Ancona Chicken Thread

[bruceha2000]

This this one is six weeks old and I think and Ancona. Any chance it's a hen? I'm having bag luck with my recent batch of chicks. They all seem to be roosters!

With that comb at 6 weeks, I would say "sorry, but no". Here is a picture (sorry, kinda fuzzy) of one of my June 2012 Anconas at 8 weeks. WAY less comb. As an adult it grows (after moulting each year) big enough to flop to one side so she isn't just a "small comb" girl:

 

[steven29128]

I will have some shipped in March. I am so excided.

 

[Catherine99]

Our Ancona chick.

 

[SanderB]

Nice chick, it has a lot of red.

 

[Catherine99]

This the same chick at almost 6 weeks.

It's a red Ancona which believe are only found in Australia.

 

[SanderB]

This the same chick at almost 6 weeks.

It's a red Ancona which believe are only found in Australia.

That´s not a red ancona it is just a byproduct of breeding Ancona black mottled. I have one like that but with much more buff.

 

[Catherine99]

Although the chick appears to be black in the above picture it actually a dark brown and getting more red everyday.

 

[ItalianoChicken]

I was thinking about getting some Ancona and put them with my leghorns If i get an Ancona male rooster how do I keep them from breeding the eggs do you just go get them everyday like usual? What do i do when I want to breed them do i leave the eggs or how do i know they have been fertilized or how do i incubate. I need some help in this area if anyone could give me some information I would appreciate it. Another question how will the rooster react with the ancona and leghorn hens? what is there personality like?
thanks,
ItalianoChicken

 

[bruceha2000]

I was thinking about getting some Ancona and put them with my leghorns If i get an Ancona male rooster how do I keep them from breeding the eggs do you just go get them everyday like usual? What do i do when I want to breed them do i leave the eggs or how do i know they have been fertilized or how do i incubate. I need some help in this area if anyone could give me some information I would appreciate it. Another question how will the rooster react with the ancona and leghorn hens? what is there personality like?
thanks,
ItalianoChicken

I presume you mean brooding/incubating the eggs. Yes, if you collect the eggs every day, they will be fertile if the rooster is breeding the hen but they won't develop at all unless they are kept around 100F (38C).

When you want to hatch chicks, the easiest thing is to let the hen do it. Typically a hen will lay a number of eggs over a period of days and then sit in the nest with them under her breast. It takes 21 days. You can candle the eggs after a few days. The processes generally involves shining a light through the shell and looking for specific details. Look for forum threads on the topic, I've never done it because I've never had a rooster.

Also, if you crack open one of the eggs you are collecting before you want to hatch any, you can see a "bullseye" in the fertile ones.
Here is a BYC thread on that topic: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

Sorry, I can't answer the question about personality, I have 2 Ancona hens, no Leghorns and no roosters.

 

[elizmartin]

I was thinking about getting some Ancona and put them with my leghorns If i get an Ancona male rooster how do I keep them from breeding the eggs do you just go get them everyday like usual? What do i do when I want to breed them do i leave the eggs or how do i know they have been fertilized or how do i incubate. I need some help in this area if anyone could give me some information I would appreciate it. Another question how will the rooster react with the ancona and leghorn hens? what is there personality like?
thanks,
ItalianoChicken

HI, a rooster with any group of hens will usually breed them all….eggs from any of the hens should be fertile, so Ancona to Ancona will be pure, with Leghorns Crosses. If you use Echecker (spell) Leghorns may be hard to tell since they are often confused with each other)…... I have noted that birds can know their own but usually doesn't matter in most cases but they do like what they know…. Ancona's are not known to be broody but i have had one, i am not familiar with leghorns. If hens are brooding eggs i don't bother them or candle them,,,,,if an egg is not good they will usually kick it out or ignore until others hatch. If i am using an incubator i will usually check them sometime in the middle of the cycle…..