Araucana thread anyone?

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@n8ivetxn

OH you have blue Araucanas? I did not know that! <3

 

[n8ivetxn]

LOL, yes, I have a little blue pullet, she does have just a little lacing.... and I have a blue pullet with some gold in her hackles and lots of lacing on her body - she's very pretty

.... I lost one, not sure if it was cock or pullet. I found him lying on the ground, just outside the coop one morning. No apparent injuries

Those are the only 2 pullets I have! LOL... Along with my 6 Araucana roos!

.... I'll be building another run in the spring to separate some of them out and give the girls a break on occasion... I feel sure they'll need it

 

[LluviaChic77]

Apparently, I can't count. I have 7 araucana eggs in the incubator and one cream legbar. 5 araucana have hatched. 4 are black and 1 white. The black ones look like they silver hair mixed thru-out the black. It's hard to tell exactly they are still in the bator. The last two araucana haven't pipped.

That's a pretty great hatch with shipped araucana eggs! Congratulations! Hope all the new babies are doing well!

 

[LluviaChic77]

LOL, yes, I have a little blue pullet, she does have just a little lacing.... and I have a blue pullet with some gold in her hackles and lots of lacing on her body - she's very pretty .... I lost one, not sure if it was cock or pullet. I found him lying on the ground, just outside the coop one morning. No apparent injuries

Those are the only 2 pullets I have! LOL... Along with my 6 Araucana roos! .... I'll be building another run in the spring to separate some of them out and give the girls a break on occasion... I feel sure they'll need it

Love the pics! Blue is one of my favorite colors!

 

[n8ivetxn]

Thanks! She's a little more social toward me, than the other pullet.... I used to like blue quite a bit, but in recent months I've grown to like the natural wild type pattern, and I've seen some straight red colored Araucanas that were nice.... Edd Sheppard has some that he's bred, they are a gorgeous Palomino Duckwing. I think they're very nice

 

[n8ivetxn]

She just can't figure out those funny birds

It happens every time I set down a stack of hay - they run over and start picking it apart

 

[ForrestGump]

I've wanted Araucanas for a while and I just couldn't wait any longer, so I thought, they can't be that much different than any other eggs....well, I think just shipped eggs in general are a bad start. Yes, I got 2 sets of eggs off ebay, Gary Ramey and Tammy Thomson, both sets were wrapped nicely and had good reviews posted. The other set, I ordered directly from the breeder, Edd Sheppard.

I want some Cash Duckwings!!! I've been meaning to email her, but I thought I'd wait a minute and see how these chicks turn out first....

You're correct, for $400 I could've gotten 4 or 5 really nice birds to start with, oh well, hindsight..... I just couldn't wait, you know how it is

In regards to the lower humidity, after reading posts on the hatching thread, it seemed to me the best way to hatch would be the "dry method" where you start with a low humidity, to help draw down moisture in the eggs. People seem to have much better hatch rates using dry method. You just start out with humidity between 25 - 35% and then bump it up to about 65 or more on day 18....but, in any case, watch the air sac development (when candling) and adjust your humidity as needed...

It really bothers me to read stories like this.

I too bought shipped eggs from a well known breeder and had a very low hatch rate. The eggs were shipped late, and I was given a bogus tracking number so I had no idea where the eggs were or when they would arrive. The eggs were well packed, but not very many of them were fertile. When confronted, the breeder told me that anything higher than 10% fertility should be considered lucky. On top of that I was told the breeder does not know how to check for fertility and never checks eggs from the flock. There is no way someone can breed birds for years and not know how to check for fertility.

In any event, I hatched 8 out of 11 fertile eggs I had. The chicks were not good quality. Two had to be culled right away because they had problems. I grew out the other six. Some of them had nice tufts, but they all had tails so I ended up getting rid of them. I was totally deceived and no longer have any intentions of keeping Araucanas after this experience.

Unfortunately I did have to keep one pullet because she has a throat mutation and does not eat well. She has to be separated from the flock twice a day to be fed mash. I know now that she should have been culled, but she's such a sweetheart that I can't bring myself to do it. If you go out in the yard and call her name, she will fly from where ever she is in the yard and land on your arm. She's adorable! I have to trim her tufts because they get in her food and they make a mess. She's so tiny that I doubt she'll ever lay eggs, but if I'd never incubate them in order to avoid passing on bad genetics.

 

[Ravynscroft]

It really bothers me to read stories like this.     I too bought shipped eggs from a well known breeder and had a very low hatch rate.  The eggs were shipped late, and I was given a bogus tracking number so I had no idea where the eggs were or when they would arrive.  The eggs were well packed, but not very many of them were fertile.  When confronted, the breeder told me that anything higher than 10% fertility should be considered lucky. On top of that I was told the breeder does not know how to check for fertility and never checks eggs from the flock.  There is no way someone can breed birds for years and not know how to check for fertility.  

