Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Ravynscroft]

Yep... Full brother. Orange legband is a Max son out of the second pullet I got from Clif.

Incredible line going on there... now we know why Princess is such a diva, lol...

Seriously though, that consistent quality speaks volumes... very happy for you... how's your thumb?

 

[Shadow920]

if i breed my cochin rooster with any hens who aren't feather legged will the resulting chicks have feathers on their legs? i only have one pure cochin hen all my other hens are mixes. but none are feather legged.

 

[samouw]

Incredible line going on there... now we know why Princess is such a diva, lol...

Seriously though, that consistent quality speaks volumes... very happy for you... how's your thumb?

Oh, it's fine...kept knocking it back open all day Saturday..between my thumb and Rip Stalvey (one of the judges) cut open the top of his arm - we were dispensing band-aids all day. lol

 

[Ravynscroft]

Oh, it's fine...kept knocking it back open all day Saturday..between my thumb and Rip Stalvey (one of the judges) cut open the top of his arm - we were dispensing band-aids all day.  lol

Ouch!! Must be an epidemic, lol... I've had my fair share of klutz moments the last couple weeks myself... slammed a gate into my eye, whacked my head on the trunk that didn't open all the way and walked into the bathroom cabinet door I left open...

 

[samouw]

Ouch!! Must be an epidemic, lol... I've had my fair share of klutz moments the last couple weeks myself... slammed a gate into my eye, whacked my head on the trunk that didn't open all the way and walked into the bathroom cabinet door I left open...

Ouch!!

 

[flytie]

Hi everyone!

I posted here a couple years ago when I was still very new to chickens and thought my EE was an ameraucana. In a month or so, I will be getting my very own ACTUAL Ameraucanas! I contacted a breeder from the ameraucana breeder's directory, and I am planning to pick up between 6 and 10 (depends on what my dad decides to let me get) in roughly 4-5 weeks.
Just a quick thing: do any of you experienced people notice a tendency in blue or blue wheaten chicks (feather or color-wise) to be boys or girls? I'm not able to get them sexed and I can't keep a roo so I'm going to have to make some educated (or uneducated, depends on if there really is a way to tell...) guesses. From what I've seen with the male blues, the boys are significantly darker than the girls at maturity. Does that show at all in the chicks? Any thoughts on making my guesses better would be really appreciated!

I can't wait to bring home some new additions to my flock, and I hope that I can post all kinds of progress pictures to show and get feedback on!

 

[FreedomFarm13]

Hi everyone!
I posted here a couple years ago when I was still very new to chickens and thought my EE was an ameraucana. In a month or so, I will be getting my very own ACTUAL Ameraucanas! I contacted a breeder from the ameraucana breeder's directory, and I am planning to pick up between 6 and 10 (depends on what my dad decides to let me get) in roughly 4-5 weeks.
Just a quick thing: do any of you experienced people notice a tendency in blue or blue wheaten chicks (feather or color-wise) to be boys or girls? I'm not able to get them sexed and I can't keep a roo so I'm going to have to make some educated (or uneducated, depends on if there really is a way to tell...) guesses. From what I've seen with the male blues, the boys are significantly darker than the girls at maturity. Does that show at all in the chicks? Any thoughts on making my guesses better would be really appreciated!  

I can't wait to bring home some new additions to my flock, and I hope that I can post all kinds of progress pictures to show and get feedback on! :yiipchick  

Congratulations!!! I'm happy for you. I know how hard it is to find real ameraucanas unless you know what you're looking for. Took me forever to get mine.
In answer to your questions, depends on the age of the chicks. The blue wheatens are fairly easy to tell apart as soon as they start feathering out. The boys will have much more blue. The girls will mostly be that lovely wheaten color. In the blues, I'm pretty good at telling by about two or three weeks based on their combs. You have to look really closely to see it, but usually by that age you'll start to see the three rows of peas. I was able to accurately choose both boys and girls from my breeder by looking at the combs. How old are the chicks you'll be getting? If they're already feathering out, or at least two or three weeks, you might be able to weed out the boys. Just look for only one row of peas, and little too no blue on the blue wheatens. You won't be able to see the darker blue on the blue males, unfortunately. So, I'd say just go with your gut and study those babies HARD before choosing. I know that's difficult, tho, since they're all adorable and you'll want to take all of them home. Good luck finding yourself some girls, and don't forget to post pics once you get them!!

 

[flytie]

Thanks for your response!

At the moment, it looks like the chicks might be 2 or 3 days old when I get them. I've been back and forth with the breeder and at this point I would feel bad making him keep the chicks until they were 3 weeks. It might be necessary, though, as I can't keep the boys and I don't know of anyone nearby that would take a rooster just to have a flock protector. I've already asked the breeder a whole bunch of questions which led to more emails with questions I forgot to ask... I have also changed the pick up age for the chicks once or twice already D:
I suppose, if I am really set on being able to tell, that I should send another email, but I am kinda scared of sounding like a pushy or needy buyer. Last year I was talking to a lady about buying birds and she stopped responding so I think I'm more scared of a repeat than anything else.

What would you recommend I do?

 

[Ravynscroft]

Thanks for your response!

At the moment, it looks like the chicks might be 2 or 3 days old when I get them. I've been back and forth with the breeder and at this point I would feel bad making him keep the chicks until they were 3 weeks. It might be necessary, though, as I can't keep the boys and I don't know of anyone nearby that would take a rooster just to have a flock protector. I've already asked the breeder a whole bunch of questions which led to more emails with questions I forgot to ask... I have also changed the pick up age for the chicks once or twice already D:
I suppose, if I am really set on being able to tell, that I should send another email, but I am kinda scared of sounding like a pushy or needy buyer. Last year I was talking to a lady about buying birds and she stopped responding so I think I'm more scared of a repeat than anything else.

What would you recommend I do?

If you wait until they are old enough to sex, then the breeder will charge you accordingly... in other words, you will get charged more... if you cannot deal with a male chicken, then buy older pullets...

Stop changing things on the breeder or they will stop dealing with you...

Not being mean, just being blunt and honest... changing your mind a lot and being wishy-washy is why many breeders stop selling to the public so much... there is no perfect bird and there is no perfection in breeding...

 

[flytie]

If you wait until they are old enough to sex, then the breeder will charge you accordingly... in other words, you will get charged more... if you cannot deal with a male chicken, then buy older pullets...

Stop changing things on the breeder or they will stop dealing with you...

Not being mean, just being blunt and honest... changing your mind a lot and being wishy-washy is why many breeders stop selling to the public so much... there is no perfect bird and there is no perfection in breeding...

Yeah, I understand
I just looked back over the emails and I never actually changed the pick up date: it was just us going back and forth seeing when worked best for the both of us. (along with an email that didn't even go through due to technical issues, so that doesn't count) My memory is worse than I thought it was! I'm thinking I should probably just leave it anyway though. Like you said, it makes things harder on the breeders and I really would hate to ruin things for anyone. The only real thing for me to be concerned about is how many questions I've asked, but I only sent two emails asking about stuff my 4-H leaders brought up, along with the initial "hi, would you be interested in selling birds?". I get anxiety over talking to people and it sometimes makes me think I've done much more damage than I have. It's silly, I know, but I really work myself up about it.

I know I'm sounding really inconsistent right now, which is my main problem here and in life, but I had my mom help me with the emails so that stuff was done right, at least