Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[just2rosey]

I just wanted to share, my daughter had her first show today. It was a 4-H only show which was really cute! She had the best time. All the kids were so nice, and my daughter loved getting to talk to other kids about their birds. She was the only one showing Ameraucanas, but the judge liked our black pullet. She is a blk/lav split. We had only planned to enter the black and our bantam cochin, but we let the show manager who was drumming up more entries talk us into entering a couple of other birds, including a blue ameraucana pullet. We hadn't planned to enter her initially because she doesn't have very good lacing, and her tail feathers are looking rough, both faults the judge also pointed out. He was very nice and taught the kids a lot about what judges look for in various breeds, and in general. Ours were some of the better groomed birds there, so I was very pleased with the day over all.

 

[cheryl98117]

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Thats just it. I would rather NOT take the long road, and mix colors. As I am already planning on raising a bunch, and culling for specific traits. Like the roo I have now, has a bad attitude, has leakage in both the saddle feathers and hackle feathers, plus he has more brown in his tail than I like. His beard hasn't fully turned black, its about 20/80% black over white. Does that make sence?

The pullets, well their tails I believe have to much color, and they also have some darker spots over their bodies. Not completely uniform in color. The two BW pullets I have I believe are the nicest / closest to proper color that I have...

I just want to make sure I make educated decisions. And lets face it. I am flat out new to this. lol

 

[Illia]

Pullets, too MUCH color in tail? No such thing. In fact Wheatens these days have far too little color in the tail. Unless you mean color as in wheaten color.

 

[cheryl98117]

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Ok maby its not properly placed color in the tail. I keep going back and forth from looking at my birds, to the Ameraucana breeders site, comparing them... I'll have to charge my camera, and post pics of the girls. I very well could have myself mixed up. Wouldnt be the first time!

Thanks again Illia! I appreciate your insight!

Edited to add. Yes your right. Not enough black in the tails, on the girls. I will eventually get the terminology correct. But Im learning!

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

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CONGRATULATIONS!

Lisa

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

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What about doing Wheaten hens with a Lavender roo over them? I've always wondered what I could cross with my Wheaten to help improve the breed...

So you think blacks might be worth a shot?

Seems like the other colors are SO much more edveloped than the Wheatens.

 

[Illia]

The LF Female shown on the scrapbook for some reason I must have never noticed, she's wonderful in color! Who owns her?! The tail was why I wouldn't yet personally bother with Wheatens.



Lav + Wheaten = bad idea unless you're going for Lav Wheatens. Lavender is recessive, it will haunt you. Wheaten is recessive to E/E, it will haunt your Lavs.

Every color has its faults, really. I don't know about Brown-Reds but I see at least one thing common and not exactly desired in the other colors. My opinion. Some are far worse than others. Buffs need serious help in many aspects. Wheatens need help, same with Blue Wheatens, in the tail of females. Silvers need help in size and are hard to breed good color in BOTH genders. BBS are often really nice birds, but some have beard/muffs issues or green egg issues. Whites, to me, I haven't seen a white so far that I like the general line from back to tail of. It's like the back just runs into a wall. That wall is the tail. Don't know of other faults because I've never had any and rarely ever hear discussion.



But, I'm just one person with hardly the experience of a lot of others out there. I'm not even a member of the ABC

- But, I've got my reason. Wish I was a member, but, I'm not. Not yet.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Thank you very much for the info Illia, very informative and that's how we learn!

I wonder what a Black to Wheaten would look like, does anyone have pictures of any such cross?

It seems to me my Wheatens are really lacking in size. So that is one thing I need to work on first.

Ooh ooh, 'nother brain storm, what about a Wheaten Marans x Wheaten AM cross.. . (well other than the egg color)...

 

[Tailfeathers]

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I would say the answer is "yes" overall. The ad is not necessarily misleading in that she does state the eggs are not coming from true Ameraucanas and states they are coming from what is commonly called Easter Eggers. However, she also appears to state that Ameraucanas and Araucanas are one in the same which we all know they are not. This would be a tip off to anyone familiar with either breed.

Also, if you do a search on here for "Gabbard" or her handle which I think was "Farmer's Wife", you may find more commentary from folks who have had transactions with her in the past. A Google search may do the same.

Personally speaking, I can only say two things. First, as late as 3-4 years ago pretty much the same description was given on her website for "Ameraucanas" and there was NO eluding to them being Easter Eggers. In fact, it was quite obviousl to me that she did not know the difference between the two at the time. Secondly, some time after that the description was changed and put under Easter Eggers while a different description was given for Ameraucanas and there was a comment there which said those eggs came from "Cree Lines" or Lisa Cree herself. I think she was selling them for $75/dz at the time. Lisa Cree was the Secretary of the ABC at the time and she was selling her eggs for I think $60/dz at the time. The dollar numbers may be wrong there but the point is that Gabbard was selling her eggs for more than the original breeder and before long the reference to "Cree Lines" disappeared from the website. I imagine folks went straight to Lisa for the eggs.

Lastly, I'll just say this. If I were looking at her site for the first time the thing that would be of most concern to me is the number of breeds she "maintains". I honestly don't know how many she has now but she used to have a site that listed her breeds in Alphabetical Order and there was like 15-16 of them. The site has now changed and it is much more difficult to determine exactly what she has.

I have four breeds that I work on and I simply do not have the time, space, or energy to do any more. Not only do I not have the time, space, or energy but I don't have the mental capacity to work on more than two at a time. As it is now, I can only work on about two breeds a year. Because I've had them the longest, I know the SOP for WBS Ameraucanas and Welsummers pretty well and, more importantly, I know MY Ameraucanas and Welsummers pretty well. However, even though I keep meticulous records, I still am not to the point where I can produce what I want by saying I need to put this or that Line # with this or that one. Eventually I will get down to just two lines of each breed but I'm not there yet. Especially with the Ameraucanas.

The Barnies are pretty well along now too but since I've only had the Buckeyes for a few years now I am constantly going back and referring to the Standard. Not to mention other breeders and resources. In fact, I may even give the Buckeyes up because I just can't devote the time and effort I should to them.

My point is this, I personally do not see how anyone can devote the attention needed for the betterment of the breed when one has so many breeds. Just how much QA/QC can be given to a breed when that many are being maintained? Even if one flock breeds, which I must assume is what is happening, can you imagine the attention to detail that is given to each breed? This has to be a source for much of the comments of the past on here.

Basically one has to look at the breeder and ask a lot of questions before buying. I have bought eggs from other breeders. Did so many times last year as a matter of fact. I did so because I wanted a variety of birds on my place and prefer to have really good looking birds rather than just go down to the hatchery. These are strictly for eggs and "eye candy" while my others are in breeding pens. Even for "common" breeds such as Barred Rocks or RIR's, I asked a lot of questions. The main thing I looked for was why the person had the breed and whether or not they had a specific breeding program in order to better the breed. There are many folks out there today that I have seen who are quick to jump on some bandwagon just so they can make a quick buck by selling eggs or chicks from the newest fad. One can have a fancy website, be equipped with some basic knowledge about a breed, have a good grasp on language and how to sell, and make a good business probably by selling eggs, chicks, birds, etc. But that does not necessarily mean that they care about the breed(s). I look for those who truly care about the breed.

I don't say this to bash anyone but rather to hopefully help others out there who may be looking for eggs, chicks, a particular breed, or what-have-you in the future.

God Bless,

 

[Cynthia12]

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That is just too cute. Will you congratulate her for us? She's learning young, I'm learning old!