Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[heatherscooby77]

Where do I start looking for Ameracuana's for my girls to show? Do I start with 4-H or with APA/ABA shows? My husband would be taking my girls to the shows while I prepare the chickens at home.
I know nobody around here and I have no one that could mentor me.
I'm obviously going about this the wrong way with the recent misfortune I've been encountering. I did sign up to be a part of the ABC club and I'm awaiting for my information to arrive.
I'm looking for chickens where my girls will win. This will boost their self esteem and make them feel like they can accomplish good things. I want nothing but the best for my children and I. Thanks.

I also want to add that fall is a good time to buy breeding pairs/trios, started pairs/trios. You can still go on the ABC forum to look at the sales section. Or email some of the nice folks on the breeders list. There is a showmanship book for sale at the APA store, its also good to buy the Standard of Perfection. That will teach you loads of info!

 

[Christie Rhae]

Seth is just a 14 year old boy who is very opinionated and likes to joke around 

Ditto

 

[samouw]

My wheaten chicks do not have chipmunk stripes. They are yellow too, not tan and I have never had one with a spot on there head. I would be concerned they are not wheaten.

Wheaten chicks day olds


I think they are about 2-3 weeks here

Well, this is what I get for asking the experts. Sometimes you get answers you don't want to hear. lol

I am very confident in the provenance of my rooster, but I guess I'm beginning to wonder about my hens now. Here are pictures of the hens (only two of these pictured, one was lost in the first heat wave in July). The bare backs came from an overactive rooster prior to my getting them. The one on the far right of the pic is the one that laid 3 of the 4 eggs I hatched out. Of course, there is no way to tell now which of the chicks came from which eggs.





So...any suggestions? I have bred show horses and dogs all my life and like to breed quality and to the standard - whether they are ever shown or not. So if these hens are not going to produce quality wheaten Ameraucanas for me, I would like to know now before I hatch out another group of eggs.

As to these three, I'm going to let them grow out and see how they mature.

Oh...as to the little chick sitting on her haunches - she's fine. She just plopped down like that when I shoved the camera in her face. I thought it was cute and took the pic anyway.

 

[Lark Rise]

Well, this is what I get for asking the experts. Sometimes you get answers you don't want to hear. lol

I am very confident in the provenance of my rooster, but I guess I'm beginning to wonder about my hens now. Here are pictures of the hens (only two of these pictured, one was lost in the first heat wave in July). The bare backs came from an overactive rooster prior to my getting them. The one on the far right of the pic is the one that laid 3 of the 4 eggs I hatched out. Of course, there is no way to tell now which of the chicks came from which eggs.





So...any suggestions? I have bred show horses and dogs all my life and like to breed quality and to the standard - whether they are ever shown or not. So if these hens are not going to produce quality wheaten Ameraucanas for me, I would like to know now before I hatch out another group of eggs.

As to these three, I'm going to let them grow out and see how they mature.

Oh...as to the little chick sitting on her haunches - she's fine. She just plopped down like that when I shoved the camera in her face. I thought it was cute and took the pic anyway.

Susan, you can ask Gary on the CSRA group. He's been breeding ameraucanas for many years.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: That picture looks over exposed so I can't tell much. I don't think they look like mine.

This is a very ratty looking wheaten pullet, very young just after I got them. I don't have any good pics of them. I never really have taken any. See the black in the tail and on the wings? Do your birds have that?

 

[pips&peeps]

They sure don't look like wheaten ameraucana to me.

 

[lovinchicks]

I went out tonight and got a picture of all my Ameraucanas. I'm still not to sure on what to keep and not to keep, or if to keep at all. I wish I had someone around my area that could show me what some good birds looks like. I'm not so good at reading the SOP and saying.... yes I have a keeper. So here is my bunch. Can you share with me the good, the bad and the ugly

. I posted a picture of the one of the Roo's. Someone said that it had some black in the hackles, and you don't want that. Is that something that can disappear or not? They are all a little over 14 weeks old.
#1


#2


#3 not the best picture. He would not cooperate at all! He definitely has a different body shape that the other Roo's. Or his feathers are just really puffy around his neck.


