Only 10 dozen? Wow and here I was ready to be impressed. How can you honestly call your self a chicken lady with only 10 dozen eggs incubating at any given time?
Oh I can only dream....
I suggest a hatcher and a incubator if you plan to hatch more then 40 at a time.
Look for the older wood incubators. If your willing to do some rehab work you can get them for as low as $100 and they can hold anywhere from a couple hundred eggs to a couple thousand. I just saw one that holds 2100 eggs in Minnesota craigslist for $450
I own a 400-500 egg Farm Master. They are made of Redwood and double walled solid wood.
Keep as original as possible in the way it is wired/heated/fan and you will have a stable work horse of a incubator.
*replace wiring if needed as most were kept in barns so some inside work may need to be done. also replace wafer with a new one.
I think this got missed. So I will take a stab at it.
First I am not a expert at Ameraucana's... Yet
If the bird meets all standards for the Ameraucana breed but lays a slightly green egg then it is most likely a ameraucana in my humble opinion.
They are still working on getting the eggs to be blue in some lines. Ameraucana's are still a newer breed so still need a lot of work in some areas.
I think it was Tailfeathers who has almost white eggs due to his work on improving the breed and trying to remove all trace of the brown egg color genetics as well as improving productivity.
Some are working on the blue egg coloring
and still others are working on other breed standards such as improving body, colors, etc.
If you are going to be breeding Ameraucana's find the best birds you can with the traits you like and try and work out the ones you don't (such as the green egg coloring) by selective breeding and heavy culling.
Find and buy/print a copy of the Ameraucana breed standards and keep up with any changes.
If you just wanted a true Ameraucana in your flock you might have one. post a photo and we can let you know.
If you wanted a blue egg layer in your flock you might have to find a breeder who has been working on egg colors to get a hen that lays blue eggs.
also note there are many shades of blue... some have a green tint or some are very pale.
I've also heard Ameraucana pullets tend to throw green tints when they start laying but again I'm no expert so dunno for sure.
All my hens lay very pale blue eggs. when next to a white egg it is obviously blue but when just looked at it can be mistaken for white.
Hope this helps.
I'm not sure why the Department of Tourism is all over that! "Welcome to Tennessee, Where You Can Incubate Eggs on Your Back Porch!"
I suggest a hatcher and a incubator if you plan to hatch more then 40 at a time.
Look for the older wood incubators. If your willing to do some rehab work you can get them for as low as $100 and they can hold anywhere from a couple hundred eggs to a couple thousand. I just saw one that holds 2100 eggs in Minnesota craigslist for $450
I own a 400-500 egg Farm Master. They are made of Redwood and double walled solid wood.
Keep as original as possible in the way it is wired/heated/fan and you will have a stable work horse of a incubator.
*replace wiring if needed as most were kept in barns so some inside work may need to be done. also replace wafer with a new one.
I think this got missed. So I will take a stab at it.
First I am not a expert at Ameraucana's... Yet
If the bird meets all standards for the Ameraucana breed but lays a slightly green egg then it is most likely a ameraucana in my humble opinion.
They are still working on getting the eggs to be blue in some lines. Ameraucana's are still a newer breed so still need a lot of work in some areas.
I think it was Tailfeathers who has almost white eggs due to his work on improving the breed and trying to remove all trace of the brown egg color genetics as well as improving productivity.
Some are working on the blue egg coloring
and still others are working on other breed standards such as improving body, colors, etc.
If you are going to be breeding Ameraucana's find the best birds you can with the traits you like and try and work out the ones you don't (such as the green egg coloring) by selective breeding and heavy culling.
Find and buy/print a copy of the Ameraucana breed standards and keep up with any changes.
If you just wanted a true Ameraucana in your flock you might have one. post a photo and we can let you know.
If you wanted a blue egg layer in your flock you might have to find a breeder who has been working on egg colors to get a hen that lays blue eggs.
also note there are many shades of blue... some have a green tint or some are very pale.
I've also heard Ameraucana pullets tend to throw green tints when they start laying but again I'm no expert so dunno for sure.
All my hens lay very pale blue eggs. when next to a white egg it is obviously blue but when just looked at it can be mistaken for white.
Hope this helps.
I think the fact that the black girl has gold in her hackles means she is an EE. I have seen bleed through on pure ameraucana roosters but never hens. I have some blue and black hens that look like the hen described but they are mixes from my free range flock and are definitely EE's. If you wanted true ameraucana then I suggest you contact a breeder and put that black hen with gold hackles in a layer pen and just enjoy her
