Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Cass]

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I'm gonna breed the Lavs I have with a Lav roo. BUT I am not going to sell them. I want blue eggs. LOTS of blue eggs. Since I know nothing about the breed, genetics or what is right or wrong in a "good" bird, I'm going to just hatch for myself for egg color. Of course someone is going to want some of my eggs to hatch. I'm not sure how to handle that, since many BYC folks were very kind to me when I was new.

Do I give them the eggs to hatch and tell them I know nothing except who their parents are or do I try to talk them out of hatching my eggs, since I know nothing about Ameruacanas? Actually, anything my hens lay 30 days from soon will have the blue gene. I only kept my 3 Ameraucana roos.

(Educating myself isn't an option. Just not enough time in my day to retain anything I read.)

 

[Christie Rhae]

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I thought I read somewhere that the lavender's egg color was not that great right now?

 

[flower]

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anyone have ideas about these guys? Maybe I need better pics.
My other question... two of them are totally white. Is that normal with splash?

Since I am not experienced enough, I will not comment on the gender issue and all of the birds look good to me. But what I want to say is that I have had splash of a different breed and the type and color improved greatly with maturity. They are very nice now compared to what they looked like as teens.

 

[Cass]

Quote:
I thought I read somewhere that the lavender's egg color was not that great right now?

Good to know. I have a black roo. Maybe he can add some more color to the offspring's eggs. Thanks for the "heads up".

My ultimate goal is to have a flock of just blue/green/chocolate brown egg layers. No white. No tan. No brown.

Now to get the durn things to lay ANYTHING so I can hatch something in the spring.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
I thought I read somewhere that the lavender's egg color was not that great right now?

Good to know. I have a black roo. Maybe he can add some more color to the offspring's eggs. Thanks for the "heads up".

My ultimate goal is to have a flock of just blue/green/chocolate brown egg layers. No white. No tan. No brown.

Now to get the durn things to lay ANYTHING so I can hatch something in the spring.

One of the best things I have found in this situation is you can have more than one breed per coop, and always know what you are hatching

And yes- the lav egg color still needs improvement, but some of mine have color just as good as my wheatens do. ( certain times of year) They are are much more productive here as well.

 

[Blubirdz]

Hello everyone,I just became a member ! I wanted to see if anyone has purchased any ameraucanas from Ideal? Are they true ameraucnas or EE's?

 

[DMRippy]

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EE. True Ameraucans will only come from a breeder but know what you are buying, people sell EE as Ameraucanas too.

BTW

 

[Blubirdz]

sorry i clicked reply instead of new topic

 

[Muggsmagee]

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You hit the nail right on the head with things I have seen recently. Many of us share your concerns (and not just on this breed) with some over breeding and exploiting them for $$.

I have wondered if there is anything to be done. But all I have come up with is being true to the breed and color improvement ourselves and hope that the others are purhcased by folks that just want pretty birds who lay pretty eggs in their layer flocks.

We've talked about this briefly. I think Walmart is a good comparable for this breeder. The time, dedication, money, heartache, culling, more culling, more culling, paperwork up the ying-yang, planning, preparation, research, etc, etc that we put into our birds can leave us a bit frustrated when someone jumps on the bandwagon and just breeds to breed without regard for improving the variety. There really isn't a darn thing we can do about it with the exception of continuing to educate ourselves and anyone else that is interested in raising Lavs.

Some people won't care either way, and that's okay too. Let's face it, the color alone is gorgeous in a backyard flock.

 

[faykokoWV]

RE: Lavenders

I agree with all that's been said on the topic. I was lucky to get great hatches out of eggs from Happy, and a great split roo from Lamike. I took them on as a project because I think they are pretty and I really like the breed. I will admit though that I am learning as I go.

The biggest thing that has been good for me is space - I have a large coop and run just for the lavenders and I'm putting it to good use. I have been able to keep almost every bird I hatched so I can evaluate them in Feb and determine which I want to use for the breeding program and which will go to other homes. I'm greatful that I also have space to isolate the breeding stock once I decide which I want to use.

Right now I have 20 birds, some I have already eliminated as potential breeding stock. I hope to narrow it down to 2 roos and 6-7 hens. I may have to narrow it down even more if they don't have the traits I need. I plan on reaching out a lot for tips on what traits I need to keep and what I need to eliminate. Because I'm able to let them mature a little more before I decide I hope this will make for better decisions.

I got some great advice from Royce in a phone coversation last year regarding how to track/establish a breeding program. I'm sure I will be looking for more of this type of advice as I go!