). When I first got them I thought no way I would keep the beardless ones long but there is a pullet and a cockerel that keeps making me second guess myself. The reason being is they have the most color in their tails and the cockerel in his breast, the cockerel is maturing the fastest, he has a super broad back and the best leg color of all my boys (even split 8 cockerels 8 pullets), he is also really dark, he was the first to get a full black chest, and he has the least amount of red coming up through his tail. Nice comb too, even pea comb from day one. So there is a lot of things pulling for this guy and it's not making it easy to cull him. I just need some advice... Here is the full sister (these 2 were the result of a single mating) to the cockerel showing the color of her tail in comparison to another pullet with the most color of my bearded girls. The rest of the 6 bearded pullets have less and less color.

Full sister to mentioned cockerel:

Darkest tail of my bearded Wheaten pullets

My gut says to just bite the bullet and cull all 3 of the beardless ones and just count it as a loss. The second beardless pullet is the only chick from one breeding pen too. But under what circumstances would allowing a beardless Ameraucana to be a breeder be acceptable? If ever?

Coming in as a non-breeder: you would have no trouble at all selling the beardless beauties to good homes!

 

[jerryse]

Fem

I always thought that this one i was a boy but now i think is a female, she is 4 months old. what do you think boy or a girl, because her color and comb

Female . With barring females are darker than males due to females having only 1 barring gene . Dosage effect with barring . Males should have 2 barring genes .