Araucana thread anyone?

[laura877]

When do Araucana hen start laying.

 

[smoothmule]

Anytime from 6 months on. I've had some that didn't lay until past a year old

 

[Rumbull]

I want to talk about what aggressive culling can do for you. I am only a beginner myself, so I am not claiming any expertise. I just want to share what I have seen for myself. I was looking through my pictures and have a pretty good pictorial demonstration. As many of you know, I have been working on barred araucana. I inadvertently started the project by first breeding a barred rock/ leghorn cross to get a barred bird that laid white eggs. I felt it would be a great way to add barring without making green eggs. So as you can imagine, the cross gave me white earlobes and a massive single comb.
My culling has been focused on improving the comb, wattles and earlobes while maintaining the barring. Each successive cross has been made back to full blood araucana with the tightest comb and red earlobes.
This roo is an early cross. You can see the modified pea/straight comb and white earlobes.


This next roo is much improved with tighter comb and less white on the earlobes.

I have just been culling down to this year’s roo candidates who will go on for the next generation. I read a comment, (don’t remember where) about people breeding tufts with chickens attached. This rang true to me last week. I had a boy that had amazing full balanced tufts that fan out a mile on either side of his head. Unfortunately he had lots of gold/red leakage on his neck and shoulders and white earlobes. When I first noticed his shoulders, I wanted to believe that he had sat under the roost and was just dirty. I knew he needed to be culled for a long time but the tufts tempted me to use him for breeding. Alas I kept to my criteria and he is gone. This is an early pic of him. You can just begin to see the leakage if you look close.


I have two nearly identical roos that I will continue to let develop. Their combs and wattles are still developing. I won’t truly know how close I am to reaching the correct look for several months. You can see a much tighter comb and hardly any white on the earlobes.




This shows a great contrast from where I started to today. The great grandmother with her straight comb, next to this year’s offspring.

I still have work to do but with being very selective is paying off.

 

[KirstenJL]

Wow, those are fantastic! How long of a time frame was involved?

Kirsten

 

[yanmar1610d]

How many times will you have to cross to get what you are looking for?

 

[Kassaundra]

I have a question about the comment of the barred gene blocking color to the legs. I don't know anything much about genetics and don't really understand the posts that have a lot of na+ Na nA stuff in them (those were just examples don't know if those particular genes exist) but I had a couple of barred NN some w/ yellow legs and a few w/ yellow legs w/ slate patches, like the barred pattern on the feathers just on the leg scales is that the same thing you guys are talking about???? I don't have any of them anymore, for some reason all the males in that batch have died as young almost adults or older teens. The females in the same batch are doing very well. (this was not a batch I hatched out)


I went to see if I had any pics of this, I don't have many that show the legs very well, this one shows some of what I am talking about, this pic was when they were much younger as they aged the markings on the legs got more pronounced and larger.

 

[smoothmule]

Way to go Rumbull

I love how everyone shares here, we all learn from each other and that can only strengthen this breed.

Your illustration of your project's progression and your rationale for how you brought this variety up to standard is terrific!

 

[nicalandia]

Way to go Rumbull

I love how everyone shares here, we all learn from each other and that can only strengthen this breed.

Your illustration of your project's progression and your rationale for how you brought this variety up to standard is terrific!

Smooth now we need to get the black shanks in them... its doable

 

[Puddin Fluff]

When do Araucana hen start laying.

My girl just started at 20 weeks. Her eggs are smaller than the ones I remember putting in the incubator. I am wondering if they will get larger as she matures?

 

[Rumbull]

I have a question about the comment of the barred gene blocking color to the legs. I don't know anything much about genetics and don't really understand the posts that have a lot of na+ Na nA stuff in them (those were just examples don't know if those particular genes exist) but I had a couple of barred NN some w/ yellow legs and a few w/ yellow legs w/ slate patches, like the barred pattern on the feathers just on the leg scales is that the same thing you guys are talking about???? I don't have any of them anymore, for some reason all the males in that batch have died as young almost adults or older teens. The females in the same batch are doing very well. (this was not a batch I hatched out)


I went to see if I had any pics of this, I don't have many that show the legs very well, this one shows some of what I am talking about, this pic was when they were much younger as they aged the markings on the legs got more pronounced and larger.

Yes. Without the barring gene the same bird would most likely have dark legs. Because this type of barring is sex linked, when my barred hens are crossed back to a black male, the pullet chicks are black with very dark legs, face and beak. The boys are barred and have red faces, light beaks and yellow legs with some dark pigment on the front of their shins. With out barring, they would also be black like their sisters with dark shanks, faces and beaks.

I had read that it is impossible to have barring and dark shanks from several sources. Example from this site;
Quote:
"Originally Posted by tadkerson

I know that sex linked dermal melanin is about 14 centiMorgans from the barring locus. A bird will not always inherit the inhibitor with the barring gene. There is too much distance between the two loci : barring and dermal melanin inhibitor. It is the barring gene that is causing the inhibition of the pigment to the epidermis by the extended black locus not the sex linked dermal melanin inhibitor gene.

Your idea is good but with 14 centimorgans between the two loci- there would be barred birds showing up with black/slate legs and that does not happen. The pigment inhibited is also due to the extended black gene. The dermal melanin inhibitor gene does not inhibit the pigment added by the extended black allele. Dermal melainin inhibitor only works on pigment in the dermis and not the epidermis. Extended black adds pigment to the epidermis- the barring gene removes this pigment also- this pigment is not involved with the dermal melanin gene.

Tim"



I will continue to breed some barred back to black in an attempt to get that rare bird with barring without the pigment inhibitor.
(Don't mention this on the Ameracauna thread, seems to be a lot of ruffled feathers regarding the impossibility of this over there)