Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[NewHen]

Can some of you check out https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=369071 (lots of pix) and let me know what you think in terms of gender? These are new pix of the birds I posted before on this thread. One supposed male has a beak deformity but seems to be gaining weight just fine...probably is the second largest of the group. One presumed female has twisted toes, but walks fine. Will these suffer? They seem just as energetic and healthy as the others, but I'm wondering if they need to be culled vs re-homed. Are these genetic or environmental (I hatched these myself), problems? Is it a incubating problem?

 

[SteveH]

Well , I don't know if I am still an Ameraucana owner or not . I clipped their wings today at 4 weeks and 4 days and released them in a pen within a pen to grow them out before integrating them with the 10 week old EE , Cornish X , and WLR Cornish in the main pen . Although the fencing [ 2"x4" welded wire , 4' tall , fastened to catte panels ] held my EE at that age , 6 of my 10 B/B/S Ameraucana shot right through the wire into the main pen . The 10 week olds set about trying to kill them and they squeezed through the outer fencing into the nearby brush . I couldn't even try to catch the four remaining because I knew they would escape also , so I left them with feed and water and hope they stayed in and that the escapees will return while I'm gone . Once out of the enclosure , they have thousands of acres of brush , prairie , crop land , and pine woods as my coup and pen sets just off a state forest on one side , 20 acres of virgin land on its immediate site , and thousands of acres of cropland once off the site in the other directions . Due to a heavy predator population my pens have been built heavy and a hotwire added to keep things out . I hope and pray they come back so I can add a layer of the light weight poultry netting I rejected because it was too flimzy to hold predators out .

 

[Goose and Fig]

Oh Steve that sucks! I hope they come back for you!
When I first put my heavy layers in thier new home (same 2 x 4 welded wire on the yard part) we had a really windy day. I came back from some errands and the door was wide open. No birds in site. We searched the woods for hoursand found a few (out of 30). I shut the door and came back at dusk. All the remaining birds had squeezed through the wire back into the coop

I'm afraid I'm in the middle of an awful hatch with my lav eggs. It's been terribly hot during the day, and cool at night. I've had a really hard time keeping the temps steady.

So far I have 2 lav ameraucanas & 1 splash orpington out, and about 4 pips on my EE eggs. They really aren't due until tonight, but with barely any movement in there I'm getting that sinking feeling.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Best wishes for a good hatch and congrats on those that have already hatched . Its been a crazy year here too , weather wise : tons of rain and storms with the cold fronts interupting very hot , humid days . I'm off to check my chicks [ my chickens are over in the next county ] .

 

[SteveH]

One chick had returned today , so I'm assuming the other 5 are history . The now 5 remaining did escape into the main pen as soon as I started adding the poultry netting , but I got them back inside their area after making it [ I hope ] escape proof .

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
Any chance they'll show up again when it gets dark? Oh- I hope so- that's so sad!
I had to go out of town overnight and I had broodies with babies in the main coop. I used this cheap plastic garden netting with 1 x 1 squares and zip-tied it to the welded wire so the babies couldn't get out away from the mamas. It worked- and I can take it off with a pair of scissors when I don't need it anymore.

Sooooo.........I have 8 lav babies out so far!

There are a few more yet to hatch- but I'm extremely happy to have that many out with all the problems we had. The B&S orps are trying to catch up- they are HUGE chicks!

 

[HBuehler]

congratulations Amy on those Lavs

 

[Goose and Fig]

Thanks Holly! OMG they are such neat looking little silver things! I think 8 may be it. Only 3 mroe of them made it into lockdown and they have no pips as of yet. Looks like a few more of the orps are going to make it.

Woo hoo!

 

[klf73]

Quote:
To the best of my knowledge, she came from a black/blue pen. If she continues to develop this pattern, I might try to work on it. It may all disappear when she molts. For now she can just eat and grow.

Kansaseq, I wouldn't mind breeding her to a blue, but I think the three I hatched are girls.

MasonCreek farm has mottled Ameraucana and blues. Thought they had brown reds but I guess not.

Henry

I have a blue mottled hen from Rose(mason creek). As far as the brown reds, she did have them a couple years ago...I got some but only 2 hatched and they were both cockerals

My mottles, I got 5 that hatched, 4 split and 1 visual(all hens), sold 3 split as layers as I didn't have a roo for them. Am growing up some black ameraucana so I am going to put a black roo over my mottled hen so I can work on them

here is my blue mottled girl and the second pic is the mottled split (see flecking on her head?)

 

[SteveH]

HappyMtn said
Any chance they'll show up again when it gets dark? Oh- I hope so- that's so sad!
I had to go out of town overnight and I had broodies with babies in the main coop. I used this cheap plastic garden netting with 1 x 1 squares and zip-tied it to the welded wire so the babies couldn't get out away from the mamas. It worked- and I can take it off with a pair of scissors when I don't need it anymore.

Sooooo.........I have 8 lav babies out so far!

There are a few more yet to hatch- but I'm extremely happy to have that many out with all the problems we had. The B&S orps are trying to catch up- they are HUGE chicks!

Possible I suppose , but not likely in reality . Its not home to them because they were new on the property and in the pen for just seconds . If they call from the brush and their captive siblings answer they might come back ; I assume that's why the one returned . The breeder said she may have some extra blue Ameraucana pullets available and has a splash cockeral for sure . Older and sexed is better if the price isn't too scarey

Congrats on the lav Ameraucana and Orp hatchlings !​