Breeding

[PlumpChicken]

I think I know the answer to my own question but I would feel better hearing it from someone else. I currently have 5 ISA Brown hens that are laying eggs. They are 22 weeks old and have been laying since they were 18 weeks old. I would like to get an Araucana rooster and some hens and hatch some baby chicks. Is this possible or even smart to do while having all the chickens in the same run. I ask this because without spending the money and building another pen I only have 1 area to keep the chickens right now.

I guess I could keep collecting the brown ISA eggs and collect the green or whatever color Araucana eggs and put them on the incubator. I have no clue... I am a newbie when it comes to breeding/hatching chicks.


Any insight would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks,

Ben

 

[PlumpChicken]

I just want to avoid ending up with an Araucana/ISA Brown mixed breed chicken.

 

[Kevin565]

I just want to avoid ending up with an Araucana/ISA Brown mixed breed chicken.

As long as you run breeds together there really isn't anyway around cross breeding.

 

[Mrs. K]

no, this should be easy, as long as you have both hens and a roo of the same breed. In what you have, you should easily be able to tell the eggs apart by the color. Keep the eggs that you want to hatch on the counter and eat the other color. Eggs can be several days old and still hatch fine, up to 10-14 days, but you would probably have better results with fresher eggs.

It will make no difference if the roo crosses the other breed, (he is bound to) you just don't hatch those. It gets tricky if you have two different breeds of roosters, then it would be impossible unless you separate them for several weeks.

MrsK

 

[donrae]

no, this should be easy, as long as you have both hens and a roo of the same breed. In what you have, you should easily be able to tell the eggs apart by the color. Keep the eggs that you want to hatch on the counter and eat the other color. Eggs can be several days old and still hatch fine, up to 10-14 days, but you would probably have better results with fresher eggs.

It will make no difference if the roo crosses the other breed, (he is bound to) you just don't hatch those. It gets tricky if you have two different breeds of roosters, then it would be impossible unless you separate them for several weeks.

MrsK

x2 Just don't incubate the brown eggs and you're good to go. Or, go ahead and hatch some out, they'll but cute and great layers lol. I'm not an enabler or anything.........

 

[PlumpChicken]

Another quick question. My father in law is driving me bonkers and keeps stealing my eggs. I leave for work at 5:30am and most of the time my girls don't lay that early. I collect my eggs when I get home at 6:00pm and I don't see a problem with it. So my father in law comes over before he goes to work at 8:00am and collects what eggs are laid... So when I get home I am only left with 1-3 eggs if I am lucky......

Eggs to not go bad that quickly?!?!?!

I might have to lock my egg box to keep him out!

 

[coffeenutdesign]

Another quick question. My father in law is driving me bonkers and keeps stealing my eggs. I leave for work at 5:30am and most of the time my girls don't lay that early. I collect my eggs when I get home at 6:00pm and I don't see a problem with it. So my father in law comes over before he goes to work at 8:00am and collects what eggs are laid... So when I get home I am only left with 1-3 eggs if I am lucky...... Eggs to not go bad that quickly?!?!?! I might have to lock my egg box to keep him out!

Have your husband deal with your father-in-law. It is always best for each part of a couple to deal with their own parents. Or a lock might be the best solution. Just tell him that you read it is better for keeping coons and skunks out (because that's true) if you want to avoid hurt feelings. Just tell him you'll leave eggs out for him or bring them over when you have extras.

 

[Ridgerunner]

True Araucana eggs will be blue, very easy to distinguish from the brown eggs. So it they really are Araucana chickens, all you have to do is incubate the blue eggs and not the brown ones.

If they lay green eggs, they are not true Araucana but are what are known as Easter Eggers (EE's) on this forum. EE's are simply chickens that should have the blue egg gene. They don't always but they should. The blue egg gene is what causes the eggs to be either blue or green, depending in whether brown is present or not. In this case blue plus brown makes green; blue plus white makes blue.

Many people, including hatcheries, sell EE's and call them Araucanas. If you get them from a major hatchery they will be EE's. I am not aware of any major hatchery that actually sells true Araucanas or true Ameraucanas either. They are all EE's. In the US, Ameraucanas are another breed that lays blue eggs.

A difficulty with EE's is that they do not necessarily lay blue or green eggs. They can also lay white, brown, or some shade in between, depending in which egg shell color genes are present. You can still do what you are talking about doing by only hatching the blue or green eggs, but just be aware if you get EE's instead of true Araucanas, you might get some that don't lay blue or green eggs. It purely depends on their genetic make-up.

This is true for the rooster too. Of course he won't lay eggs, but his genetic make-up may or may not include the blue egg gene if he is an EE instead of a true Araucana. I know there are a lot of "if's" here, but if he is a true Araucana and you cross him with your ISA Browns, you will get a nice green egg laying chicken since the ISA Browns lay brown eggs, not white. But if he is instead an EE you might or might not get green egg layers. It just depends on his genetic make-up.