Best way to sex Ameracaunas? Please help!

[NaturalChick]

I have to send my friend and his daughter to pick up Ameraucana and Production Red pullets (5 A's and 3 reds)
I only want one Ameraucana cockerel.

The reds will be about 14 wks and the Ameraucanas will be about 17 wks.

Now my friend doesn't have much experience with chickens and I have very little experience sexing birds. What info. can I give them to get the best chance of getting the right sexes?

Thanks so much!

 

[speckledhen]

At 17 weeks the cockerels will be obvious. Bright red wide combs and the saddle feathers are a dead giveaway. Here is my black Ameraucana cockerel at that age that I used to own. See the pointy long feathers hanging off his back right in front of the tail? Pullets do not have those. The blue is a pullet-note the much more narrow comb.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Many of the Ameraucana color varieties also have a lot of difference between females and males. What color variety of Ameraucana are you getting? There are photos of males and females of the different recognized Ameraucana colors at http://ameraucana.org/scrapbook.html. Hope that can help.
Hope you enjoy your new chickens!

 

[mmajw]

Amercuanas are better judged by their comb like Spekledhen said. The wider red rose combs are males and the females have a straight lighter comb.

 

[NaturalChick]

The chickens I'm getting must be younger than they told me because they said I would have a hard time telling them apart.

I think the only ones they have to pick from are Brown Red, Buff, Wheaten and White, maybe not even that many, I can't remember.

Thanks for the tips! Keep 'em coming, the more info I have for them the better it will turn out.

 

[PoultryPedia]

A heads-up: They may be selling Easter Eggers (which are similar to Ameraucanas but not standardized in some coloring and other characteristics). These can be great chickens and they lay colored eggs, too, but they aren't showable.

 

[speckledhen]

They could be EEs, however, those colors you mentioned are standard Ameraucana colors. And the sexing rules are the same, whether Ameraucanas or EEs.

 

[NaturalChick]

He said that they are Ameraucanas. He ordered them from a hatchery in TX.

BUT! I have seen commercial hatcheries advertise Ameraucanas and Easter Egger's as the same breed, So really I can't be sure what he has.

So far he has seemed to know what he is talking about. But I'm beginning to wonder because he says you cant tell the sexes apart yet and doesn't think we will be able to when we pick them up on the 15th of this month.

I am getting a bit confused. I hope I will get the right breed, and the right sexes!

 

[speckledhen]

Is it Paul Smith? He has Ameraucanas, if so.

 

[pips&peeps]

Paul only has one of the colors listed by the poster, wheaten.

I believe he is only breeding blue, black, possibly splash, wheaten and blue wheaten.

They are probably easter eggers. Check out ameraucana.org to see the pictures of what the rooster, hen and chicks looks like of each color.

Usually the giveaway is green legs......