An Andalusian Thread

[Ariel301]

Hahaha I did not know the color was called Andalusian blue.

Nice D'Anvers though. Your blue rooster certainly looks proud of himself!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
Yep,
Thanks on the d'anvers they all act like they are full of themselves with that bowed out chest!
But, I'll let ya get back to your subject now!!
See ya,
Aubrey

 

[JestersEye]

I absolutely love Blue Andalusians! My son had gotten three as chicks from Meyer's Hatchery, to show in the 4-H. Unfortunately, we lost both of our hens this past summer, one to illness and the other to a predator (probably a hawk attack). However, our blue roo, Cobalt, is still happily assisting our big Blue Orpington rooster with his three hens.

We now have two four-month-old BA pullets from MPC that have nice coloring, as well as three three-month-old "chicks" from our own birds (Cobalt and his late blue hen, Sapphire). I may be rehoming these, however, since they appear to be two light blue cockerels and one splash pullet. I'm also currently awaiting an order of eggs from Gabbard Farms, who has beautiful Blue LACED Andalusians!

In general, Andies can be a bit "flighty" at times, but most of ours act just fine once you get a hold of them. Cobalt has always been our tamest of the bunch, and even seems to falll asleep when you rub his satiny-soft comb! They do tend to fly up or jump higher than heavier breeds, and can squeeze into slightly smaller spaces due to their skinny builds.

The things I really like about this breed is their wonderful plumage, combined with the beautiful dance and graceful display the roosters do to attract the hens; as well as the awesome laying ability of the hens. Each of my BA hens laid an egg a day, almost without fail. Sapphire missed one day total since she started laying until the day she was killed, while Pearl only stopped laying when she got terribly sick. Even one of them used to put my three Orp hens to shame!

I had planned on taking some new pictures of our pullets, but I will upload some "baby" pics, along with pictures of our other Andies.

This is our blue roo, Cobalt, in mid-crow.

And here he is with his light blue hen, Sapphire.

Here's a picture to show you what their eggs look like: Large & White, but a bit narrow and pointed

Here's a cute baby-chick picture of our dark blue pullets. They actually appear identical in color now.

 

[Ariel301]

Some websites' descriptions say they are noisy. Is that true, for those of you who have them? One concern for me with chickens I get is the noise level of the roosters...since my husband and I live in his parents' house, we have to respect their wishes...and they don't like being disturbed by crowing all the time, so I should stay away from breeds known for being loudmouths. A few crows during the day is fine, but birds like the Jersey Giant rooster I had who would crow for hours on end, starting at 2 am...no thanks. I do keep my roosters put up in a dark place until I am ready to wake them up to avoid early morning crow-fests, but I am interested in just the general noise level of the birds. Both roosters and hens. I have a noisy leghorn hen right now, you can hear her complaining from across the property!

 

[HBuehler]

We have several blue Andy's our hens range from light blue to dark blue laced.We also have some splash but just sold all of the blacks.Took these the other day when I realized I didn't have any updated pictures of Big Blue..he's 5 months old and just starting to fill out nicely.It was below freezing and blowing wind so he's a bit chilly and blurry(camera lens kept fogging up) I needed a picture of a friend of his or I wouldn't have been out there!
A not very happy pullet-they want Spring to come.Rest of them wouldn't come out

Big Blue Rooster-kids named him

 

[GlitterKitty]

i was considering some of these, they are so adorable! The hens I have right now are 4 mix banty hens, one new hamshire roo that protects his banty like their hi slife (which really they are!

), I have a Bklack new jersey giant and two red sex-links. Will they all get along okay? In spring Im letting my broody banty hatch out three chicks and we are odering four (the andie,plymouth rock and two polish)

Im so excited!

 

[cwhit590]

I love my Andalusians.

I got a Blue and a Splash hen in my order from Meyer Hatchery this spring. Of all the different breeds I have, they are the most curious and friendly - like others have mentioned. My blue hen is my favorite by far- she's like a pet (I raised her by hand in the brooder). She likes to be held and petted, and she'll fly up on my shoulders. My splash is very curious...she comes up to me all the time to check me out, even flying up on my shoulders sometimes.... but she doesn't like to be touched (she was raised by my broody hen). They can both fly well....the splash can fly up to the roof of the coop and get out of the run.

She may need to have a wing clipped if she keeps that up this spring...

They lay pretty well...their eggs aren't big yet....still kinda medium / large-ish. My blue girl can be a bit 'talkative' at times, but I dunno...it's not bad.

I recommend Meyer's Andalusians if you're looking for hatchery birds.

I kinda just got them to fill out my order (shh don't tell them

)...but they are really something else! Mine sure have personality.

Legs (blue) and Whitey(splash)

...did I mention they're CURIOUS?