Araucana thread anyone?

[cashdl]

How are you treating your babies? Maybe you are doing something different than we are. If it works I want to know about it.

Lanae

 

[exoticduckluvr]

the ones I hatched or have taken from the mothers the day they hatch I bring into my Screened & Glass Porch(Fl Room) I have a fan forced heater and they have heat lamps in their cages. I don't let the room go below 70 degrees. In summer I open the doors and have a ceiling fan to help cool it down. I keep pine shaving in the cages and change them out as needed usually 3 days depending on how many chicks are in there or how big they are. I have about 50 Araucana chicks right now ranging from 1 1/2 months to 1 day old. Mine are bantams. Wonder if that makes a difference. In one pen I have 1 tailed tufted roo and 1 rumpless tufted roo in with 7 clean faced hens 1 part tailed, 1 full tail, & 5 fully rumpless. In the other pen I have 4 cleaned faced rumpless roo's with 6 tufted hens, 1 is tailed

 

[Yvonne37894]

Thanks for all the responses about the 2-3 day old chicks
We hatch off 30 to 90 chicks a week on a year round basis from several breeds and loose a few after hatch, but not on the % like we do with the Araucana's
Has anyone tried to give supplents to the chicks at hatch? I'm thinkng of guardian angle or survive from all bird products
.

 

[smoothmule]

I've heard that the LF Araucana's were more difficult than the bantams but I have no idea why that might be. 30 to 50 chicks though, wow, that's terrific. I am up to 15 of the large fowl and expect it to go higher before I have enough to set up 2 to 4 breeding pens. I'll probably stick to 2 pens, 2 roosters per pen/coop or more if they get along. At this time, Degas and Rudy both tolerate the younger roosters, Joker and Spot. They're both breeding and crowing but they don't seem to annoy the older guys. I tried again to put Degas and Rudy together though and they hate each other and they mean it, lol So, for as long as I can get by with it, I'll keep a couple of roosters together that are "alike" in ways that I can put the hens in with them and it won't matter who breeds as long as someone does. I am trying to get more LF breeders in my area but so many of them are scared off by the things they hear about the difficulty level and lethal gene. I've been doing a lot of education the past few weeks. I did sell a clean faced pair to someone and I'm planning to get her set with a tufted hen soon so I can have a buddy nearby for trading eggs. I guess one new Araucana fan will lead to another and hopefully more.
I have a lil chick out of Fawn and Degas and 3 to hatch tomorrow, hopefully then a couple more the 14th.

 

[cashdl]

Congratulations Cathy.

Lanae

 

[exoticduckluvr]

well it looks like I lied. When I cleaned the cage of the older chicks this afternoon I had a dead one ;-( 1 1/2 month old. Was rumpless but not tufted at least. Have no clue what happen. I couldn't see sign of anything and it had not been ill. I did see where some of the cardboard box have been pecked off near the waterer so wondering if it ate cardboard. I put some grit in their feed today just in case. They are in huge wire dog crates that I line with a box coming up the sides about 4" to hold the pine shavings.

I am having just the opposite problem Smooth. I have 2 younger roo's(5 or 6 months) that have decided to kick my older roos(8 months) butts and they are keeping them on the run. I guess I will sell them since I like the coloring better on the younger ones I bred and hatched from Blackie & Daddy Roo. The 2 older ones are not even a yr old yet. They will be in mid May. They came from SkyBlueEgg as chicks

 

[puredelite]

Yvonne, Tufted chicks dying seems to be a very common problem for all no matter what we do. Has to be connected with the lethal gene thing. I have learned not to "ooh and awh" at all - actually expect the worse and hope for the best. I also am trying to create more interest in my area and have set up a couple of breeders with a start. Just hope they don't get discouraged and give up! Can't wait til Spring gets here and start hatching again!

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Indeed, but when tufted birds do reach maturity they are as tenatious as any other chicken.

 

[cashdl]

I received my silver duckwing girls from Ann at Birch Run farm. Let me just say they are beautiful. I have two blue hens I got from her last year and they are nice, but these girls are beautiful. They are getting comfortable, but in a few days I will post pics. They are cleanfaced but have the nicest conformation. Beautiful little araucana butts. The older one Silver has been acting a little crabby so I seperated Minnie, the little one cause Silver kept pestering her. Poor little thing.

Lanae

 

[Illia]

We need pics!

I would especially like to see their conformation. . . I'm honestly more of a fan of a conformationally, SOP correct Araucana than one that lays perfectly "blue" eggs.

My silver duckwing pullet is very, very nice but lays rather pale greenish eggs. . . And I don't mind, because with the right male I can fix that.