Anyone want to help a poor Araucana owner down on her luck?

[suzannaski]

I'm so sad. I had one Araucana hen who was a year old, had gone broody, and last week she hatched her eggs. Last night, some small varmit got through the crack in the barn door, crawled under the gap in the tack room door, then pried open her cage and killer her and her chicks. My little nieces are visiting today, and thankfully I found the horror before they came down to the barn to see the chicks.
My husband has generously offered to drive me to get more chicks. (I'm still gonna mourn the loss of my sweet girl though!) The problem is that I can't find anyone in the New England area with Araucana or Araucana/Ameraucana mix chicks, eggs or hens. I have some Ameraucanas but they don't go broody, so I really want to find another broody girl, and I am making an assumption that Araucanas are better broodies.
If anyone can help me, I would really appreciate it.
You can post here or PM me.

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

I think they are better mommas. I have good luck with buff cochins and buff orphingtons as good mothers. Araucana's I think make best mothers. I have some eggs if you want to buy some from me. I get 4.00 dozen plus shipping for setting eggs. They are fertile. I have turken, black jersey giant,rhode island red, buff orphington, and some bantam roosters that are crossed with cochins running with my flock. So any of those could be father. Hens are araucana's and araucana's mixed with marans. just let me know.

 

[Stacykins]

If you aren't against shipping, a few people I know of off the top of my head who have wonderful stock and sell hatching eggs (and chicks I think too) are Lanae of Cash's Blue Eggs, Hink-Jc Mountain Poultry , and Chicken Scratch Poultry. Of those, Hink-JC is closest to you shipping wise, being in PA. Good luck, sorry about your poor little girl and her brood. Hopefully you can take care of the predator and close up where it got in.

Edit: The breeders I listed have tufted, rumpless large fowl araucanas, btw.

 

[suzannaski]

I just finished incubating a batch of cash's. I think the shipping was rough and a lot of the embryos died. One of the chicks did hatch, but then ended up in last night's carnage. I think I'm going to try someplace closer due to the shipping. Nothing against Cash!

 

[dandydoodle]

I think I would make sure that the predator that got in can't get in again before you put someone else in there. I do believe once a predator finds a way in and a free meal they will keep coming back unless you see to it that they can't get in again. Either that or kill or remove the predator. Good luck

 

[suzannaski]

Thanks Dandy (Yankee Doodle Dandy was the name of one of the chicks

)
We put out a trap last night, but whatever it was got the food & tripped the trap without getting caught, and then messed up the room.
No, nothing is going back in there until we catch the predator and make sure there aren't more. I'll be re-checking the fencing around the run.
Whatever it is, it can't be much bigger than a cat to fit under the door.
Any new babies are going in the house with me until they are big enough to live in the coop.

 

[Tootsie]

You need to make it so nothing can get in under the door. Just a tip. Also hardware cloth is best to keep critters out. Trapping one doesn't mean there are not others. You also could trap the wrong critter. Best wishes. Also Berlin doesn't tell us your state so no clue where you are.

 

[suzannaski]

Berlin, ma, not UK. That's why I'm looking for araucanas in new England.
Yeah, thanks, we know there could be more than one or more than one species. That part we've addressed, its finding new araucana hens that is difficult. Wrote to hink jc, haven't heard anything yet.

 

[1 hen and 1 roo]

True Araucana chickens are rare and if you find them they would be from a breeder and be probably costly. Especially since the hatch rates are not good due to the lethal gene.
We have Araucana chickens but no hens we want to get rid of. We do have a cockerel we would prefer to go to a good home but you live to far away to come and get him. He is double tuffed and is a mighty fine bird however his color has red in it so we can't show him as a BBR although he is. We don't really want to eat him but we just have too many roosters.
We will be breeding in late fall of this year. Buying eggs would be a gamble with true Araucana because of the lethal gene. You would want to buy 24 or more eggs just to get a few chicks.
Now, if you buy from a hatchery you will most likely get Easter Eggers and your chances for hatch rates would be normal.
We had one of our Show Ameraucana hens go broody a few months back. We did not have the rooster with them as he was tearing up their backs so my daughter put some OEGB eggs under her and she set them. We had 3 chicks that hatched out of 5 eggs. Two of the eggs got squished by her or another hen trying to lay in the nest when Mom went to get food and water. She is finally back to laying her eggs and not being broody.

Thank goodness.

 

[suzannaski]

Thanks for the info, I was already aware of all that, which is why I'm posting here. I just can't seem to find any araucanas. Well, more correctly, I haven't gotten any replies to emails & calls, so here I am!