Egg Size & Ameraucana

[charlotteda]

My old hen Lyla is Lavender Ameraucana. Beautiful sweet and smart! I wanted to get some more like her but the breeder sold out his stock to someone else who only sold day old chicks - then lost all of them during hurricane Helene.

I have been looking for several years. Last Spring I found someone local who had nice pictures of her breeding stock. However, when she had chicks available - some of the actually came from some new stock she added to the pen.

My task of finding some Lyla quality hens has not been successful. I did end up with 3 hens but they are darker than Lyla and lay smaller eggs.

My hens live in a coop and run with supervised outside time. It is important to me that they are friendly and I've always loved colored eggs. I only want a small flock.

So, my question is egg size. Do some Ameraucana lay larger eggs (Lyla seems to)? Do any hatcheries have good stock.

 

[SilverBirds]

Ameraucanas typically lay medium to large eggs, but it can vary between induvial birds. Young hens do lay smaller eggs called pullet eggs and they gradually increase in size as they age. If your new girls are still young, chances are their egg will become larger over the next few months.

What sort of quality are you looking for? I haven't bought Lav 'canas from any hatcheries before so I would only be able to recommend reputability for healthy birds and not the quality.

 

[charlotteda]

Ameraucanas typically lay medium to large eggs, but it can vary between induvial birds. Young hens do lay smaller eggs called pullet eggs and they gradually increase in size as they age. If your new girls are still young, chances are their egg will become larger over the next few months.

What sort of quality are you looking for? I haven't bought Lav 'canas from any hatcheries before so I would only be able to recommend reputability for healthy birds and not the quality.

I don't need show quality. I did that years ago with Belgian D'Anvers. My young girls are over 1 now but their eggs are much smaller than Lyla's. She is lighter in color and slightly larger but does have a larger egg.

 

[SilverBirds]

I don't need show quality. I did that years ago with Belgian D'Anvers. My young girls are over 1 now but their eggs are much smaller than Lyla's. She is lighter in color and slightly larger but does have a larger egg.

I see what you mean about the color. They are all very pretty girls.

There are a few people selling Ameraucanas on Craigslist. Have you checked there or is that where you got your other three? As far as reputable hatcheries that sell them goes, many of my friends have had good experiences with Cackle. I know Meyer and MyPetChicken also sell them, but they are very pretty pricey on their sites.