#4



#5



#6



#7



#8

As one who breeds the WBS variety exclusively, I'll give you a few things. To be honest, it's late and it's been an extremely exhausting day so please forgive my brevity and don't take it as a lack of responsiveness or attention to your questions. I'll be back home (and back with my birds!!) on September 1st. So if you'd like to email me after then, perhaps I can provide more info. I'm also happy to take calls and help if I can too.

First let me say that I'm not even going to address the most important trait - which is Type - because no snapshot in time can accurately judge Type. So I'll just address various colors or other obvious things I see. Also, wrt to W & BW, and especially the males, they can often be very hard to make your choices from until they're almost fully matured. Second, If it's good (i.e. nice leg color) I'm not going to mention it. Only those things I'd cull for. Having said that, here's a couple of things about the cockerels:

1) Cockerel #1 seems to have some brown barring in the tail feathers. He also seems to have excess fluff at the base of the tail now. Both of those may disappear as he gets older but I doubt it. Same goes for the hackles. You will see them lighten up tremendously as he gets old. That goes for all the cockerels so I'll just say that here. And I'll also just say here that if I were you, I'd grow them all out and keep some meticulous records so you can learn what changes and what don't.

2) Cockerel #2 is pretty good overall at this point. I see a little fluff at base of tail but not bad.

3) Cockerel #3. You can cull that bird now or mark him for the freezer. Extremely poor tail color, poor leg color, poor primaries, comb is too big for his age. Never seen anything like him.

4) Cockerel #4. Not too bd. I see a little too much brown/red in his tail and I'd keep an eye out on that white in his breast feathers. Leg color is a little light but acceptable.

5) Pullet #5. Not bad. A little dark overall but acceptable. Pretty good black in the tail and I don't see any ticking in the hackles.

6) Pullet #6. Overall good but notice the difference in black in the tails. Here's where you have to grow them out and make your choice based on an already established breeding plan focused on one or two specific traits you want to improve and/or get set.

7) Pullets #7 & #8. Pretty much the same comments as #6.

Sorry, but I'm getting pretty tired. Hope that helps though.

Btw, Samouw, I don't recall ever having any W or BW chicks with that much of a pronounced "dot" or "strip" on the head. I've had 'em with dots but certainly not that big of a stripe. Also the chick at 1800 has got a pretty dark back. I hate to tell you this but I think you've got something in your chicks besides W or BW. Also, if that 5 Day Old chick is still walking on his elbows, you might as well cull it. And it's way too early to tell a male from a female for W or BW.

God Bless,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! Cockrel #3's legs are not that light. The sun was lighting him up a bit. But now I will know what would be too light. When you say poor primaries, what does that mean? I think I'll keep him for now. It will be interesting and informative for me to see what changes on him, and what doesn't. My husband has always called him, grumpy old man. He's not mean or grumpy, just looks like he would be, lol. I'm assuming there is a more specific SOP than the one on the ABC site? Something specific to the W and BW's? I'd love for my husband or I to get out and do a show with some of our birds eventually.

 

[Nicole01]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nicole01 Thank you very much! This is very helpful. I know my girls wont win every time, but I don't want them losing every time either. I think this is a great event to get them started in. Right now they are in horseback lessons, but I can't afford horses purchase and to house them to show. I can only have them taught to ride. I need to keep my children involved in activities to keep their self esteem up and to respect others. Raising chickens is a passion of mine and I'd like to share it with my girls. Ameracuana's are my breed of choice and this is what we want to specialize in. Again, thank you. x2 on Pips&Peeps I was thinking what she said, I just couldn't get it to not sound like a scalding. LOL I also want to add that showing chickens is subjective. You breed, and hope to make the right choices. If you make the wrong choices, there is always 'next year". Chickens are also awesome because unlike other livestock you don't have to be 'rich' to have nice birds. You start out with the best birds you can afford, and go from there. My daughter loves 4-H. Its nice to win, but getting there is the prize!

Thank you, for both posts. I'm not quite sure if I'm ready for breeding yet as for buying a trio.

My plan was to raise nice looking hens from hatchlings and to see if my kids take an interest before I go the breeding route.

I personally would love to breed, but I want to be rational about it and think it through carefully before heading out and buying a rooster. I have an incubator and hatching eggs is a great experience!

