Alrighty, it snowed today (quite early I might add!) and so, it just so happens to be that my new Buff pullet from pips&peeps is the only girl wandering about. . .
The cockerel, though, is looking absolutely terrible. He's getting better through the days, but lately he's been hiding away in the indoor section of our bachelor pad, which is depriving him of food, water, and sunlight. I tried to help, but not much could be done, so, I put him in the girl's coop/pasture. It is jeopardizing the genepool, as I still am collecting eggs to hatch, but I'm fine with it for now. So far all the pullets and hens are pretty dominant over him, and he doesn't even know how to dance or breed yet, so, nothing's going on. When he returns to a normal status, I'm returning him to the bachelor pad, and maybe by then he'll man up.
In the mean time, he's with the girls so he can eat and drink in peace.
Julie- I am a bit behind on posts these days. All I can say is AWESOME!!!
Nothing is as cool as being pleased by the outcome.
Lookin good, lookin good!
A question for white Ameraucana breeders : what type white do Ameraucanas carry ? I thought they were recessive white , which throws black [ or possibly blue if the dilutant is carried ] on other colors according to the Kip. Calculator . It appears my white Ameraucana slipped in and sired some chicks I thought were going to be from a dominate white CX over " partridge " EE . I have one solid blue , and one brown chipmunk chick . I know of another that got the wild patterned [ chipmunk ] chicks off a white Ameraucana over EE hens ............
Has silver been introduced to exclude brassiness ?
They are recessive white, so the offspring with a cross will not be white. The problem is, you don't know what genes the EE is carrying.....
My older birds carry the barred gene. The barred gene caused dermal melanins to be reduced, thus you get light colored eyes and shanks.
So I cross to a cockbird that does not carry it this year and am keeping only the birds with dark shanks and dark eyes this year.
Thanks for such a quick reply Jean . Naturally the EE genes are a bit of a grab bag , but unless both these two white Ameraucanas in question are carrying the wild genes , why would they throw chipmunks off anything ?
By the way , my Ameraucana has great colored legs and eyes . He's on the small end of the SOP and not a great comb but otherwise very nice . His breeder just told me her white Ameraucanas are hatched smokey , blue , and even yellow but all feather out white . This roo crossed on white frizzles for a project : 50% feathered white , 50% feathered blue and same % with the frizzle vs straight feathers ; but she doesn't know the genetics carried by her frizzles . I thought about using him to make some splits with my blacks , but beleive now I'll just keep him as an EE .