Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Goose and Fig]

If a pure bred bird with known lineage doesn't fit the standard, I wouldn't call it "pet quality", I would call it a "cull".

I think its about as fair to lump all blue egg layers together as it is to lump all brown egg layers together.

 

[Muggsmagee]

My 2 cents on pedigrees. Pedigrees in chickens is great in theory...especially when there is still so much confusion shrouding our beloved Ameraucanas. However.......

When you only breed from certain "pedigreed stock" it is inevitable you will have a genetic bottle neck down the road. You can witness the most classic case of this in pedigreed dogs and all the problems that have risen with having limited strains/stock to breed from. There have been numerous studies done on this. You will also need to do DNA testing with your flock and the sales thereof and I can not imagine how time consuming and costly this would be, because unlike dogs that can have 1 to 2 litters a year, or horses that can only foal once a year, you can literally hatch 100's to 1,000's of chicks a year from just a handful of birds. Another question that could be brought up is, who's flock or flocks would the pedigrees start from? Would that make your flock and mine obsolete and would we need to start over? (In the case of the pedigreed dogs, a century ago, they took the breeds of the social elite to start their registrar.)

While I am an Ameraucana enthusiast, and loathe the idea of EE's being shown and sold as Ameraucanas, we need to take into account that incorporating new colors (let's choose Lavender or Chocolate/Dun as examples because they are being worked on and favored) have to come from alternate breeds, such as Orpingtons, and be bred back responsibly to work back to Ameraucana type. If someone else wants to start a new color, what would be the protocol from which the new color can be used from? What if the chicken is an English variety and not pedigreed here in the US? It leaves no room for creativity and expanding the Ameraucana varieties, IMO. The original Ameraucana breeders, and writers of the Ameraucana SOP, used Ameraucana chickens that were bred to various brown egg layers to gain the feather colors the club was going for. And I've seen time and again it mentioned how many of these originators are not "purists" when it comes to the breed, so why should we be?

I do, however, agree that a paper trail of sorts should be maintained if you are serious about breeding. For example, I have a record of my pairings, test matings, hatch dates and percentage success rates, resulting chick growth/color/problems, etc., etc., etc.

 

[Arctic Chick]

I think I have figured out where some of my confusion came from. I read somewhere that an EE was a mixed breed, not purebred. After reading Christie's post I went to the Ameraucana sight and read their definition. I've quoted it below as it solved A LOT of my confusion!!!

"The Ameraucana Breeders Club defines an Easter Egg chicken or Easter Egger as any chicken that possesses the blue egg gene, but doesn’t fully meet any breed descriptions as defined in the APA and/or ABA standards. Further, even if a bird meets an Ameraucana standard breed description, but doesn’t meet a variety description or breed true at least 50% of the time it is considered an Easter Egg chicken."

Where I was getting hung up was on my interpretation that EE = Mongrel. That's NOT what it says!!! EE is any chicken that does not conform to the standard. So... a purebred Ameraucana that does not conform to the standard IS an EE. That is why my hypothetical chicken that inherited two copies of a recessive gene (giving it willow legs) even though it came from Ameraucana parents is an EE.

My mistake was I was attemping to use terms I'd learned elsewhere... Show or breeder quality, pet (non-breeder) quality, and mixed breed. Now I understand that "Ameraucana" does not mean a purebred, but rather "show or breeder quality," and EE includes BOTH what I would call pet quality AND mixed breeds (so long as it has the blue egg gene) all lumped under one designation.

I hope this helps some of the others that shared my confusion!

I guess what is missing here, is what is an EE. An EE is a cross bred bird that lays, pink, green, blue eggs.

End of story. Splash and lavender/self blue birds breed true, they then in-fact are Ameraucana, there is a confusion here about genetics and labeling them correctly. I have no idea who came up with this mess, but it is fraudulent. Ameraucana is an established breed and here to stay. EEs are already clarified. So there needs to be a label for PCAs, those birds that Ameraucana club members breed and sell right along with Ameraucana for the same price as "purebred" Ameraucana. When they sell these birds they don't state that one will be getting Ameraucana and EE birds (bad for business, bad for the breed), they do say they are all Ameraucana in Black, Splash and Blue. I would want the EE price to reflect my EE birds I will be getting with my Ameraucanas and I only want the BEST EE birds you have. So when I order next time, I will only order the fine EE birds bred by club members and request hatchery pricing to reflect this order. I will take a box of lavender and splash please.

If it were me, I would AVOID labeling my hard work to hatchery bred birds. The genetics will tell me what the bird is and isn't. I just wouldn't show a bird that didn't qualify. Common sense. So genetics say yes, an Ameraucana, a select few says, no, EE. Why? Could someone possibly explain why anyone would do that, it is not correct nor does it make sense.

 

[Arctic Chick]

My 2 cents on pedigrees. Pedigrees in chickens is great in theory...especially when there is still so much confusion shrouding our beloved Ameraucanas. However.......