In any event, I hatched 8 out of 11 fertile eggs I had.  The chicks were not good quality.  Two had to be culled right away because they had problems.  I grew out the other six.  Some of them had nice tufts, but they all had tails so I ended up getting rid of them.  I was totally deceived and no longer have any intentions of keeping Araucanas after this experience.  

Unfortunately I did have to keep one pullet because she has a throat mutation and does not eat well.  She has to be separated from the flock twice a day to be fed mash.  I know now that she should have been culled, but she's such a sweetheart that I can't bring myself to do it.  If you go out in the yard and call her name, she will fly from where ever she is in the yard and land on your arm.   She's adorable!  I have to trim her tufts because they get in her food and they make a mess.   She's so tiny that I doubt she'll ever lay eggs, but if I'd never incubate them  in order to avoid passing on bad genetics. 

And it's posts like this that discourages breeders from even offering hatching eggs...

Ask any breeder and they will advise buying started stock, adults or even chicks, not eggs... especially shipped...

Using hearsay as a basis of condemnation is not fair in any way... Araucanas tend to have fertility issues... some breeders trim fluff around the vents, but some do not... by definition the breed must be able to reproduce naturally... so ones who follow that rule strictly may have lower fertility rates no matter what...

Shipping causes much damage to an egg, more than we will ever see, above and beyond a 'detached' air cell... incubation temps also play a huge factor in proper development... immediate blame towards a breeder for genetic issues is just uncalled for... no, those should never be bred in case it is a genetic line issue, but that is to err on the side of safety towards passing it on...

Having 8 hatch out of a total 11 that developed is actually amazing odds... a typo on tracking number could be purely accidental, and most likely was... delay in shipping, well, chickens aren't machines... eggs get broken, things do happen... packed great... well, that's the most important detail, because no matter how fertile an egg is, it sure isn't going to hatch if it's broken during shipping...

My point is, judging and condemning in such a broad spectrum in such a narrow view is unjustified... eggs are a cheap way for someone to gamble on getting a couple of chicks of a breed they want... if you are serious about a breed, want quality, and want to breed, then source your stock... wait for what you want to be available and acquire started birds so you get exactly what you are looking for...

Plain and simple...

 

[ForrestGump]

And it's posts like this that discourages breeders from even offering hatching eggs...

Ask any breeder and they will advise buying started stock, adults or even chicks, not eggs... especially shipped...

Using hearsay as a basis of condemnation is not fair in any way... Araucanas tend to have fertility issues... some breeders trim fluff around the vents, but some do not... by definition the breed must be able to reproduce naturally... so ones who follow that rule strictly may have lower fertility rates no matter what...

Shipping causes much damage to an egg, more than we will ever see, above and beyond a 'detached' air cell... incubation temps also play a huge factor in proper development... immediate blame towards a breeder for genetic issues is just uncalled for... no, those should never be bred in case it is a genetic line issue, but that is to err on the side of safety towards passing it on...

Having 8 hatch out of a total 11 that developed is actually amazing odds... a typo on tracking number could be purely accidental, and most likely was... delay in shipping, well, chickens aren't machines... eggs get broken, things do happen... packed great... well, that's the most important detail, because no matter how fertile an egg is, it sure isn't going to hatch if it's broken during shipping...

My point is, judging and condemning in such a broad spectrum in such a narrow view is unjustified... eggs are a cheap way for someone to gamble on getting a couple of chicks of a breed they want... if you are serious about a breed, want quality, and want to breed, then source your stock... wait for what you want to be available and acquire started birds so you get exactly what you are looking for...

Plain and simple...

I totally understand your feelings on the issue. However, the information came directly from the breeder - doesn't check fertility, doesn't clip feathers, 10% is accepted fertility rate, etc. I can copy you an e-mail if you don't believe me.

I have amazing hatch rates in my incubator. Local eggs are 90 - 100% and shipped eggs are around 50%. Buying shipped eggs is always a gamble, but paying a large sum of money for tailed stock and then being shipped mostly infertile eggs is totally unacceptable. Even more unfortunate is that the eggs came from a respected breeder and this seems to be an accepted norm with the breed. I love all my birds, but the ameraucanas are way better layers and don't come with the health problems.

My point is that owning birds should be a joyful experience. There are ever increasing stories about people spending a lot of money on Araucana eggs and not getting any quality chicks, or any chicks at all. This is not fun! Sure there is always human error, but I rarely hear about this happening with other breeds. It just makes breeders look dishonest.

Thank you for your input.

I always value what you have to say.

 

[chickengr]

when I crack araucana eggs I can see bull's eye. but when I tried to hatch some (araucana/bcm roo) none hatched. the hen is blind (1 eye) so I wonder if there is something she passed to the eggs.