Araucana thread anyone?

[Rumbull]

hmm... well, my 11 wk old sebright has been crowing for a couple weeks, and my seramas start at around 5 weeks. At almost 3 months old, I have always been able to sex any of my chickens, except the silkies. I know all breeds develop at different speeds, so I am hoping that the Araucana folks will be able to tell if this one is girl or boy. Until it "crowed" this morning, I was sure it was a girl, as it was supposed to be a sexed chick. Also, what color is this?

Pointy hackle feathers and wide comb, this is a boy. He is a good looking Easter Egger.

 

[Stacykins]

I have two Araucana roosters. A one year old lad who is blue, double tufted, and rumpless. The other is a two year old lad who is splash, double tufted, and rumpless. I keep two, so one is a spare, in case a predator, illness, Murphy's Law, etc. happens, so I am not without a rooster.

The splash boy, he is a mellow boy. Very gentle and considerate of his ladies. He is a perfect gentleman, he dances and woos them before getting down to business, and doesn't damage their feathers.

The blue boy, is an aggressive jerk. He doesn't dance. When he wants to mate, he'll chase and run her down. When he finally catches the girl, he'll rip feathers out by the beakful. The girls desperately try and escape him when he is in 'the mood', they scatter, run, and hide. The blue boy hasn't shown any human aggression, at least. But he won't allow me near him, ever.

Yesterday, the splash and blue had a nasty fight. I actually don't know if there was a winner. I saw it near the end, and it seems to be a draw. Neither would back down, and eventually the blue lad walked away as both crowed. But the splash, he got badly bloodied. His wattles, tuft penducles, and comb were cut and bleeding, as well as a wound under one of his eyes. And his legs and feet town up, scales split and bleeding (I knew it was wounds and not just splatter when I washed him off). I got him cleaned up and blue koted.

I caught the blue with a net. All I could think to do was trim his nails so they were dull. I also cut off the sharp end of his spurs and filed them blunt. But I'm thinking of just butchering him, and sticking a ton of eggs in the incubator. Maybe I'll get another boy that will replace him that isn't such a rough, aggressive boy.

What do ya'll think I should do? What would YOU do if this was happening in your flock? I LOVE the color, body structure, tufts, etc. about that blue lad, except for his piss poor attitude.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

I have two Araucana roosters. A one year old lad who is blue, double tufted, and rumpless. The other is a two year old lad who is splash, double tufted, and rumpless. I keep two, so one is a spare, in case a predator, illness, Murphy's Law, etc. happens, so I am not without a rooster.

The splash boy, he is a mellow boy. Very gentle and considerate of his ladies. He is a perfect gentleman, he dances and woos them before getting down to business, and doesn't damage their feathers.

The blue boy, is an aggressive jerk. He doesn't dance. When he wants to mate, he'll chase and run her down. When he finally catches the girl, he'll rip feathers out by the beakful. The girls desperately try and escape him when he is in 'the mood', they scatter, run, and hide. The blue boy hasn't shown any human aggression, at least. But he won't allow me near him, ever.

Yesterday, the splash and blue had a nasty fight. I actually don't know if there was a winner. I saw it near the end, and it seems to be a draw. Neither would back down, and eventually the blue lad walked away as both crowed. But the splash, he got badly bloodied. His wattles, tuft penducles, and comb were cut and bleeding, as well as a wound under one of his eyes. And his legs and feet town up, scales split and bleeding (I knew it was wounds and not just splatter when I washed him off). I got him cleaned up and blue koted.

I caught the blue with a net. All I could think to do was trim his nails so they were dull. I also cut off the sharp end of his spurs and filed them blunt. But I'm thinking of just butchering him, and sticking a ton of eggs in the incubator. Maybe I'll get another boy that will replace him that isn't such a rough, aggressive boy.

What do ya'll think I should do? What would YOU do if this was happening in your flock? I LOVE the color, body structure, tufts, etc. about that blue lad, except for his piss poor attitude.

If you can't sell or re-home him, I would. We had some beautiful boys who were rude and we were able to re-home/sell. To me a peaceful flock is more important than a beautiful boy. That is just my opinion. Someone else might rather just have him solely for his type. Good luck and definatly hatch those eggs!

 

[smoothmule]

So, I have what is supposed to be an Araucana pullet. She is 11 weeks old and looks very similar to the white hen above on smoothmule's post, but without the tuffs. Well, she tried crowing this morning. She has a sebright cockerel with her that was crowing, do you think she was mimicking the cockerel or could she be a boy. The comb looks basically the same as smoothmule's hen. Is that too much red for an 11 wk old pullet? I can't post pictures from my phone but will tonight. I just want some input. I have a serama hen that "crowed" for about a month before she started laying so I know girls can do it.

