APA bantam araucana?

kari_dawn

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I got this girl the other day. She is supposed to be a blue (dosnt look like the blues I have seen, looks like a faded black, or very dark blue) true APA araucana. She is two months old, and appears to be bantam sized. I don't care if she is show quality or any of that, chances are, if she is a true araucana, I may have been lucky just to stumble across her...

what do you all think? araucana or mutt?

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I have an Amerauacana like that (only she has a tail, muffs and bear)

Not blue, not quite black. I don't know what to call it.
 
she does have tufts on both sides of her head, and no tail, but other than that, I am not too sure. I can try to get better pictures of her if it will help. I do have an easter egger that has muffs, a beard, and a tail, and three babies that are supposed to be the same, but she dosnt look like that.
 
There are two kinds of blue. Self blue which is a lighter blue, even colored throughout the body without lacing on the feathers. Then there's Andalusian blue which is a much darker blue, at times a blue black almost, with usually distinct lacing on the feathers. Often times, the hackles will be darker than the rest of the body. You have an andalusian blue variety in a very dark form without much lacing (may come with a molt).

Edited to mention that the first photo looks like it could be a cockerel as pink as it is in the comb already.
 
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Thanks for the information. I have always loved the breed, but have never gotten my hands on one. She is only two months old. Do you think the lacing will come with age?
 
I dont know that this is true in all breeds but in a true black cochin there will be a green sheen on the feathers in sunlight, like I said not sure if this is true in all breeds or not?
 
The standard for araucana is rumpless and tufted. They are a bantam sized breed, so that is their standard. As for the rumpless and tufted, you can have a pure araucana that has neither, both or only 1 of those characteristics. However, if they are truly bred they can produce offspring that can throw any of the possible characteristics. The tufted gene is lethal in embryo if received from both parents, hatch rates are affected b/c the chicks will make it to pip and even hatch and then die (some die just before pipping), so I understand it is not wise to breed two tufted parents. More on tufts, they can not only have 0 or 2, but can also have just 1 sticking out of one side of their head. Right now I have a rumpless rooster, a duckwing pullet with tail & no tufts and a rumpless blue (light blue) that we're waiting to express its gender.
Are you sure you're new chick has tufts vs a muff? Just curious.
You're chick, however looks rumpless. If its not it will have at least a little nub. The rumpless ones don't even possess the bone structure to support a tail and may get a feather or two (my roo has 2 feathers that hang down from where his rump should be). They are hard to sex b/c roosters typically develop tail feathers very slowly, so unless it has a well colored comb at a young age they can be hard to sex until they get all their feathers in and start showing secondary sex characteristics.
 
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This thread is 4 years old, you'd be better off starting your own. But yes, that does look like a cockerel.
 

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