Hobby Breeding — Steps involved to create Barred Ameraucanas?

[cluckingheck]

Is there any reason you aren't looking to get a barred Ameraucana from an established line to bring this into your flock? There are existing barred Ameraucanas that pretty much meet standard in every way except shank color—it's proving darn near impossible to get slate shanks on barred birds.

I suspect it would be easier to acquire a spare cockerel or some hatching eggs from barred ameraucanas than it would be to track down a barred holland or *good* barred leghorn. You absolutely CAN NOT use white leghorns for this.

If I did that, this whole thread would be pointless. It was something I was just wanting to do myself

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

If I did that, this whole thread would be pointless. It was something I was just wanting to do myself

Ok, well if you want to make barred EEs "from scratch" just for fun, I'd use either a California Gray or a Legbar. Use a male over your ameraucana hens and look for a cockerel with small comb/wattles and a single copy of the beard/muff gene in the offspring. Breed that back to black ameraucana and repeat this process ad nauseam.

If you use the legbar, you won't have to deal with lurking white egg genes but will have to combat gold leakage. If you use the cal gray, that white egg situation can be a PITA. We're still battling it in some lines of opal legbars after who knows how many generations removed from Isabella leghorn.

Choose your poison!

And If you crack the leg color issue, let us know!

 

[Nigel27]

I have a barred rooster with dark slate legs! Didn’t realize it was special, he’s the product of a sex link cross between an AC cock and BR hen I’ll go get a pic rn!

Ok, well if you want to make barred EEs "from scratch" just for fun, I'd use either a California Gray or a Legbar. Use a male over your ameraucana hens and look for a cockerel with small comb/wattles and a single copy of the beard/muff gene in the offspring. Breed that back to black ameraucana and repeat this process ad nauseam.

If you use the legbar, you won't have to deal with lurking white egg genes but will have to combat gold leakage. If you use the cal gray, that white egg situation can be a PITA. We're still battling it in some lines of opal legbars after who knows how many generations removed from Isabella leghorn.

Choose your poison!

And If you crack the leg color issue, let us know!

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

I have a barred rooster with dark slate legs! Didn’t realize it was special, he’s the product of a sex link cross between an AC cock and BR hen I’ll go get a pic rn!

As I recall the trouble comes in with getting that trait to breed true. I'll have to review the Barred Ameraucana thread, though.

What is an AC?

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

BTW, I searched for the barred Ameraucana thread and couldn't find it, turns out it's because it's about cuckoo Ameraucanas.

Anyway, it was a little tricky to find so for anyone interested, here it is.

 

[Nigel27]

As I recall the trouble comes in with getting that trait to breed true. I'll have to review the Barred Ameraucana thread, though.

What is an AC?

Ayam Cemani

and I just checked some of his chicks! They’re slate too!

glad I read this or I wouldn’t have known the significance

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Ayam Cemani View attachment 2476167and I just checked some of his chicks! They’re slate too!View attachment 2476172glad I read this or I wouldn’t have known the significance

You're working with the fibromelanistic gene there then, I guess. I don't know much about it, but I know that it isn't the same thing that makes Ameraucana legs slate-colored. I don't think there's any applicable significance in this case because I do not think you could retain only the dark legs while adhering to the other aspects of the Ameraucana standard.

 

[cluckingheck]

I guess I got an unexpected start to my little ‘project’. Unfortunately, this little guy’s dad is my black ameraucana ( surprised he was able to sire any offspring, he’s the low man in the pecking order lol ) over my barred rock hen, so this little guy is a sexlink which is something I was told to avoid doing.

Anywho, the chick actually has pale legs with black splotches instead of an actual yellow. So, my BR hen might actually be a cuckoo maran or a mix? I don’t know when I’ll start this in earnest, though. I got rid of my barred rock rooster I had planned on using because I have too many roosters in general ( started with 6 and now I’m down to 3 ). However, the guy I sold him to is local and all of the chickens he has came from me anyways. Might have to do a rent-a-cock type thing.

 

[NatJ]

I guess I got an unexpected start to my little ‘project’. Unfortunately, this little guy’s dad is my black ameraucana ( surprised he was able to sire any offspring, he’s the low man in the pecking order lol ) over my barred rock hen, so this little guy is a sexlink which is something I was told to avoid doing.

It is not a problem that this chick is a sexlink. He is half Ameraucana, and he has the barring gene. That's all you need at this stage.

Anywho, the chick actually has pale legs with black splotches instead of an actual yellow. So, my BR hen might actually be a cuckoo maran or a mix?

The gene for yellow skin is recessive. So if this chick inherited yellow skin from your Barred Rock, and not-yellow from your Ameraucana, then his skin would be not-yellow.

I don’t know when I’ll start this in earnest, though. I got rid of my barred rock rooster I had planned on using

If you use this chick, you won't need the Barred Rock rooster anyway. All you really need to do is transfer one gene (barring) into Black Ameraucanas to have Barred Ameraucanas.

So you can cross this barred chick to a Black Ameraucana. Then pick the best barred chick, and cross to a Black Ameraucana. With a few generations of this, you should have birds that look and perform like proper Ameraucanas with barring. Then cross a male and a female of the barred ones, to get some males with two copies of the barring gene, and you will have true-breeding Barred Ameraucanas.

 

[Athena2344]

I wasn't aiming for barred ameracaunas, but for sex link OEs. I have an ameracauna/araucauna cross rooster that is mostly white with black and a Blue-Red ameracauna rooster in my AR/ARxCross pen. They've bred my two barred rock hens and I hatched eggs from them. All pullets have been black, there's some with beards, some non bearded. All cockerels have been barred, some with beards, some without. I'm aiming to keep beards in the next gen, so I'm keeping a bearded cockerel with the pullets as they grow out. The pullets also have much darker legs than the cockerels, the cockerels legs are closest to being blue but they're not entirely blue. The oldest 5 are around 3-4 months. So I'm still growing them out and waiting to see what color eggs they'll lay. Should be a paleish green, my BRs have pinkish-light brown eggs. I'm not sure which rooster is their father(s). Give me a sec and I'll post pics...