Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

I hatched a Lavender a day early! I have several I could hatch SO EXCITED! I need some Lavenders
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OK I also need some clarification please. This BACK TO BLACK thing.... can I just use lavender splits or do I need to keep just blacks too? Why are we going back to black.... I think it is for type improvement, but is there some other reason? Educate me before I get to deep and can't dig my way out.... I want to stop digging early
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Right now I have blacks in the pens, I have one Split pullet that is laying well now and one Lavender pullet. I have several Splits growing up and in a few months can have a flock of just splits and Lavenders. Should I leave the blacks in? I don't currently have a black pen and really don't have the room for a just black pen, but I could work something out if I need a black pen to pull from. I just want to be clear on WHY....

If you are a member of the Ameraucana Club you should ask this question there. If not you can read about what is said there. This question keeps coming up because everyone wants to produce a lot of lavender colored birds but most of them do not meet the SOP's. Yes, most of the lavenders need to go back to PURE blacks that are excellent type to improve the lavenders. There is no easy fix. Some people have been working on them for over 5 years and they all keep going back to the blacks for improvement. The blacks only improve quality but does not improve the lavender color at all IMO. Once you have quality on the lavenders(which they are few and far) then one can just use lavender to lavender otherwise they might just be EE's and be considered hatchery stock. I cull my black splits so no one uses them on pure black stock but after selling them at the auction they seem to come back and haunt the hobby so now they never leave my premises alive, same with the cull lavenders. So there is no quick fix insight to produce quality hatching eggs so one needs to work on this project with some ethics.
 
Hi DMRippy, thanks for your feedback! I'll see about getting a closer pic of his earlobes tomorrow. His beard will turn black as he ages. You can see it is partially black in the first picture. By the time his molt is finished it should be all black now that he is about a year old!
I like him, I am new so I am still learning here, but I think his beard should be black....I would be concerned about his ears too... do you have a closer pic? I would like to see what you are talking about. LEARNING
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I hatched a Lavender a day early! I have several I could hatch SO EXCITED! I need some Lavenders
clap.gif


OK I also need some clarification please. This BACK TO BLACK thing.... can I just use lavender splits or do I need to keep just blacks too? Why are we going back to black.... I think it is for type improvement, but is there some other reason? Educate me before I get to deep and can't dig my way out.... I want to stop digging early
lau.gif


Right now I have blacks in the pens, I have one Split pullet that is laying well now and one Lavender pullet. I have several Splits growing up and in a few months can have a flock of just splits and Lavenders. Should I leave the blacks in? I don't currently have a black pen and really don't have the room for a just black pen, but I could work something out if I need a black pen to pull from. I just want to be clear on WHY....

You need to keep a black in the lavender pen because lavender to lavender causes issues with feather quality. The feathers can develop unevenly and become brittle. Lavender to black split for lavender helps to keep the feather quality up. (This is a problem with all lavender birds, not just Ameraucanas.)
 
I really like the blue ameraucanas. I am researching a project to try and get lacing on blue ameraucana. They are supposed to have black lacing around each feather.
I got my copy of the Standard of Perfection and was really surprised at the description. There is supposed to be definite sharp lacing on every feather... even shank and tail feathers! And this is not to be confused with "edging". E/E based blues will have faint edging.

http://ameraucana.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=1797&f=2
If you look on page 133 of the SOP you will get an idea of what the color looks like. The color should be like the blue Andulusians pictured.

Edit: you seem to know that already. I just read your post on the other site. I would use a blue based black to a splash to work toward your goal as opposed to using blue to blue as you mention. That worked for me when I had Andulausians.

Walt
 
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Hi everybody was just wanted to share a few pics of my pullet and get some feed back on my bird.
Does she look like an Ameraucana at all?.... " im guessing not" just a EE?
The lady i got her from said Ameraucana, I really dont know and im brand new, this was my first bird.
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And will feathers grow around her eyes or is that the breed and they will stay red and fleshy like that?

Fresh






What a pretty bird!! I love her leopard patterning.
 
Quote: What is a blue based black? You mean like the black you get from blue/black/splash breeding?
I am worried that in the F2 generation I will not know if the black or splash are actually carrying the pattern genes. Do you mean further down the road when I know my offspring are carrying the genes for sure?
Thanks Walt! Love the SOP book!
 

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