Araucana thread anyone?

[nivtup]

So today was the day to get chicks out of the incubator for this week.

13 Whites, some tufting, I saw a tail or two also. One does not look like it will make it.

2 Blues - One double tufted, one looks clean faced. Both rumpless.

2 Blacks - One double tufted, one looks clean faced. Both appear rumpless.

and a few strangers, 3 silkies, all blues, in the mix.


All in all a good start, now we just need to get them to adulthood.

 

[smoothmule]

Nivtup,
Sounds like a great hatch! I'm really liking my whites, I didn't think they would interest me at all. I figured white would be boring but I have a couple that are so pure white they are just beautiful. I have a clean faced/rumpless rooster, a hen the same and another hen that is double tufted and has a few tail feathers. They will be my first breeding group and I may include my black hen with the tufts. I've sold one of my little Serama roosters so I'll have a pen that I can use for them. It's 3 foot by 6 foot so I think one rooster and 3 hens might be okay in it. I need to buy a larger waterer and feeder for these guys if I do it. I just use a rabbit water bottle and small feeders for the Serama's. I already used one of those pens for my young Araucana's as they get old enough to be outside but too young for the regular coop.

I also have a 6 by 10 dog pen that we're not using. I may take it down and move it over by my pens for another breeding pen. I just need to figure out a shelter for them, I have a dog house that might work and I'd need to get some chicken wire to cover the top and buy another large waterer and feeder. If I put the whites and blacks together that would leave the BBR and Duckwings and I could split those into tufted roos over clean faced hens in one pen and clean faced roos with the tufted hens and hope for some decent colors, either closer to standard or way out there cool colors.

Megan and Lanae,
Thank you! Brianna loved all the animals here. The boys weren't interested, but then Tyler is just 8 months old. I was so happy to be able to share this with her and her momma was like a little kid over them too. She was in there every 5 minutes to look when they started to hatch and was as excited as Brianna when it zipped itself out.

 

[puredelite]

Smoothmule, That is great that your little g'daughter was able to see exactly how little chicks come into this world. She will have some stories to share with her little friends back home. My two oldest g'daughters are city girls but love to come to Pawpaw's farm. They keep a constant check on the nest boxes and the eggs don't have a chance to cool before they bring them in the house! Sounds like your DIL was just as fascinated by it all too...

 

[smoothmule]

We have "sunshine!" It's been so chilly, windy and wet the past month I was about to give up on spring. I go back to work Monday so I'm hoping for a gorgeous weekend too. I've been surveying my pens and looking for ways to add a breeding pen here and there. I'm really needing to put some breeding pairs/trio's etc together. They suddenly stopped laying with this last cold snap (low 40's) and such changes in the weather. This weekend will be a good time to just go ahead and set something up. I sold some hatching eggs locally so I can use that money to get more feeders

I gotta plan

 

[cashdl]

I got an email today from a man who bought hatching eggs from me. One chick hatched last sunday and he thought that was it but left the eggs in the incubator and forgot them. 3 more hatched thursday. 2 look to be tufted, with 1 for sure. I always worry when I sell eggs. I know what is hatching here, but shipping is awful. So far everyone has hatched chicks from me. Yippee! He did have 4 that died just before hatch. He ordered more eggs from me this week and I had someone cancel so was able to ship him some out right away. I love happy customers.

Nivtup, congratulations. That is a nice assortment to hatch. Sometimes getting them to hatch is the easiest part. Getting them to adulthood is way harder. Which is unfair because it is so hard to get them to hatch.

Lanae

 

[cashdl]

Illia, or anyone else who would like to hazard a guess, I have what I am hoping is a pullet. I will post a pic of a roo from the same pen same age so you can look at the difference in combs. It coloring is odd.

She has a silver duckwing head, silver duckwing body with red splotches on rump, wings, back, shoulders. The chest is solid red. Please be a pullet because I have two with the same coloration and I love it. I don't need them if they are boys.

Here is the roo chick same age.

I have a younger double tufted version of him, I can't decide if I want to keep or not. If I don't keep him I will sell him as a trio with a cleanfaced blue pullet, and a cleanfaced black pullet. Then watch it turn out to be a pullet once I sell it. ARGH!

Lanae

 

[klf73]

all of the ones I ever hatched that got red were always cockerals

 

[cashdl]

I know red on the shoulders is an indication of cockerel, but she is patchwork all over including her butt fluff. I say her cause I want it to be. Here are a couple new pics from a few minutes ago. She looks like a quilt and her stance is like a hen not a roo.

Lanae

 

[cackleberrycoop]

Quote:
Wow, truly fantastic body shape and you could not have described her better - looks like a quilt. Very intriguing bird. I see girl, and if you hadn't posted the second set of photos then I would have said rooster also because it looked like the typical red shoulders of a boy, but not with the rest of the coloration that we can see in these photos. Really exciting bird.

 

[cashdl]

I am really excited by her also. I have another one that is feathering out exactly like her, with identical body shape. Then I have a 3rd with same body shape but the colors are silver head, peachy salmon on chest and back down to rump, the wings are between a gold duckwing and silver duckwing hen color. Very interesting. I will try to get pics.

I love the patchwork look though. Her face and the look in her eye says girl to me along with the way she carries herself. Roos by her age carry themselves with their head raised up and she is more football shaped with her head out in front of her. Best way I can describe it.

Lanae