Araucana thread anyone?

[Illia]

I recall seeing photos of you having splash cuckoos, do you have blues too? (girls) The splashes do indeed hatch out almost white, then grow up to be slightly darker due to the (sort of) barring.

The less you breed to splash, the more you'll end up with darker birds. The parent birds to my parent birds (Gary Ramey's) are actually quite a nice blue cuckoo, but because his main cock is a splash, the offspring vary from normal to light blue. Thus, the cuckoo patterning can be pretty faint, too, like on my cock. However my blue hen is a decent blue, and has decent patterning.


Splash cuckoo chick

Darker splash cuckoo chick, easily recognized from normal splash by the prolific dot on the head (in this case the dot is yellow)

Blue cuckoo chick; male, easily recognized by very large, irregular yellow dot on head expanding to neck

Blue cuckoo female

 

[cmsdvm]

We check our birds in to the Puyallup Fair next week for the Open Show. I think I will forego hatching this fall and just eat a lot of omelettes as I am scheduled for surgery, then vacation this winter, so will not put together breeding pens until January. I have several nice bantams showing this year locally and at Crossroads. I have a really pretty blue male-though he has a touch of red at his hackle- but his tufts and comb are really nice. I have a black boy with great tufts but his comb is too big and I think all my bantams could use tighter wings. I have nice pullets in white, black and blue. I often look at Steve Waters' LF whites and imagine sizing them down to figure what I'm working toward in my bantams. We have 4 kids in our 4H club using nice true araucanas for fit and show this year; that ought to put the judge's knickers in a knot. They all know what to say if the judge tells them they actually have ameracaunas. The public should see a lot more varieties of show quality araucanas at the local fairs and shows here in the Northwest this year. I hope everyone else is getting nice tufted rumpless birds out for the public to appreciate.

 

[suzannaski]

Quote:
What are they trained to say? Do tell!

Sorry about your surgery, I hope its without complications and you have a speedy recovery.

 

[phasianidae]

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Isn't that rooster half New Hampshire? Are there pure Araucanas with Mh?

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Isn't that rooster half New Hampshire? Are there pure Araucanas with Mh?

Thanks,
Ryan

Yep, he's half New Hampshire. There are indeed Araucanas with Mh though. Ann Charles has a few, in fact, she sells show winning cockerels who are pure red from time to time. Gary Ramey I believe also has a couple birds with the gene, I don't know if he's got solid reds yet though.

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Isn't that rooster half New Hampshire? Are there pure Araucanas with Mh?

Thanks,
Ryan

Yep, he's half New Hampshire. There are indeed Araucanas with Mh though. Ann Charles has a few, in fact, she sells show winning cockerels who are pure red from time to time. Gary Ramey I believe also has a couple birds with the gene, I don't know if he's got solid reds yet though.

Illia, what do you plan on doing with that boy? Eat him? Use him for a project?

To my untrained eye he could definitely pass for a pure Araucana.

 

[Illia]

He's already eaten.

A while ago the family decided the flock needs to be reduce, yet again, and roosters were definitely on the list, so, he was turned into dinner for a local family.


I wanted to use him for a project, but, I never got enough chicks out of him in time for anything. I got a few chicks, and ended up selling them amongst a whole batch or two or three of other chicks. It wasn't the best moment in my poultry history. There was a lot of "reduction" going on, and "projects" were on their reducing list. Except Tolbunts. And my Buffs, since I did after all pay for the those myself.

 

[Quirky]

We have pullet eggs! My husband found them while I was out of town. The color is not terribly awe-inspiring; is that normal? Will their eggs get more blue as they lay more? I sure hope so.

 

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ive got some aracana eggs in the bator

 

[Illia]

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Yes. I too was rather disappointed when my Araucanas first began laying, but, in the next couple days the egg color will improve. A cycle/year later, they'll get even better. After that they generally keep their color.