genetic question for experts who know

[Kassaundra]

I have a newbie question. If an EE meets all the physical standards of an ameriucana how do you tell if it is an EE or an ameriucana?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Yes, you can breed your birds together and eventually get back to the standard.

The standard provides a written description of many traits. Any bird that meets the description can be shown and compete well with other birds who meet the standard. There is no breed registry or pedigrees in chickens. Ideally, one wants birds who are pure for the genes they carry (with several very specific exceptions such as the blue, dun, frizzle, tufted & creeper genes (I'm sure htere are others, but that is the ones off the top of my head where heterozygous may be or is preferred.

That said, getting a bird who meets the standard in all aspects is extremely unlikely to occur the first generation after a cross, and the 2nd generation is usually even worse for numbers of ofspring that come close to the standard. From thtere, by selectively choosing the birds who have the traits closest to the standard one can work back to meeting it. Just reaize it will likely take a number of generations.

 

[jeb251]

Quote:
if your ee meets all the standards of an ameracauna, you might not be able to tell till you breed that bird, the offspring will probably not breed true, however its not likely that an ee would meet all the standards, my pure whites sometimes come wit green legs or silver feathers or small or almost no beards and there is a lot of breeding behind them, my blacks are the same way, my point is these traits were from birds used to create the color and are several generations back so an ee unless selectively bread would have mutt genes most likely from recent matings so, I would find it hard to believe that an ee would meet all the standards. I could be wrong, not like it has never happened lol

 

[Illia]

Quote:
I've never seen such a thing happen. Really, before someone would think it to be so, they need to look at the recognized colors of Ameraucana, look truly at the SOP, and see how close their EE really comes to that. Also, leg color. I rarely see EE's with proper leg color AND plumage color. There are plenty people around who, for some reason, think their EEs are Wheaten or Brown-Red Ameraucanas. Big difference.

Anyway, on the light side, if your EE really does match it, then the question is - Do you know its background? Does it match ALL criteria? You may be able to call it an Ameraucana if so. Because really, if you know it is crossbred, there's slim chances it will look like an Ameraucana. If you don't know its background, sure, it could possibly be an Ameraucana.

 

[tuesdays chicks]

I think someone misunderstood me, I was just asking hypothetically....I have No EE's or Araucana but I would love to get some. My dh is another story, he thinks 4 is too many already lol and 3 seem to be bantam or just small fowl, the reason I asked is (no offense to true breeders) if and when I try to obtain araucana It seems I'm going to run the risk of someone selling me EE's instead, I went to my feed store today and asked whether they could get some pure bred birds and they said "oh yes you need to go on a list and when we get 25 or 35 (can't remember the number) to order we'll call you and see if you still want them", and I asked and "you're sure they pure bred" reply " oh yes we get them from a hatchery" which has given me doubts, The people in that feed store don't seem to know a thing about chickens how to feed them or take care of them even if the 1 guy has 40 chickens in a field somewhere, I wish I had another local feed store.
but thank you all for the information, I'm going to do my homework before I purchase anything, and think maybe I should decide what color I like best, and try to get good chicks to start with if anyone has a recommended breeder/seller of good stock please let me know.

 

[cashdl]

I have Araucana, Illia has Araucana, Hinjc has Araucana, Birch Run Farm has Araucana, and there are several others that have Araucana. Any of us would be happy to sell you chicks or eggs. Don't expect show quality because we keep those possibilities for ourselves. Speaking for myself I am a ways off from the standard when it comes to color and while I have tufted chicks usually I keep those. There may be others who have tufted chicks for sale.

I do have hatching eggs and I have people who have hatched tufted chicks from my hatching eggs.

Birch Run has hatching eggs for sale under the auction page on here. And if you search for Araucana on this website you will find quite a few threads.

Lanae

 

[tuesdays chicks]

does the parent have to have tufts to pass on the gene? the same with rumpless?

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Yes. Now, you only need one parent with tufts to pass the gene on though. Both parents having tufts will cause a 25% loss in hatching rate, as having both tufted genes is lethal.

Both parents need to be rumpless, yes. Otherwise you will have tails popping up, which isn't wanted with Araucanas.

And as cashdl said, there are some Araucana breeders here, myself included, and we do sell hatching eggs. (or chicks and hens if you're local)

 

[tuesdays chicks]

thank you now wonder its so hard to breed them I knew I read something about a deadly gene somewhere, so you basically need 2 pens, with 2 rooster 1 with tufts and 1 without, both rumpless, oh boy dh is going to not be happy when I tell him that (he he he) I think I better win the lottery so I can buy a farm, this project sounds like its getting bigger.

 

[cashdl]

No, you can have 1 tufted rooster and cleanfaced hens in with him. That will eliminate the possibility of two copies of the tufting gene being passed on. Then you only have 1 pen.

Lanae