Hobby Breeding — Steps involved to create Barred Ameraucanas?

[cluckingheck]

As many eggs as you possibly can. As was said, all might not hatch, all might not live to the age where you choose next years breeders, (Not to mention the ones that are automatically "not breeding quality" right out of the egg or shortly after.) The more you have, the greater your chances of getting what you are after.

Yeah, that’s what I figured. More is best and all that, lol. I can see how easy it is to end up with too many chickens.

 

[JadeFarms]

So, I could breed any gender of the F1 offspring with the best qualities to the ameraucanas? I didn’t know if doing a black ameraucana over a female barred F1 offspring would produce the male barred & black female sex-link? Sorry, have a very limited understanding of chicken genetics

It would be better not to create a sex link because it’d be harder to make barred ameraucanas. Do BR over ameraucana.

 

[cluckingheck]

It would be better not to create a sex link because it’d be harder to make barred ameraucanas. Do BR over ameraucana.

Okay, gotcha, that’s what I was thinking but I figured I’d still ask. I imagine this little project would take a few years to achieve what I was looking for?

 

[JadeFarms]

Okay, gotcha, that’s what I was thinking but I figured I’d still ask. I imagine this little project would take a few years to achieve what I was looking for?

Yes it would

 

[Percheron chick]

I would not use a brown egg barred bird. Go with a barred leghorn or Holland. One less thing to eliminate.

 

[NatJ]

I didn’t know if doing a black ameraucana over a female barred F1 offspring would produce the male barred & black female sex-link? Sorry, have a very limited understanding of chicken genetics

Yes, it would create sexlinks.
But you could cross one of those barred males back to an Ameraucana and get some barred chicks in each gender, and some not-barred chicks in each gender.

I would just keep crossing the best barred bird in each generation (either gender) back to a good Ameraucana until you have birds that seem to be good Ameraucanas with one copy of the barring gene. Then cross a male & female barred bird to get some true-breeding males (two copies of the barring gene) to continue using with your barred females.

 

[cluckingheck]

I would not use a brown egg barred bird. Go with a barred leghorn or Holland. One less thing to eliminate.

I thought about that. My BR pullet lays a light brown egg, but the light brown pigment over a blue egg would still make it look olive/green, right?

 

[NatJ]

I thought about that. My BR pullet lays a light brown egg, but the light brown pigment over a blue egg would still make it look olive/green, right?

Light brown pigment would give you a green egg.

"Olive" eggs are the ones with dark brown pigment over blue. You should not get olive eggers from that cross.

 

[cluckingheck]

Light brown pigment would give you a green egg.

"Olive" eggs are the ones with dark brown pigment over blue. You should not get olive eggers from that cross.

Okay, I didn’t think it would be a dark green and I wasn’t sure if it’d still be considered olive. How difficult would it be to try breeding in traits to get it back to a blue?

 

[JadeFarms]

Okay, I didn’t think it would be a dark green and I wasn’t sure if it’d still be considered olive. How difficult would it be to try breeding in traits to get it back to a blue?

It wouldn’t be overly hard, it would be fine to do blue x light brown