Araucana thread anyone?

[smoothmule]

I heard Smoothmule's got the blue blue eggs! Mostly coming out of black Araucanas!

kden, Puhi

I do still have a couple of hens that lay a blue green tinted egg but they are my older hens. Their pullets lay blue. There is a range of blue colors, I prefer a little aqua color because they are usually more deeply colored but most lay a pale sky blue egg

 

[smoothmule]

I do have an extra black cockerel for sale right now, all black, clean faced, rumpless. There are three of them running loose, free ranging since fall. They are about 8 or 9 months old now and no red leakage but I can't guarantee they won't have a bit before they're a year old. They are from black to black breeding this year. $25 plus shipping. I might consider selling him with one of my older black hens that is clean faced/rumpless, won't be past 3 yrs old. They are the hens that have given me such nice chicks this year but the were not all from black to black breeding so they may produce leakage on some chicks or even some chicks that are wild type pattern at hatching.

I have the cockerel listed elsewhere as well and will post here if he sells.

SOLD

 

[smoothmule]

Just wanted to share some photo's taken recently. I'm getting a couple of eggs a day now since I put the lights on a timer. They will kick in soon and I'll start incubating. By spring, I hope to have plenty to sell and hatching eggs.























Better Every Year

 

[sono-chic]

I have a tufted and a non tufted aracuana hens. Will the non tufted pass tufted gene to potentially hatch a tufted chick?

I also have a legbar roo. If bred, will any mixed chicks be tufted?

 

[smoothmule]

I have a tufted and a non tufted aracuana hens. Will the non tufted pass tufted gene to potentially hatch a tufted chick?

I also have a legbar roo. If bred, will any mixed chicks be tufted?

Tufting is a dominant gene, meaning one of the parents must be tufted in order for any chicks to be tufted. There are some that say they crossed non tufted and got tufted but those probably were tufted, just tiny tufts and not placed where tufts usually are so they aren't noticed. The gene for tufting is definitely a lethal gene so that there are no homozygous for the gene and so there are no individuals that will pass the tuft gene 100% of the time. I hope this helps

Crossing a tufted bird to a non tufted, whether or not they are Araucana, can produce tufted chicks. I've actually gotten more tufts in crossbreeds than my pure Araucana's.

 

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha, it's a 50/50 chance in your case.

kden, Puhi

 

[smoothmule]

Aloha, it's a 50/50 chance in your case.

kden, Puhi

This is one of the most asked questions from new breeders, whether it is better to mate tufted to tufted or tufted to clean-faced birds. According to classic genetics, crossing tufted with clean-faced will give you 50% tufted and 50% clean-faced, with none dead in-shell. This cross will give you the greatest number of live chicks. If your goal is to produce the largest percentage of tufted birds and minimize the percentage of undesired clean-faced chicks, then tufted to tufted matings are best. In this case, 50% will still be tufted, 25% will be clean-faced, and 25% will die in-shell because they have two copies of the tufts gene. So even though the percentage of birds that hatch will be 75% tufted and 25% clean-faced. In both cases, you will get the same number of tufted chicks.

I am one of the breeders who uses both, I consider all of the traits I'm working on at that time.....not just to get tufts. It's true that it's the standard but tufts don't make them champions, there are a number of traits that must be correct so a clean faced, otherwise excellent individual is, IMHO, too valuable to waste. You want the total package to be correct. Too many breeders can't get past the tufts. If you can produce the best that are clean faced, then adding tufts (without managing to mess up other traits) will complete the perfect Araucana.

 

[Anniebee]

This is one of the most asked questions from new breeders, whether it is better to mate tufted to tufted or tufted to clean-faced birds. According to classic genetics, crossing tufted with clean-faced will give you 50% tufted and 50% clean-faced, with none dead in-shell. This cross will give you the greatest number of live chicks. If your goal is to produce the largest percentage of tufted birds and minimize the percentage of undesired clean-faced chicks, then tufted to tufted matings are best. In this case, 50% will still be tufted, 25% will be clean-faced, and 25% will die in-shell because they have two copies of the tufts gene. So even though the percentage of birds that hatch will be 75% tufted and 25% clean-faced. In both cases, you will get the same number of tufted chicks.

I am one of the breeders who uses both, I consider all of the traits I'm working on at that time.....not just to get tufts. It's true that it's the standard but tufts don't make them champions, there are a number of traits that must be correct so a clean faced, otherwise excellent individual is, IMHO, too valuable to waste. You want the total package to be correct. Too many breeders can't get past the tufts. If you can produce the best that are clean faced, then adding tufts (without managing to mess up other traits) will complete the perfect Araucana.

Hi Smoothmule .... just wanted to say how absolutely beautiful I think your black Araucana's are. Tufted or not - they are exquisite hens.

May I say "Well done" .... from an almost total novice to a real expert in chicken raising / breeding.

Cheers ...... AB

 

[smoothmule]

Hi Smoothmule .... just wanted to say how absolutely beautiful I think your black Araucana's are. Tufted or not - they are exquisite hens.

May I say "Well done" .... from an almost total novice to a real expert in chicken raising / breeding.

Cheers ...... AB

Thank you Anniebee, I am surely not an expert but I think my background in Nursing and science helps me to make better choices for breeding and I always have this strong urge to figure things out and make them better. Rather than read the latest novels, you can usually catch me reading scientific papers and looking up old poultry books online that are free to download. Without the scientific knowledge to back them up, the old time breeders had to rely on their good eye, instinct and failures as well as successes.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Thank you Anniebee, I am surely not an expert but I think my background in Nursing and science helps me to make better choices for breeding and I always have this strong urge to figure things out and make them better. Rather than read the latest novels, you can usually catch me reading scientific papers and looking up old poultry books online that are free to download. Without the scientific knowledge to back them up, the old time breeders had to rely on their good eye, instinct and failures as well as successes.

I also enjoy reading old poultry books, things about genetics (even if sometimes I can't understand them), and so on. Heres an article you may like. I haven't finished reading it yet. I have read some, not the best article I have ever read, but it is interesting enough.

http://archive.org/stream/BreedingA.../BreedingCullingByHeadPoints#page/n0/mode/1up