Araucana thread anyone?

[smoothmule]

I sold my young tufted/rumpless splash rooster (Spot) and he ships out today. He got a bath, a good leg scrubbing and nails trimmed and he's a pretty as a picture

This guy could be a house rooster he's been so good. Easy to bathe, never fussed about anything I did for him. He's spent the morning in a dog kennel in the kitchen floor in the sunshine with a light on him to finish drying. He even seemed to like the blow dryer, on low for a nice warm breeze to dry his fluff. Hate to see him go but I actually had more good roos than I needed. He's been eating crumbles and drinking good and munching on dandelion greens and flowers and apple chunks. He seems to know he's being spoiled and looking at me everytime I walk by like he's wondering what other treats I'll come up with,

I'm packing him up with some apple chunks, he loves apples so I doubt they last very long but I figure if I fill him up before he leaves, he will eat them later. I hate to see him go but excited there will be another breeder amongst us that will have some nice Araucana's to add to the gene pool. Her hens are clean faced and rumpless.

Here he is in the kitchen floor. He's so cute and has been quietly watching everything. He's used to the dogs and Sophie goes to check on him ever so often.

 

[syble]

such a pretty boy! Always nice when roos are near as much to pets! I too like my hovabator, if it wasnt for a larg capacity cabinet style incubator, I would have continued with them. As is i just finished a new deeper bottom for my hovabator to use it as a hatcher! seams to be holding temperature without a problem, just playing with humidity now

As a side note, its people who play with pretty colors that eventually lead the way for new color to be accepted... what color did araucanas start with? I find it odd that bantams should be accepted in blue but not standards. I choose to work on standard fowl blues and breed them up to par on the standard. But then again, i find it odd that any breed should be accepted in blue and black but not spash haha.
Sib

 

[cmsdvm]

I am TOTALLY with you on the splash issue! I would love to see them accepted in both the araucana and (white-crested) in Polish. My objection to "playing with pretty colors" comes not with working on a new variety, which is great, but just throwing all the colors together and trying to find a name for whatever hatches. This seems to me to be more prominent in araucanas then any other breed except seramas.

 

[tball chicky]

I have a question: are Araucanas the only breed that has no tail?

I picked up a chick from a woman and she said that it was an Ameraucana hen X either a BR or BSL rooster. It has yellow legs, single comb, brown with black barring, and no tail. Now, I have 10 other chicks all within a week or so of this one and they all have tails of varying sizes.

Here it is @ 3 weeks

again @ 4.5 weeks

today, just a couple days shy of 6 weeks, it (pretty sure it's a he) still has no tail and a much bigger & redder comb, plus the waddles are also starting to hang a bit.

If you have an opinion as to the breed of this chick, please feel free to leave it. Yes, I am aware of the differences in Araucanas, Ameraucanas, & EE's. I am just wondering if the lack of tail is just an Araucana trait coming through,

Thanks!!!

 

[syble]

not sure what BSL stands for sorry too many short forms, i'm assuming br is barred rock? i dont imagine its barred rock, but probably the other. a cross like the lady said could make a rumpless chick as the rumpless gene is dominant. looks like it might turn partidge with age?

cmsdvm lol seramas are the melting pot of the poultry world i think haha. I have never understood the lack of splash acceptance. I understand that some birds come out very blotchy or others nearly white, but the majority have even color distribution over their body to give a balanaced look. I would like to see orps, marans, rocks, cochins..... the list is long haha, anything that accepts blue and black, splash should be a given. who knows now they have accepted splashed silkies, maybe that will set the bars for the rest? I like to keep colors set in groups, but i must admit i can be bad for letting things run just to see what can come out sometimes its fantastic! Other times i'll pair different colors to try and create something specific.
Thanks
Sib

 

[tball chicky]

sorry...BR Barred Rock and BSL Black SexLink. Does that help?

 

[syble]

i'd vote for the black sex link at this point, once he's mature(cause thats totally a cockeral) you can make a more educated guess

 

[cackleberrycoop]

Quote:
Well, yellow legs and no tail at six weeks - clearly it's not a Ameraucana (but you figured that out already) and it's not a very good representation of an Araucana with that single comb, so let's hope it's not pure, but I do believe that the rumplesness is only found in Araucanas, so I'd have to guess a cross of some sort. Very handsome guy by the way.

 

[cackleberrycoop]

Quote:
I love to throw all the colors together. If I couldn't throw all the pretty colors together and delight at the multitude of outcomes then I would have given up on the Araucana pretty quickly. It's outrageously difficult to obtain breeding stock of a desired color variety and if we all waited to breed until we did have such, then I'm afraid that this already rare breed would become just that much more rare. I have the Standard as my goal (well, whenever that blasted book arrives I will) and am now two solid years into trying to gather together a start in my desired color variety, but in the meantime, I have learned so much from my little flock of non-color conforming Araucanas; specifically just how much I really do adore them and desire to continue the quest to breed them. I am in love with their personality and rely on their vigor and intelligence and can not wait to see what pretty colors come out of my best birds.
I think I know what you're referring to, however, when you say "trying to find a name for whatever hatches." Honesty in what we are breeding and producing is of utmost importance and I sometimes see what can be an accidental form of dishonesty - an accepted color variety label attached to an Araucana that is not that color - often something like "golden duckwing type." I worry that this leads to people buying what they think is a golden duckwing, when the seller wasn't even saying that that's what color the bird is, just that it's got some similarities. I have seen it lead to confusion and disappointment. Also, it's important to keep in mind that just because a bird pops out looking like an accepted color, it is not kind to sell it as such if it is just a happy accident out of a mixed color variety pen - it will not breed true to that color. This brings us back to the whole honesty issue.

So, I was talking to Steve Waters the other day and he was speaking very fondly of this veterinarian woman in Washington who's son is a rising star in the Araucana breeding world. He got to the part where she was on vacation and lost a whole lot of her Araucanas to predators - that was the point where my brain started to fire and I at last put two and two together to realize that he was talking about you cmsdvm! He sure has a lot of good things to say about your son. He called you on my behalf l believe to see if you had any Araucana to sell. Very, very sweet man. Alas, however, I am stubbornly on my mission to obtain blue breeding stock and It doesn't sound like that's your color. Steve also raved about your web site and so I had to go find it - excellent indeed!

 

[zekii]

Interesting takes on the LG versus Hovabator, I'm sure incubation has alot to do with where you live, temp/humidity/altittude. I'm probably being too hard on my
Hovabator given this was my 1st and only chicken egg hatching, I'll give it a try again no doubt. I am considering another incubator thou, either make a large
styrofoam homemade unit using a INCUKIT or a Brinsea unit, don't think I'll need anything has large as a Sportsman, but never can tell

Thanks everyone for your feedback ... now to start looking for some Araucana eggs ..

Clint