When you only breed from certain "pedigreed stock" it is inevitable you will have a genetic bottle neck down the road. You can witness the most classic case of this in pedigreed dogs and all the problems that have risen with having limited strains/stock to breed from. There have been numerous studies done on this. You will also need to do DNA testing with your flock and the sales thereof and I can not imagine how time consuming and costly this would be, because unlike dogs that can have 1 to 2 litters a year, or horses that can only foal once a year, you can literally hatch 100's to 1,000's of chicks a year from just a handful of birds. Another question that could be brought up is, who's flock or flocks would the pedigrees start from? Would that make your flock and mine obsolete and would we need to start over? (In the case of the pedigreed dogs, a century ago, they took the breeds of the social elite to start their registrar.)

While I am an Ameraucana enthusiast, and loathe the idea of EE's being shown and sold as Ameraucanas, we need to take into account that incorporating new colors (let's choose Lavender or Chocolate/Dun as examples because they are being worked on and favored) have to come from alternate breeds, such as Orpingtons, and be bred back responsibly to work back to Ameraucana type. If someone else wants to start a new color, what would be the protocol from which the new color can be used from? What if the chicken is an English variety and not pedigreed here in the US? It leaves no room for creativity and expanding the Ameraucana varieties, IMO. The original Ameraucana breeders, and writers of the Ameraucana SOP, used Ameraucana chickens that were bred to various brown egg layers to gain the feather colors the club was going for. And I've seen time and again it mentioned how many of these originators are not "purists" when it comes to the breed, so why should we be?

I do, however, agree that a paper trail of sorts should be maintained if you are serious about breeding. For example, I have a record of my pairings, test matings, hatch dates and percentage success rates, resulting chick growth/color/problems, etc., etc., etc.

I'm totally on board with you here!! Common sense, makes sense!

 

[Arctic Chick]

That is great you keep pedigrees!! So funny that the world of poultry doesn't.

I have to have a multi generation pedigree on the pet rats I register to breed!!

OMG I LOVE Rats, and to stay on topic, AMERAUCANA!

 

[Arctic Chick]

Hi all,

I'm looking for pictures of "Buff Ameraucanas" - both rooster and hen - from the front, side, and top.

I'm developing a facebook game about raising and showing chickens and at first I'm putting pictures in the game, but eventually the chickens will be modeled and I'll be using the pictures to wrap around the 3D models so that players can pose their chickens from any angle. There are 1000s of pictures here, all of beautiful birds, but I haven't found any buffs. I have partridge ameraucanas but only hens so I can't use pictures of my birds. I don't necessarily have to use "Buff", I can change colors but I'm trying to get a variety of colors in the game when it's first released. I'm also looking for pictures of "White Silkies", "Black Brahmas", and "Dominiques". In the game the chickens are often sitting either in a nest or on a roost - so a picture from the front is especially important. Other angles are useful too as there are bunches of animations - like when you wash the chicken getting it ready to show.

Over the next year my plan is to introduce every breed/color I can find into the game and develop a database of knowledge so that not only is the game fun to play it will be a good resource for chicken people to use.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help out with pictures.

Cheers,
Scott Saunders
Creator of "My Backyard Chicken"
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2005139542/my-backyard-chicken

Sorry friend, there is no such thing as, partridge, splash, lavender or buff Ameraucanas! That would be classified as an EE Easter Egg chicken in game. I can't wait to play it!!!

 

[Muggsmagee]

Hi all,

I'm looking for pictures of "Buff Ameraucanas" - both rooster and hen - from the front, side, and top.

I'm developing a facebook game about raising and showing chickens and at first I'm putting pictures in the game, but eventually the chickens will be modeled and I'll be using the pictures to wrap around the 3D models so that players can pose their chickens from any angle. There are 1000s of pictures here, all of beautiful birds, but I haven't found any buffs. I have partridge ameraucanas but only hens so I can't use pictures of my birds. I don't necessarily have to use "Buff", I can change colors but I'm trying to get a variety of colors in the game when it's first released. I'm also looking for pictures of "White Silkies", "Black Brahmas", and "Dominiques". In the game the chickens are often sitting either in a nest or on a roost - so a picture from the front is especially important. Other angles are useful too as there are bunches of animations - like when you wash the chicken getting it ready to show.

Over the next year my plan is to introduce every breed/color I can find into the game and develop a database of knowledge so that not only is the game fun to play it will be a good resource for chicken people to use.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help out with pictures.

Cheers,
Scott Saunders
Creator of "My Backyard Chicken"
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2005139542/my-backyard-chicken

Good luck with the development of this game. You could go on ameraucana.org and find a few pics to use. They have all the standard colors like buff, red brown, silver, black, blue, white, wheaten and blue wheaten, in both bantam and large fowl, listed so you could draw your creations from those.

 

[ronott1]

Quote:

and this thread!

Have you had chickens for a long time?

Ron

 

[heatherscooby77]

Sorry friend, there is no such thing as, partridge, splash, lavender or buff Ameraucanas! That would be classified as an EE Easter Egg chicken in game. I can't wait to play it!!!

Buff is an official color that is in the SOP. Partridge and Lavender a project colors. Splash is part of the Black/Blue/Splash genetics. Anything else you would like to add...........

 

[TAMMACLEAN]

I was sold some "Ameraucana" eggs that I hatched. Only 5 hatched out of 30 and only 3 lived. So my EE's could have the Ameraucana gene in them. So if I breed them ,to each other??, then I could possibly get Ameraucana chickens?? That is if they were really Ameraucanas.