Araucana thread anyone?

[cottagechick]

I have some girls that are around 6 months. Do Araucanas have the whole red comb thing going on when they get ready to lay...? Haven't seen any squatting or noticeable red...

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Yep.

Mine are usually early layers but I'm sure different strains differ.


Pea combs in Araucanas are harder to notice a reddening difference though. I often just simply wait for squatting or for the pullet to start checkin' out the nesting boxes.

 

[cackleberrycoop]

Quote:
I dreamed last night that you sent me two of the most vibrantly colored red breasted blue Araucanas - a roo and a hen. Both sporting outlandish tufts - enormous and waving around their heads, practically glowing red and blue. When I opened up the box to let them out, baby Araucanas began jumping out and were running all over the place; a fountain of chicks overflowing the box.

It was a nice dream. I was sorry to have to wake up

I agree about the weather throwing off the flock. I know we live in very different states, but it's the same crazy swings in the atmosphere. I'm happy to hear that they are coming out of their molt - I hope that they have enough feathers to deal with the cold. My flock is in a hard molt, just in time for the frigid temps, which worries me. I'll be keeping an obsessively close eye on these guys from you through out the winter.

My husband really is the best. I stumbled into a 12x60 foot mobile home being given away because the inside was trashed by renters. The exterior is in excellent shape, but the inside is totally destroyed; so naturally I saw the thing and thought - CHICKEN COOP! Instead of telling me that I had at last crashed over the edge of insanity, my husband said "If this means that i don't have to build you a new coop every week, then I'm all for it." Can you imagine! He's pulling the skirting and getting it ready to move as we speak. The thing is insulated, has windows, electricity, so putting the birds on lights will be a piece of cake. It's as predator proof as they come. i can have brooder rooms, all the feed and straw stored in the back room......
I have the permit pulled and the mover scheduled. This is going to be a good winter for my critters!

 

[msf]

Here is one of my standard ameraucans born in may

michael
"le Grand Habitant"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=100816

 

[cackleberrycoop]

Beautiful bird Michael. I do so love the face puff of a nice beard and muff. You have a lovely Ameraucana there, or perhaps Easter Egger (depending on whether or not he conforms to one of the 8 accepted color patterns of the Ameraucana breed).
This is the Araucana thread, which is a distinct breed of chicken from the Ameraucana. The Araucana's standard is different; we try to breed for rumples and tufted birds. Here's an example:

She how her tufts are different from your bird's muff and beard? Also note that she has no tail! Both breeds are supposed to lay a blue egg, and that's pretty much the only similarity between the two, but the big hatcheries insist on confusing the two breeds, or crosses, and tend to call anything that they can get away with Ameraucanas or Araucanas.

 

[cashdl]

Megan,

Nope, no blue and red here. I sold my last blue and gold roo a couple of weeks ago. Wait! I take that back. I do have a gorgeous blue and red roo you can have if you want. He is clean faced and rumpless. The blues you are getting and the 3 I am keeping are all nice blue with no bleed thru. FINALLY! I had in the beginning bred my double tufted splash hen to my duckwing roo - just because. All the hens were nice and blue, and the roos were blue and gold or blue and red.



I was planning on taking pics today and I can't find the camera. Hopefully tomorrow.

Lanae

 

[Illia]

msf - That's not an Araucana, sorry.



Update on my youngest Araucanas

A nice little trio from my Marango x silver duckwing hen. Pale golden duckwing male at top, a blue-gold female, and a BBR/gold female. The chick on the right is 1/2 Araucana, proof that the willow legs of Araucanas is recessive.

The trio again, notice how simple blue can dilute the gold of a duckwing.

Still a tad fuzzy on the gender of this one. Either it's a poorly colored Silver Duckwing male or a nice Silver Duckwing pullet. Either way its tailed and going. This is a Josephine baby.

A bilaterally tufted chick from the Silver's eggs. This one, like its hatch-mate, is severely stunted in growth. Born over a month ago and is the size of my 2 week old chicks.

The hatch-mate, also bilaterally tufted. A HUGE bummer and I hope they grow!!!

 

[cashdl]

Illia,

Do you think this is a pullet or roo. It is almost 4 months old, no comb, but red in the face. I am hoping for Roo.

Here is one of my duckwing roos. He is cleanfaced, which is good because I have 3 tufted pullets to put with him. In the background you can almost see two of my duckwing pullets and a tufted barred pullet.

Here is a double tufted silver pullet ( I think ) . Her hatch mate behind her has really really nice tufts and a definate comb. Her tufts are in the quill stage and I have high hopes for them.

Here is a barred splash pullet with beautiful tufts. She moves too much for me to get a decent photo. Maybe tomorrow.

I am charging my camera now that I found it, and hope the weathers holds tomorrow and I can get a good pic or two.

Lanae

 

[Illia]

Lanae - The blue cuckoo looks like a girl.


Love the duckwing boy, sans the white on the breast. Love the silver girl behind the main one in the photo - She's got a nice breast coloration!

The splash cuckoo has nice tufts indeed!


I'm still not very successful with my Cuckoos. My gorgeous tufted splash girl finished molting at least a month ago and is either laying elsewhere or just doesn't want to lay. My normally reliable blue cuckoo girl has been feeling down and blue for weeks now, hasn't laid any eggs for a while, and before that I got 0% fertility from her.

 

[cashdl]

Which pic are you talking about with the silver girl? I hope you are wrong on the barred chick. I sold my definate barred roo. Same color but tufted.

Lanae