Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Christie Rhae]

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He is just terrible...you need to ship him to me. lol... sorry to steal an old joke...

I would LOVE to have that bird strutting around my yard...sigh...

 

[flower]

Canada is closer to me Christie Rhae !!!! But seriously.................that Blue Cockerel looks just perfect to me ! Is he just as sweet as he is handsome ?

 

[BarnGoddess01]

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He is sweet. A bit shy, but sweet. But he's still young!!

(He may also still be on his best behavior because he has survived the cull.) He is VERY nice with the pullets. Ignores the hens so far. Biggest factor for me and my SMALL scale operation is how they treat my girls.

 

[Muggsmagee]

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I'd like to see how he feathers out a bit more. His coloring is beautiful, though I'm not a fan of his backline, but that may be overparticular. Your roo seems to stand more upright. Let's see what he looks like in a few short months!

 

[Muggsmagee]

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I'm not aware of any rules like this. We have an egg color chart. And I know some people cull for egg color, but I think this trait is really hard to cull for and I just make sure everybody lays a blue egg. I have a project hen that lays a brown egg. I'm breeding her to a blue egg cock hoping to get some green egg offspring. Soo.. I guess I'm really not a lot of help LOL

It seems like the egg color should be part of the goal with ameraucanas. Someone posted a question a while back about what the goal or plan was with the ameraucana breeders club... were they breeding for what the bird looked like first and then egg color or was egg color as important as the bird? ( I am terribly paraphrasing here...lol) Anyway, I don't remember him being answered.
I have the egg color chart and there is really a lot of variety in color.
Check out this egg shell...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/62282_eggshell.jpg
This is from an easter egger that I have. I wonder what kind of ameraucana one of her parents were.. Here is a pic of her... https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/62282_eegirl.jpg
So obviously she does not conform to any ameraucana color standard.

But I am just curious if there are any egg color standards that are being worked on? Or is does the ameraucana breeders club have any plans for making egg color standards in the future?
I would ask this question on the ameraucana.org message board but it is closed unless you are a member.

Do you notice how different the browns are in common everyday brown egg layers? There are a variety of browns in New Hampshires, Orpingtons, Brahmas, Langshans, Wyandotte, etc, etc. And notice how rich some colors can be depending on the hen's laying cycle? Jean posted a very impressive Ameraucana egg a few months back where she said the egg got an extra dose of coloring because it remained longer in the ovaduct...on my computer it registered something near turquoise. I would hate to see the richness of these impressive eggs be dq's because it is said that the Silver Ameraucanas are supposed to lay the best representation of the Ameraucana color...and I'll tell ya...it's a very light, boring blue.

Our Ameraucana girls lay different blues depending on where they are in their laying cycle also. My lavs have gone from a greenish hue in March to a shade near turquoise this summer, and the blacks have gone from a light sky blue to a Maxfield Parish Blue (google it), and some of my Wheatens have laid beautiful light blue eggs but now are almost close to white (weird).

I think the chart is good for at least comparing and noting what color your girls are laying and when, because it will in fact change! Your March egg colors may be different than June...keeping track is very interesting and could be helpful if breeding certain birds! For myself, I "prefer" the richest, deepest blue I can get my hands on...they are by far the prettiest!

I feel making one color (or a value of just a few colors) the standard will be difficult to put into affect...one reason being that people see blues differently

.

Also, I see a sparse beard and muffs in your EE (partial Ameraucana)...but as with all EE's, unless you know for certain the lineage of BOTH parents, it would be difficult to tell the source of just one.

 

[stitch_b]

Hey everyone just a quick question...my buff americauna is about 2 weeks old and doing great! I read here on the forum that female birds tend to feather out quicker cockerels. Im pretty sure this chick is a guy bc he has 3 rows in hits comb. He's almost fully feathered and his 2 brooder mates which are barred re's don't even have all of their wings feathers. Is buff just a fast feathering variety or is this guy still a candidate to be possible pullet??!

 

[Goose and Fig]

My buffs had obvious roo combs really early on. The boys actually have tails when they are young, unlike my lavenders.

 

[stitch_b]

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Ugh well I guess I wont get my hopes up

lol I appreciate the response happymtn! Ill post some pix of him soon he's still got a lil baby fluff on his body and his neck is just starting to fill in...in other words he kinda fugly right now lol. Im thinking of picking up a couple more chicks this week. Do you think I need another brooder or will they be ok? These new guys will be a little younger...

 

[BarnGoddess01]

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I'd like to see how he feathers out a bit more. His coloring is beautiful, though I'm not a fan of his backline, but that may be overparticular. Your roo seems to stand more upright. Let's see what he looks like in a few short months!

I appreciate the comment - what is your issue with his backline at this point? I understand the "upright" but does that make his back too steep, too short ... ? Again, full on honesty is what I'm looking for. Feathers won't be ruffled.

I'm trying to learn.

 

[Muggsmagee]

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I'd like to see how he feathers out a bit more. His coloring is beautiful, though I'm not a fan of his backline, but that may be overparticular. Your roo seems to stand more upright. Let's see what he looks like in a few short months!

I appreciate the comment - what is your issue with his backline at this point? I understand the "upright" but does that make his back too steep, too short ... ? Again, full on honesty is what I'm looking for. Feathers won't be ruffled.

I'm trying to learn.

Sorry I wasn't clear. His back does seem too steep...it is nice to see a level back...that is what I meant by your boy stands more upright...his back has that upright angle. He should have a nice arched slope from his neck...then level out in his back (think flat)...then transition to 45 degree angle up the tail. Let me see if I can find a pic of one of my own to show you...I have a Wheaten roo that has the best back.