Araucana thread anyone?

[smoothmule]

The cool thing about Columbo's crazy colors is that there is actually a pattern there, it's identical right and left.

Here is Columbo with Deja, does she look like a pullet to you all?

Here is Deja with Lucy

And more of Lucy

And Lucy showing the blue in her wings in a bit of an awkward spot

 

[smoothmule]

I also have eggs in the incubator to hatch in a few more days out of the Utterbeck lines. I'm very excited to add another breeders lines to my flock. I have several looking good so that means there will be several for sale later on.

 

[Anne]

Columbo and Deja are both Golden Duckwing cockerels. Their current color pattern (or lack thereof) is juvenile plumage. You'll see the adult pattern start to emerge within the next couple months -- cream colored hackle & saddle, cream and/or red shoulder (probably more red by the looks of it), dark wing bar, and cream colored wing tips.

 

[smoothmule]

Anne,
Thanks so much! They are both for sale then. Do you agree that Lucy is a pullet? I'm hoping for a pullet and her comb is much smaller and paler.
Columbo is so striking. I love the juvenile feathering on these guys. If he was tufted, he would be staying but I've got 2 tufted chicks, one is black, that I plan to keep and hoping for the black to be a cockerel. If anyone is looking for a really nice sized rooster, Columbo is already pretty heavy for just two and a half months old and his legs are massive and deep, deep yellow.

Are the duckwing cockerels that much different than the pullets then? I should have been able to tell the sex at a month old then.

Cathy

 

[Anne]

Hi there,

My bet would be that Lucy is a pullet.

Duckwing cockerels are completely different in color than pullets. Often (though not always) you can tell the difference at hatching -- the males usually have very distinct striping (most commonly yellow down with black stripes) whereas striping on the females tends to be more muted and their down often carries gray and red tones.

At 1-2 months as they start to feather in, females are usually gray mottled with white-and- red breasts, whereas the males are mostly black with multi-colored mottling. Both sexes come into their adult plumage at around 5 months.

As a note, duckwings are supposed to have willow (green) legs like Lucy does. You may want to advise your buyer that these cockerels should be bred with willow-legged (or, as a last resort, slate-legged) females for the possibility of willow legs in the offspring.

 

[smoothmule]

Anne,
Good to know, I'll definitely do that.
What would you recommend Lucy be crossed to, in the absence of a red rooster. She's clean faced so I have limited options. My first thought was Rudy. He's got so much red already and may even be her dad but with the blue wings, I'm not sure at all. I wouldn't mind trying for more reds and these would be clean faced but I can always watch for a suitable tufted mate later for any clean faced reds and Lucy has green legs. I also have a white rooster that has beautiful willow legs. Her legs are darker, more green than his willow.

I guess I could keep Columbo for Fawn, my white tufted hen. She's very nice other than she's smallish but she has beautiful willow legs and I wouldn't mind some more whites, especially if they are built as nice as Columbo. A white, tufted rooster would cross well then with my other 2 white pullets who are clean faced and rumpless and a Tufted pullet from that cross could go with my white, clean faced/rumpless rooster that also has gorgeous willow legs.

 

[Illia]

So my ever-so naughty Marango and Cookies'n'Cream (the weird looking but substantial cuckoo guy) decided yesterday that fighting is awesome. They were all out battling over and over, up to the point where the blue cuckoo guy had a bloodied half of his face, his tuft was torn out, and his neck was kind of sticky w/dried blood. It was bad, but the worst part was catching him to bring him in for a clean-up.

So, after finally getting both boys, I fastened little "spur caps" to their spurs so that their fights happen less often, are more work to do, and do not involve hurting each other or themselves with their spurs. The only problem is that Marango has a taste for fighting like an Oriental Gamefowl - It's all about the head and beak.


After putting little spur boot/caps on them, I decided it is time to permanently separate the Araucana boys. I built a quick, easy little bachelor's coop/mini-shed from pallets, a small 10x10 run, and have yet to toss them in it, but will when I have the time to watch over them. I know they'll fight again but at least they'll leave my Buff Ameraucana cockerel alone now and get over each other. . . My Polish boys did, so they should.

Anyway, does anyone here have, breed, or know someone else who breeds RED Araucanas? I've already contacted Ann Charles, and she only does them ooh every other year.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Hi All,

Been sidelined recovering from some painful ortho surgery but have been reading your great posts. I've got some broodies going and am filling the incubator today. Mostly with buff leghorns but there will be some araucanas and some olive egger hopefulls. My broodies are setting on a combo of chicken and duck eggs. So far, so good even though it is still deep winter weather here.

My time off work recovering has lead me to discover one of my blue pullets lays an awesome dark blue egg. Woo hoo! I hope I get some tufted babies from her. She's clean faced but has a classic araucana rumpless body. She has good blue lacing too.

 

[smoothmule]

Anne,
Hope you're feeling better, I just had surgery Thursday so I'm not real perky yet either. My husband can water and all but I still make it out to check on them and took photo's yesterday. Mine was cystocele/rectocele repair and more. It's more uncomfortable to sit at the desk here than out walking so I've been just peeking in occasionally. I'm looking and thinking about which ones to pen together and how to set up my breeding pens. How small a pen can a trio be comfortable in? I'm off the entire month of April, plus some so there's a lot of thinking going on here that will probably get me into trouble,

Illia,
Every rooster here, and I have several, do great together but Degas and Rudy. They hate each other. Spurs don't seem to be an issue, they bit each other in the face and comb etc and bloody up so I just leave one out to free range in the yard and around the barn. They are both excellent foragers and stay close to the coop. I was successful at getting them to live together, just briefly, this winter when the temps were 13 below and they were not interested in fighting. I thought they have finally worked it out but as soon as it warmed up, so did their tempers with each other. Neither is a problem with the other roosters. I can step in when they are in the middle of battle and just pick one of them up to stop it. I hold the one firmly and tell him it's okay but they need to stop fighting and they are panting and looking at me like "let me at em!" SO, they get to share time in the coop with the hens.

 

[cmsdvm]

I had so much fun doing my website that I just did one for Steve Waters. Mostly, I was able to cut and paste things he'd already published on the Araucana Forum.
www.swaraucana.com