Getting Ameracauna chicks-any helpful hints?

[CierraandDaniel]

Hey everyone! I just have a few questions for people familiar with the Ameracauna breed. I am going to be purchasing my first Ameracauna chicks tomarrow from a local breeder, he has 12 chicks right now and more on the way, and I will be picking out a few. I'm looking for some helpful hints to possibly help me pick out some hens, as I'm already over run with roosters! I know it's a long shot, but I've never owned Ameracaunas before, and I'm unsure if there is any sure ways of telling hens from cockerels in this breed at 1 to 2 weeks? Thanks for any help!

 

[FVRM]

Make sure his Ameracaunas are one of the 8 varieties from the standard of perfection. Otherwise you will be buying easter eggers NOT ameracaunas.

It depends on which variety he has, if they are wheaten ameraucaunas get the lightest chicks because if they have black/dark feathers they are male.

if you are buying easter eggers dont get any whites ones or "unique" colors. because they turn out to be boys most of the time. get the partridge ones (girls)

 

[ramirezframing]

Look at the size of the legs, pullets tend to have thinner legs while roosters will have thicker (can be hard to tell at this age). The comb on a male tends to be wider/ more noticable then a pullet at this age (if there are 3 rows in the comb leave it) and as stated above make sure they are what you are paying for. Nothing wrong with an ee, but not many people like paying purebred price for a mutt. If he won't let you see the ameraucana flock you can simply ask what color his ameraucana flock is, if he can't give you one of the 8 colors, they are ees. Good luck

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I agree, I'd be leery of anyone selling just "Ameraucanas." Any breeder will instead be selling "Blue Ameraucanas" or "Wheaten Ameraucanas." Without the color attached, they are most likely EEs.

Sexing EEs or Ameraucanas as chicks is really hard. As already stated, look for skinny legs and skinny combs--don't take any with three rows of peas.

That being said, last time I picked out EEs from a bin, I got 9 of 12 males.

 

[CierraandDaniel]

Oh my goodness 9 of 12! that is a lot of roos! Thank you all for your advice, I will deffinetly be using it later on today. I did some research last night on the breed, and I am pretty confident I will be able to tell EE from Ameracauna, though I do plan on getting a look at the mommas anyway just to be sure. Thank you all again! I'll post photos later : )