Araucana thread anyone?

[cashdl]

And my tan one is starting to get feathers coming out her rear

isn't that a bad thing?

No you cannot show any color unfortunately. It needs to be a color either approved for the araucana by the APA to be shown, or if you want to show them AOV ( All Other Varieties of color) then the color would need to be a recognizable color. The only one that looks like a color is the dark hen. She would be considered a brown red. Does she have tail feathers? If so that is a disqualification. The rooster is too dark to show under the BBR color and the lighter hen is not a Standard of Perfection color for any breed. They are lovely though.

Lanae

 

[jfer]

No you cannot show any color unfortunately.  It needs to be a color either approved for the araucana by the APA to be shown, or if you want to show them AOV ( All Other Varieties of color) then the color would need to be a recognizable color.  The only one that looks like a color is the dark hen.  She would be considered a brown red.  Does she have tail feathers?  If so that is a disqualification.  The rooster is too dark to show under the BBR color and the lighter hen is not a Standard of Perfection color for any breed.  They are lovely though.

Lanae

Thank you!! We love them anyway they keep us in stitches and "Hershey" our Rooster is hilarious. Little bit is the black and gold one and she is my moms favorite but the smallest out of the three. She's not growing like the other two are. And little bit doesn't have tail feathers coming out.

 

[jfer]

Yours are very cute…I am trying to work out how to post my pictures in the comments...

Thank you!!

 

[cashdl]

Thank you!! We love them anyway they keep us in stitches and "Hershey" our Rooster is hilarious. Little bit is the black and gold one and she is my moms favorite but the smallest out of the three. She's not growing like the other two are. And little bit doesn't have tail feathers coming out.

If she doesn't have tail feathers and she has two nice tufts, than she can be shown as long as under variety you put AOV and for color put Brown Red.

They are really quirky creatures.

Lanae

 

[beausonge]

And my tan one is starting to get feathers coming out her rear

isn't that a bad thing?

All of yours are very nice. I have a hen/pullet that is similar to your "tan" one but she is clean faced. She only has that cinnamon color around her head and shoulders and most of her is white. She is the one in my avatar photo.

Vickie et al
Kelso, WA

 

[beausonge]

Hi
This is the first time we have had chickens and we have 2 gorgeous Araucanas 14 weeks old. Once of them is making a quacking noise and we were wondering if this was normal. She seems healthy in every other way.

Thanks

My Araucana rooster makes all sorts of silly noises. I love to talk to him in the morning - he is quite the conversationalist! He is such a pretty boy but unfortunately has a rudimentary tail. Here is a picture of him:





Vickie et al
Kelso, WA.

 

[smoothmule]

All of yours are very nice. I have a hen/pullet that is similar to your "tan" one but she is clean faced. She only has that cinnamon color around her head and shoulders and most of her is white. She is the one in my avatar photo.

Vickie et al
Kelso, WA

White with the red (cinnamon) on the head/neck/chest area is called red pyle, it's usually wheaten plus dominant white genes.

 

[smoothmule]

Just as a note to everyone here, the Araucana is different compared to many of the other breeds. They all have a standard of perfection (SOP) and the Araucana has one as well but the first difference is that there are a lot of non standards (those with tails, partial tails, a few tail feathers and clean faced (no tufts) that are routinely used in the breeding pen by many breeders. The goal, of course, is the standard. How we get there varies but there are few breeds that the breeders use "culls" or non standard dividuals in the breeding pens.

As far as show, I see a lot of people here that are interested in showing their Araucana's and asking about colors. I think that is excellent!!! Lanae said it clearly but I wanted to add some. First off, you'll need to have a copy of the SOP so you can make sure yours does not have any immediate disqualifying faults. No tufts and any bit of tail are a couple of disqualifying faults for showing them, a straight comb would be another. Then, if they don't have any physical faults, the varieties for large fowl and bantam are listed here. http://araucana.net/ click on Araucana Varieties. There is a separate listing for bantam and large fowl and there are more colors (varieties) for bantams, blue being one of them.

So, your Araucana is pretty nice, double tufted/rumpless, a good pea comb, all red ears/wattles, correct color legs for the variety but not any of the colors listed as standard? You can still show AOV (any other variety). That doesn't mean any color, exactly. It means another variety, or color that is recognized in the APA or ABA. So, maybe you have an excellent blue large fowl Araucana? That would be an excellent AOV to show. You should look at the bantam variety to see what they should look like, they should have black legs (still yellow skin/soles of the feet) If there is a name for the color you have, and you can find other breeds in that color then you're good to go but if it's simply a beautiful, mixed up color that no one can describe then you are out of luck for showing but you may have an excellent breeder and may be able to pull out some better chicks to show later when bred correctly!

If there is a tiny bit of red leakage on a solid color, I think that would knock points off but not disqualify.....same with an obvious pattern like duckwing that is correct but not perfect. There are a lot of things that affect points but they can be shown anyway and it can be a lot of fun to show. You learn so much about presentation, preparing for show and all that goes with it. I still have showing on the back burner.

You can get downright brutal going over your own birds and taking them apart and finding faults.............there are few perfect in any breed though so consider breeding to improve each generation, one season at a time. You WILL get there. There are surprisingly few perfect Araucana's. Take your time and breed what "you" like. If you want to breed toward show quality, learn what that means and how to breed to get there. If you love the mixed up colors, well there are many like you. They are still Araucana's and still have the right genes in there so they are never hopeless and someone may see the genes in there that they need for their own flock. They are ALL wonderful

I have been limiting my own flock to black only, I have a few left that I'm selling and I'm sure there will be surprise colors or patterns this year and next as I sort out and breed for better blacks but I Know I have a lot of work to do but I learn more with each generation and my flock improves each year so I have no regrets or complaints. I Love seeing the "other" colors here as well. Such vibrant colors, I wish they were all showable, I know they are showable here so keep posting. They are all appreciated, the top quality showbirds as well as backyard flocks

Edited to add that my chocolate color that I'm working on in my large fowl Araucana's will not qualify even for AOV until chocolate is recognized as a color by the APA. I'm also working on Dun (chocolates and khaki). Dun is accepted so I could probably show in that variety once I have proper type

 

[jfer]

If she doesn't have tail feathers and she has two nice tufts, than she can be shown as long as under variety you put AOV and for color put Brown Red.

They are really quirky creatures.

Lanae

Ok good!! I think her tufts look good. Not sure what they are supposed to look like lol

I'm not sure if you can tell from this pic

 

[poularde]

She is a lovely girl!