Help I Think I Want some MORE!!!

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Have you considered getting an incubator and hatching your own? That way you could order true BBS ameraucanas from a reputable breeder AND you'd get the fun of hatching babies. If you think owning chickens is fun, wait until you do a hatch. Oh my goodness, it is more fun than you can imagine!!

I have two ameraucana roosters (a blue and a black) and they are great roosters. I have never had ANY aggression issues with them and they are really good to their girls. This is my second round of roosters after selling off my original hateful, mean boys (a buff orp and a d'uccle). These two guys are super good natured! They aren't terribly affectionate, but that is fine with me. I don't have to worry about rooster attacks!
My hens range from sweet to skittish. Some of mine were hand raised and are pretty inquisitive. The others were hen raised and are pretty standoffish. They all lay really pretty eggs though and are happy chickens. Mine are BBS too and I love having the color variety in my pens. Hatching then becomes like Christmas as you wait to see what colors you get! I love the splash as well and always hope to get a few in my hatches. So far all my splash have turned into boys.

Easter Eggers are fun as well. I know there are those that poohpooh them, but I love them as much as my pure AMs. They really are a wild card when you start hatching. All of mine have the best personalities and are a joy to have. The egg color variety makes for a really fun egg basket too.

Enjoy your new babies! Do consider getting an incubator to play with. It is fascinating!

 

[dsqard]

Citygirl I really hadn't thought about, I think you are suggesting ordering hatching eggs. I will have to think about that for next year since this year I wouldn't want to start this late. We are already starting to see the temps get down at night and would want to wait until the babies have plenty of time to feather out and get big enough. But I think it would be really fun to do! I lurk on the egg hatching threads and think about how much fun it would be. I know you have to take the downs with the ups and I would probably practice on my eggs before buying any but it is something to think about. I am actually looking forwards to the wheaten roo too. The lady says that he is super tame and really good with the hens and a real big guy.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I love my Blue and Black Ameraucanas. I purchased 11 chicks--from a guy who had just hatched out eggs from two well known breeder. They are 9 weeks old and are beautiful...Only 2 problems -- I don't need 11 and I can't be sure if what sex they are!! So, I am keeping them until I am sure, then gonna sell the rest...OR that's what I keep telling my dh...

 

[matthewschickens]

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[dsqard]

That is part of the reason I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I didn't want 15/25 chicks and I didn't want to wind up selling all of the pullets by mistake. I know that the EE's and Am's can be hard to sex until they get quite a bit older.

 

[Lbrad7]

You can NEVER, EVER,EVER,EVER!!! have enough chickens! The sooner you accept this fact, the sooner you will find inner peace.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

The trick on AMs is to look at that comb. The boys have a really wide red comb (3 vertical ridges across) and the girls have a single ridge. The boys do start reddening up sooner than the girls. This method is ALMOST fool-proof. I am starting to see combs on my 6 week olds. Actually, I am starting to see combs on my 4 week olds, but I'm never confident until they are bigger. By 6 weeks though you will mostly know for sure who is a boy. By the time they are old enough to sell, you should be able to know for sure.

Dsgard- you will LOVE hatching. I cannot tell you how much fun it is!! Plus, you can usually hatch for other people, so you get the fun of hatching and yet don't end up with a zillion chickens. Mine have sold like hotcakes this season. In fact, I have had to call a moratorium on selling these last few rounds so I have some keepers for myself!

 

[HBuehler]

Never enough chickens..chicks or incubators

We have several Ameraucana roos lets see..Wheaten,Blue Wheaten,white,black,silver,Blue and splash

they are all great boys to live with.
Here is Levi our blue wheaten about 21 weeks in the picture.He has his nightly good night snuggle with no worries about him forgetting who he is..he's a great ladies man.We are selling several of our blacks though..the bbs pen is overflowing

 

[dsqard]

I am sure I will get futher into the chicken addiction next year with an incubator.

Will definitely have to try the hatching eggs from a breeder eventually. Like I said, I would have to try hatching a few times on my "future" fertile eggs. (Talk about counting your chickens before their hatched! Don't even have the rooster yet!

) citygirl it is good to know that you can tell the sex usually by 6 weeks. That way I might be able to sell them sexed. HBuehler very handsome rooster! I have been told the one I am going to go see and possibly buy is very well behaved as well. So excited for Sunday! COME ON WEEKEND GET HERE!!!

 

[KatieV]

I want more SOOO bad. I have six, six week olds right now and I am just finishing their coop today! Winter is coming fast, so I don't feel like I SHOULD order more chicks, so I have to wait until Spring.

It's going to be a long winter....