You don't have an Araucana, as Rumbull stated. Yours is an Easter Egger which is a mixed breed that lays colorful eggs. Yours is a cockerel, too bad he's not a real Araucana, I love the color... it's the same as my Araucana hen

 

[Rumbull]

I have two Araucana roosters. A one year old lad who is blue, double tufted, and rumpless. The other is a two year old lad who is splash, double tufted, and rumpless. I keep two, so one is a spare, in case a predator, illness, Murphy's Law, etc. happens, so I am not without a rooster.

The splash boy, he is a mellow boy. Very gentle and considerate of his ladies. He is a perfect gentleman, he dances and woos them before getting down to business, and doesn't damage their feathers.

The blue boy, is an aggressive jerk.

What do ya'll think I should do? What would YOU do if this was happening in your flock? I LOVE the color, body structure, tufts, etc. about that blue lad, except for his piss poor attitude.

My rooster is now going on his third year. He has that great mellow attitude like your splash boy. It is very endearing and a trait that I feel is important to breed for. I had a splash boy for a few weeks that I got in trade for chicks. I had someone that had asked me to help them find a good roo for their blue and black hens. I took him in trade for some chicks to pass him on to her but he spent a few weeks here before she could get him. He also had that same wonderful mellow attitude.
What to do in your case...
It depends on what you are working on in your flock Does this Jerk have an important trait that you are trying to improve in your flock?
For me, I am focused on the face features. Cleaning up white earlobes, tighter comb and wattles. If I had a jerk rooster that had these things that I needed, I would probably use him for a few months and hatch as many eggs as possible before sending him on his way.
If your hens have good type then I would loose the jerk! If your hens are not very good then you may need his good body type.

 

[Rumbull]

hmm... well, my 11 wk old sebright has been crowing for a couple weeks, and my seramas start at around 5 weeks. At almost 3 months old, I have always been able to sex any of my chickens, except the silkies. I know all breeds develop at different speeds, so I am hoping that the Araucana folks will be able to tell if this one is girl or boy. Until it "crowed" this morning, I was sure it was a girl, as it was supposed to be a sexed chick. Also, what color is this?

Hey Fllowerchicks,
feel free to stick around and read through this thread. There are plenty of us that started with so called "araucana" Easter Eggers. It was when I started reading about my Mom's "araucana" that I found this thread and realized that she did not have the real thing. She does not care because they are barn yard egg layer. After reading about the tufts and rumplessness, I was intrigued and caused me seek out the real deal.

 

[Stacykins]

My rooster is now going on his third year. He has that great mellow attitude like your splash boy. It is very endearing and a trait that I feel is important to breed for. I had a splash boy for a few weeks that I got in trade for chicks. I had someone that had asked me to help them find a good roo for their blue and black hens. I took him in trade for some chicks to pass him on to her but he spent a few weeks here before she could get him. He also had that same wonderful mellow attitude.
What to do in your case...
It depends on what you are working on in your flock Does this Jerk have an important trait that you are trying to improve in your flock?
For me, I am focused on the face features. Cleaning up white earlobes, tighter comb and wattles. If I had a jerk rooster that had these things that I needed, I would probably use him for a few months and hatch as many eggs as possible before sending him on his way.
If your hens have good type then I would loose the jerk! If your hens are not very good then you may need his good body type.

The jerk is perfect for the flock in all ways except for attitude. Color, form, tufts, leg color, etc. And since my flock goal is for a blue/black/splash flock, he fits in beautifully. I have a lot of black and blue girls, so his covering them results in chicks that I want. Right now, he's in a metal dog crate in the coop. I use it as a broody buster, because it is wire floored and raised on a few cinder blocks. He has food and water and is in shelter. So this will give the other rooster some time to heal up. Maybe it'll deflate the Jerk a little bit, to be cooped up.

The splash lad is great too, for what I want from my flock, and especially because he is so mellow. Even though he was revved up and bloodied from that fight, he didn't mind me picking him up. So it was easy to clean him up.

I think I'll do as much hatching as I can. I have some duck eggs in my incubator, but I'll squeeze in some 'cana eggs, and get to hatching. If a chick pops up that is just as good or better than the Jerk, he is gone.

 

[simonerol]

I have 3 roosters and seven hens, the roos are not straining the backs of the hens, no loss of feathers ever on their backs, they seem to be holding on to the head more than anything else. My tufted one is bald. Ahhhh

 

[lawatt]

just saying hello, as i'm new to the thread -- have three little araucana chicks being raised by their foster broody-mom, a silver penciled plymouth rock -- they will be 4 weeks old on monday -- very exciting!!

the two goldish ones (on the left in first picture) have started to spar just a bit with each other, making me think perhaps they are boys? but one (lower left in first picture) has gotten its feathers much more slowly than the other two, and they are darker. the silverish one has a wing that droops down a bit (see third picture), but otherwise all three are doing great, they LOVE free-ranging around outside with their mom! none have tufts (there was a fourth chick that did, but it died after about a week), but they seem like they will grow up into splendid birds. i got them from http://www.cashsblueeggs.com/










so looking forward to learning more about these birds!

 

[lawatt]

and one more (better camera) photo of all three: