Araucana thread anyone?

[Stacykins]

I will be thinning the flock a bit tomorrow. Waaaay too many cockerels. It'll be the tailed and/or cleanfaced ones, not any with tufts and rumplessness. Sure will reduce feed costs aaaand fill the freezer with fresh chicken.

 

[Illia]

And here I'm trying to expand my flock.

I've got several chicks now, 4/8 are tufted and rumpless. Only 1 is tailed, really. 2 of my tufted little 'uns are perfect, too. Bilateral and big. One has perfectly upward curling tufts, the other has HUGE but possibly slightly saggy tufts. Both will end up looking like daddy (Blue Golden Quail in color)

My other two tufted ones are straight-up duckwing, one Silver and one possibly BBR. Hopefully one of them is a boy.

 

[TK Poultry]

Are there any Bantam Araucana breeders in or around Indiana..... I've always been curious about these guys. I've had Ameraucanas forever so I thought it was only natural to own some Araucanas.

 

[cashdl]

Last weekend I hatched 4 chicks 3 have huge tufts and one is cleanfaced, all appear to be rumpless. This weekend so far 3 chicks and all cleanfaced with one tailed. I definately like last weeks results a whole lot better. LOL!

So, I had a great time at the poultry show. My double tufted white roo didn't place, he was very rusty looking even though I washed him. He was almost red before I gave him a bath. My birchen roo placed but Walt wanted to make sure I wouldn't get my head in the clouds over it cause he still had faults and was a little brassy also, not to mention the AOV color. I assured Walt ( the judge ) I wouldn't get a big head over it. It was nice to have taken two georgous Araucanas to show people. There were alot of people excited to see a real Araucana in person. My mean roo was a perfect gentleman and angel the whole time at the show. The second we got home he because mean again. So I have him in a cage all by himself to give him time to think about it.

I took 17 baby chicks, two breeding pairs and 1 blue/gold roo with amazing tufts. I sold all of them. Then I bought a pair of speckled sussexs. I love their coloring. Now if I can improve their size, I will have the start of a nice meat bird pen that looks pretty too.


I am happy to report that I have 4 double tufted duckwing pullets with decent coloring and one cleanfaced one. I have a neat looking duckwing roo that is cleanfaced. He has alot of royal blue in his wings and light gold saddle and hackle. I am loving his color. He also has a nice wide chest and good sized neck and head. I am slowly working toward a beefy-ier looking araucana. Trying to make mine really dual purpose.

I had a nice tufted cuckoo roo chick that I was considering keeping but sold him in favor of keeping a cleanfaced cuckoo chick with darker coloring. I have a couple of tufted cuckoo pullets to go with him and he has a nicer shape anyway.

I am still hatching alot of blues, darn it all. I have a beautiful double tufted blue pullet, wish she was a different color. I may change my mind by the time she is grown up. Maybe by then I will be hatching so many duckwings I will be tired of them.
I hatched a double tufted white pullet last weekend. When she is old enough she will go in a pen with my white roo.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Lanae

 

[Rumbull]

Nothing but rain, rain and more rain this weekend. We needed it. Good weekend to be a duck!
I did make a nice discovery. The farm store had these little LED flashlights at the check out counter for $2.99. They are only about 3 inches long but have about 10 LED lights. Brought it home and held it up to the araucana eggs and it shines right through them like a Champ! The great thing about them is that they don't produce heat like a normal bulb. If you run across one, I highly recommend it!

 

[cashdl]

I check over at ebay every so often to see who has Araucana hatching eggs on there. Gary does of course. GO GARY! There was someone else listed that I hadn't noticed before. They say that their roosters are not tufted because it is a lethal gene but it can carry to the offspring. HMM! Are they implying that a non tufted bird can pass on tufts to its offspring? I love dis-information like that. So many people will read that and believe they should get tufted chicks with non tufted parents.

Lanae

 

[Illia]

Oh geez, I've seen several auctions like that. It's like people who think a black bird from blue matings still can pass on the blue gene.

 

[Stacykins]

Quote:
I guess we'd have to ask to be sure, but I saw that listing too. It read like they have untufted roosters, but that the hens (ALL of them!?) are tufted. At least that is what I thought when I read it.

 

[cashdl]

Under birds for sale 8 weeks and older is a stunning trio of Araucana bantam pick up only in MA/RI. I would love to have them if they were large fowl. The colors of the hens is awesome.


Lanae

 

[ndoles]

On another note..My hatching eggs from Beth G. (10), 7 out of the 10 are growing, and all 4 of my ameraucana eggs from my chickens are growing...

If all of the viable ones hatch, that should give me a great starter flock! This is the best I have ever had as far as how many grow..
I can hardly wait to see how many actually hatch, and what they look like..hoping for tufts, of course..

Keep your fingers crossed for a great hatch..

Norma