Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Am056638]

Okay what is the difference between an Easter Egger and an Ameracuana?

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Hahahaha.....I'm feeling pretty dumb now. Is there a book out there that teaches all this stuff? How do you all know so much? I just want a blue egg.

Quote:

There are a couple of books - An Introduction to Color Forms of the Domestic Fowl by Brian Reeder (from amazon.com) and Genetics of Chicken Colours by Sigrid van Dort (ordered directly from her in Holland).

Nothing to feel dumb about. It is complicated stuff - not necessarily intuitive at all (especially the "black" stuff) but not so bad once you've dug into it for a bit.

 

[Illia]

Okay what is the difference between an Easter Egger and an Ameracuana?

You have Easter Eggers (EE's) not Ameraucanas.

Easter Eggers are various colored basically mutt chickens that lay different colored eggs and are sold by hatcheries and feedstores as Ameraucanas, falsely.

Ameraucanas are a purebred breed that come in 8 true-breeding recognized colors and lay only blue eggs. They aren't sold by hatcheries or feedstores despite many claims, and are more rare than EE's. Body wise they look the same but color wise they don't, especially their legs and feet. Also they're not so varied in temperament and productivity.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Purple barring? I thought that all had to due with diet and growth, little to nothing to do with actual genetics.

Purple or violet barring can also have a genetic basis (B with modifiers) as do purple sheen and 'purplish' down.Same goes with green sheen and blue sheen which can also effect barring/cuckoo. The sun has a tremendous effect on barring/cuckoo as well.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Okay what is the difference between an Easter Egger and an Ameracuana?

http://www.ameraucana.org/faq.html

 

[Am056638]

you are in Forks, WA? That is cool. Yes I am a nerd and a fan. I was there two summers ago. I am bummed that I didn't know about the difference between pure Ameracuna and an EE. Thanks for your response

 

[vanalpaca]

Hahahaha.....I'm feeling pretty dumb now. Is there a book out there that teaches all this stuff? How do you all know so much? I just want a blue egg.

Blue egg: take your cockeral and breed him over a white egg production Leghorn. If the offspring hatched from the egg comes out with any brown tint to the shell color, Your cockeral is carrying brown egg genes and if you put him over your Ameraucana hens and hatch out their eggs, grow out the pullets those pullets will lay green tinted eggs.

The green is from the blue egg shell being painted over with the brown egg tint.
BTW, there are 13 genes that contribute brown egg color.
It is best to start with a cockeral from the bluest egg you can hatch. So this means you have to partition off your eggs by color and mark the chicks from the bluest eggs and take those cockerals and 'test them'.

Now if this was a big secret, someone tell me quick and I will remove the post

 

[vanalpaca]

Illia, actually today's Ameraucana as produced by serious breeders are much closer to laying blue eggs than they were 7 years ago. But back then they were working on stabilizing different traits, they still are, and exhibition birds may still be producing blue greenish eggs, not what the novice considers a really blue egg.

For those of you really interested in the journey of the Ameraucana, there is a 'history page' over on the www.ameraucana.org site and anyone can read all the forum threads and see how the bird was developed and even some of the breeds that were used in the breeding programs to provide the different traits.

Then it's taken a few more generations to breed out the 'brown egg' genes to get the light sky blue egg that is the same tint of blue on the inside of the shell as the outside.

Many folks that have BLUE EGG LAYERS are also not 'true to type' Ameraucanas. Those are Easter Eggers that are expressing the blue egg gene and don't have the brown egg genes expressed.

I say if you get a Blue Egg layer, HURRAY. But I am going to go for both TRUE to type Ameraucana and improving blue egg color,

 

[Goose and Fig]

Where did this purple barring come from- did I miss something?

 

[Cattitude]

I'm glad you wrote this! Improving or developing a breed/variety takes a long time because of all the single pairings you must do to isolate the genes you want in your offspring.

Blue egg: take your cockeral and breed him over a white egg production Leghorn. If the offspring hatched from the egg comes out with any brown tint to the shell color, Your cockeral is carrying brown egg genes and if you put him over your Ameraucana hens and hatch out their eggs, grow out the pullets those pullets will lay green tinted eggs.

The green is from the blue egg shell being painted over with the brown egg tint.
BTW, there are 13 genes that contribute brown egg color.
It is best to start with a cockeral from the bluest egg you can hatch. So this means you have to partition off your eggs by color and mark the chicks from the bluest eggs and take those cockerals and 'test them'.

Now if this was a big secret, someone tell me quick and I will remove the post