I did join the ABC and I'm looking into the APA to gather all the info as possible. I'm trying not to make any impulse buys or moves as I just got burned buying "Ameraucana" hatching eggs that turned out to be Easter eggers.

My ultimate goal would be to show them myself since I'm the one who's in love with the breed and chickens themselves. Going to shows myself will be a challenge since I deal with 24/7 severe neck pain and I'm disabled. My girls say they want to show as well, but we'll see when the time comes down to it.

I do want my girls to win 1st, 2nd or 3rd place, but I don't want them losing every time. This will help them feel better too. My neighbor is taking my kids and I to 4-h in a couple weeks to sign up. I think this might be a good place to start before we head on to the APA/ABA shows.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Just because you have a trio doesn't mean you necessarily have to start breeding right away (just resist the urge to pop those fertile eggs into the incubator...if you can!). But if you're looking for show quality, it's much less of a gamble to start with adult, or at least started, stock. Even the breeder with the best birds can't guarantee that any of the eggs or chicks they sell you will turn out to be show quality, even if the only birds they ever breed are the ones that win in the shows. And even if you choose not to show the started birds, if you got a pair or trio and hatched chicks from them, then you would at least have more assurance that the eggs were actually truly Ameraucana eggs and you wouldn't have to worry about some faceless person on the internet being dishonest about the eggs they are selling (don't get me wrong, there are lots of great people online who are very honest about what they are selling...but anonymity afforded by physical distance and cyber space does make it easier for dishonest sellers to operate freely and more difficult for buyers to determine who they are really dealing with).

4-H is definitely a great way for kids to get started in showing. Try to feel out how judging is done in your local 4-H chapters though. It is my understanding that, like with small local/county fairs, some 4-H clubs use the APA/ABA standards for judging the poultry and others do not necessarily. Which means that a non-standard bird can still win over one that is close to the standard of perfection. It is also my understanding that 4-H showing is largely about showmanship...how well the child knows the standard for the breed they are showing, how good they are at recognizing the faults and/or DQ's in their own birds, and how well they handle the birds during the show. In showmanship, it is the child's knowledge and behavior that is being judged, not so much the bird and how it stacks up to the standard. So it is quite possible to win with birds that do not quite meet the mark for show quality.

 

[Nicole01]

Just because you have a trio doesn't mean you necessarily have to start breeding right away (just resist the urge to pop those fertile eggs into the incubator...if you can!). But if you're looking for show quality, it's much less of a gamble to start with adult, or at least started, stock. Even the breeder with the best birds can't guarantee that any of the eggs or chicks they sell you will turn out to be show quality, even if the only birds they ever breed are the ones that win in the shows. And even if you choose not to show the started birds, if you got a pair or trio and hatched chicks from them, then you would at least have more assurance that the eggs were actually truly Ameraucana eggs and you wouldn't have to worry about some faceless person on the internet being dishonest about the eggs they are selling (don't get me wrong, there are lots of great people online who are very honest about what they are selling...but anonymity afforded by physical distance and cyber space does make it easier for dishonest sellers to operate freely and more difficult for buyers to determine who they are really dealing with).

4-H is definitely a great way for kids to get started in showing. Try to feel out how judging is done in your local 4-H chapters though. It is my understanding that, like with small local/county fairs, some 4-H clubs use the APA/ABA standards for judging the poultry and others do not necessarily. Which means that a non-standard bird can still win over one that is close to the standard of perfection. It is also my understanding that 4-H showing is largely about showmanship...how well the child knows the standard for the breed they are showing, how good they are at recognizing the faults and/or DQ's in their own birds, and how well they handle the birds during the show. In showmanship, it is the child's knowledge and behavior that is being judged, not so much the bird and how it stacks up to the standard. So it is quite possible to win with birds that do not quite meet the mark for show quality.

Thank you very much for your help! This is confirmation that I'm heading the right way with 4-H! My husband is heading to the state fair show this coming week. I have to decide if I want to go, it's embarrassing to be pushed in a wheelchair while in your 30's and I'm having a hard time accepting this alone. I ask more questions then he does. Thank you everyone else for your help too. I really appreciate every bit of it. I'm learning everything from scratch. I know how frustrating it is starting from the basics.