Araucana thread anyone?

[chickengr]

my cockerel is clean faced and my hen has huge tufts. what can I expect from the chicks?

 

[Trish1974]

my cockerel is clean faced and my hen has huge tufts. what can I expect from the chicks?

Hard to say. From what I've heard from breeders is you never know what your gonna get when it comes to tufts.

 

[chickengr]

Hard to say. From what I've heard from breeders is you never know what your gonna get when it comes to tufts.

than I will let you know when I hatch chicks.

 

[Trish1974]

Got some pics of the boys today. They are about 21/22 weeks now. They are still in their awkward stage and a little gangly. Worse of all, they are picking out each others tufts.

My definite keeper, Buck. He's a a clean faced black. He has really good body shape and type, and I LOVE his head and tight comb. He has nice black legs. His only downfall is some gold leakage in his saddle feathers.

This is Manolito. He was my favorite from the start. Technically he is a black mottled, but has lost most of his mottling with age. He is double tufted. When he has tufts, he has a very large back flowing mottled tuft on the right and a very small but mottled tipped tuft on the left. His downfalls: that comb! Ick! It's always been big and I'm afraid its going to be big and floppy at maturity. Even though comb is only worth 5 points in a show, a big floppy comb on an Araucana is one of my biggest pet peeves! (As is a tail or partial tail.) His wattles may end up to large as well. Also his legs aren't black all the way around. The backs show a lot of yellow.

That hideous comb:

Buck and Manolito:

Finally there is the cockerel I call Double Tufts. When I first purchased the chicks I thought he was the only male that was double tufted. His tufts are not as nice as Manolito's. His right side is medium length and sparse, his left is barely there. I'm uncertain of his body type and length; hence my need for a SOP book. He has A LOT of gold leakage in his saddle feathers. Enough to turn me off. But as he grows I like his head, he has good leg color and is the biggest of the cockerels.

His leakage:

Sorry about the bad picture quality; my phone sucks in that department. I am open to any criticisms and critiques on these birds!

 

[chickengr]

Got some pics of the boys today. They are about 21/22 weeks now. They are still in their awkward stage and a little gangly. Worse of all, they are picking out each others tufts.

My definite keeper, Buck. He's a a clean faced black. He has really good body shape and type, and I LOVE his head and tight comb. He has nice black legs. His only downfall is some gold leakage in his saddle feathers.
View attachment 1644200
View attachment 1644201 View attachment 1644204

This is Manolito. He was my favorite from the start. Technically he is a black mottled, but has lost most of his mottling with age. He is double tufted. When he has tufts, he has a very large back flowing mottled tuft on the right and a very small but mottled tipped tuft on the left. His downfalls: that comb! Ick! It's always been big and I'm afraid its going to be big and floppy at maturity. Even though comb is only worth 5 points in a show, a big floppy comb on an Araucana is one of my biggest pet peeves! (As is a tail or partial tail.) His wattles may end up to large as well. Also his legs aren't black all the way around. The backs show a lot of yellow.
View attachment 1644215
View attachment 1644226 View attachment 1644227
View attachment 1644228
That hideous comb:
View attachment 1644229
Buck and Manolito:
View attachment 1644230

Finally there is the cockerel I call Double Tufts. When I first purchased the chicks I thought he was the only male that was double tufted. His tufts are not as nice as Manolito's. His right side is medium length and sparse, his left is barely there. I'm uncertain of his body type and length; hence my need for a SOP book. He has A LOT of gold leakage in his saddle feathers. Enough to turn me off. But as he grows I like his head, he has good leg color and is the biggest of the cockerels.
View attachment 1644242
View attachment 1644245 View attachment 1644247
His leakage:

View attachment 1644250 View attachment 1644251

Sorry about the bad picture quality; my phone sucks in that department. I am open to any criticisms and critiques on these birds!

they are too young to judge their combs. they will change.

I think you are not fair with manolito. I am not an expert but he looks the best (at least to me). his leg colour is willow which is true ameraucana colour. if I understood SOP well, black legs in black variety are accepted but not preferred. please correct me if I am wrong. I still am a learner.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

they are too young to judge their combs. they will change.

I think you are not fair with manolito. I am not an expert but he looks the best (at least to me). his leg colour is willow which is true ameraucana colour. if I understood SOP well, black legs in black variety are accepted but not preferred. please correct me if I am wrong. I still am a learner.

It looks like the SOP for the blacks is dark willow.
http://www.araucana.net/black-araucana-apa-and-aba/

 

[Trish1974]

It looks like the SOP for the blacks is dark willow.
http://www.araucana.net/black-araucana-apa-and-aba/

Actually it says "Black to dark willow". So I assume both are acceptable.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Actually it says "Black to dark willow". So I assume both are acceptable.

you're right. I read that wrong. I would agree with your assessment.

 

[chickengr]

Got some pics of the boys today. They are about 21/22 weeks now. They are still in their awkward stage and a little gangly. Worse of all, they are picking out each others tufts.

My definite keeper, Buck. He's a a clean faced black. He has really good body shape and type, and I LOVE his head and tight comb. He has nice black legs. His only downfall is some gold leakage in his saddle feathers.
View attachment 1644200
View attachment 1644201 View attachment 1644204

This is Manolito. He was my favorite from the start. Technically he is a black mottled, but has lost most of his mottling with age. He is double tufted. When he has tufts, he has a very large back flowing mottled tuft on the right and a very small but mottled tipped tuft on the left. His downfalls: that comb! Ick! It's always been big and I'm afraid its going to be big and floppy at maturity. Even though comb is only worth 5 points in a show, a big floppy comb on an Araucana is one of my biggest pet peeves! (As is a tail or partial tail.) His wattles may end up to large as well. Also his legs aren't black all the way around. The backs show a lot of yellow.
View attachment 1644215
View attachment 1644226 View attachment 1644227
View attachment 1644228
That hideous comb:
View attachment 1644229
Buck and Manolito:
View attachment 1644230

Finally there is the cockerel I call Double Tufts. When I first purchased the chicks I thought he was the only male that was double tufted. His tufts are not as nice as Manolito's. His right side is medium length and sparse, his left is barely there. I'm uncertain of his body type and length; hence my need for a SOP book. He has A LOT of gold leakage in his saddle feathers. Enough to turn me off. But as he grows I like his head, he has good leg color and is the biggest of the cockerels.
View attachment 1644242
View attachment 1644245 View attachment 1644247
His leakage:

View attachment 1644250 View attachment 1644251

Sorry about the bad picture quality; my phone sucks in that department. I am open to any criticisms and critiques on these birds!

manolito is my favourite.

as far as I understand what tufts are they all are clean faced. experts, please answer as we learners need to learn!

 

[Trish1974]

manolito is my favourite.

as far as I understand what tufts are they all are clean faced. experts, please answer as we learners need to learn!

Buck is the only one that is truly clean faced. As I mentioned in the beginning of my post, the flock is going through a phase of picking out tufts, which is a common occurrence. Manolito and Double Tufts look clean faced because their tufts have been picked out by flock members. In the second pic of Mano you can see his swollen peduncle on the right side of his face from the constant picking.