Hello all,
My name is Dian and I have owned chickens almost forever (it seems like). I do talk chicken.. and I can call them, crow at them, and tell them to look up - and they talk back to me too.
We had them when I was growing up, and when I could I bought my own birds (called Auracana at that time by the hatchery - now known as Americauna or Easter Eggers). We always had a mixed flock - whatever was available at the feed store or free chickens got crossed with whatever else we had. I always loved the blue/green eggs so that's what I chose for my chickens.
I kept a small flock when I moved out on my own - about a dozen or so birds. I made my own cross using a New Hampshire rooster for larger eggs and better longivity - and got greener eggs too. I incubated my eggs, and kept the hens. I always loved the beeps (baby peeps), they are soooo cute! Their peep-squack stage is funny too (adolescence).. gangly looking birds you never knew if they were going to go peep or cluck! And then come those lovely blue/green eggs!
When I moved up to Northern California I left my birds with my mommy - but after tasting my first store bought eggs I called her up and said "I WANT MY CHICKENS ... how can anybody EAT those eggs? ICK!"
The one thing my hens never did was go broody - so after I moved up here and had a terrible time trying to incubate some eggs (my houses have all been wood stove heat - and the temperatures fluctuates too often for the incubator (little styrofoam one) to keep the temps constant) I bought more chicks from the feed store.
My chickens die of old age.. I can't seem to bring myself to eat them! The roosters were given away on the few that I successfully hatched - but after having to buy chicks to replace old hens three times I decided I wanted some broody hens!
My mother now raises OEG mixes - and I loved her silver duckwing mommys!
So last year I placed an order with McMurray for a mix of birds. What I wanted was some BROODY hens! I bought 6 more Americauna pullets (EE), 3 Bantam Americauna (NOT) (2 survived, both Roos and neither one looks ANYTHING like an EE except for the green legs.. more on them later), 2 Buff Brahma Bantams (both Roos), 2 OEG bantams (1 Roo survived), 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes (1 defective crossbeak roo, 1 hen), 2 Golden Laced Wyandottes (hens), 3 Mille Fleur (2 roo, one hen), 2 Phoenix (hens), 3 Partridge Wyandotte Bantams (2 survived, 1 roo, 1 hen), 2 Summatras (1 Roo, 1 hen). I also bought some chicks from the feed store.. 1 blue Silky (hen - thank goodness), 2 Mottled Houdans (1 roo(died)1 hen), 2 more Mille Fleur (both roos!), 2 Porceleans (both hens), 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes (both hens), 1 Light Brahma Bantam (hen), 1 White Cochin Bantam (roo) and 1 Americauna (EE) (clean faced Roo).
I gave my mother most of the Roos.. she has contacts in New Mexico that will buy roosters. I kept most of the hens (gave away the Golden Laced Wyandottes - they were mean) I kept one Bantam Americauna (NOT) roo, the OEG Bantam roo (too cute), the BLRW defective Roo (probably going to have to eat him.. just don't have the heart .. yet), The Partridge Wyandotte Bantam Roo and the Summatra Roo. I traded the other roos to my mother and got two of her economy package mixed chicks that she bought from McMurray a week after mine came - one who I hope is a phoenix (???) roo and the other who I think is a Splash Andalusian roo.
I found BYC while looking to find out what I had gotten instead of the fuzzy faced Americauna (EE) Bantams I expected. One roo is black and white all over with green legs (Xerox) and the other one is a beautiful cream/gold colored bantam roo (Eagle). I gave Xerox to my mom and he got his adult feathers in and she brought him to the fair over in New Mexico and was told by the judge that he was a Lemon Blue Splash OEG Bantam.. very rare! So I went looking for what my Eagle could possibly be.. and found BYC.
I also found out what I had been calling Americauna/Auracana for many many years is now called an Easter Egger. The Auracana name got registered for the rumpless tufted birds ONLY in 1976 (the original description from the 1914 world's fair) - and the Americauna name is a derative of the registered AmeraUcana name (1980) ... so they call them Easter Eggers.
I read the history pages and this is the information I found: http://www.ameraucana.org/history.html Facinating reading!
I am fine with calling them Easter Eggers.. but I read all the way thru the thousand plus pages of the Ameraucana page - and went on the Ameraucana Breeders Club pages too.. and found that many Ameraucana owners are very touchy about the Americauna name used by the hatcheries for their unregistered cross-breeds. I am currently reading all the way thru the EE Braggers thread... lots of beautiful birds that look very much like my birds.
I am planning on getting some REAL Ameraucanas from one of the founding breeders - LF (Large Fowl) as I really love the look of the Lavenders and would like to help on getting them to standards (work in progress) and I got some Silver AMs that I sure hope will be the hoped for silver duckwing broodies - with the addition of having lovely blue eggs AND fuzzy faces! Any excess roos will be daddies over my EEs - for more blue egg EEs - and those WILL be mutts - but well loved mutts.
Now to go post Eagle's picture on the "What is this" page.. I hope somebody can tell me what he is supposed to be... altho he might just be an EE bantam mutt....
My name is Dian and I have owned chickens almost forever (it seems like). I do talk chicken.. and I can call them, crow at them, and tell them to look up - and they talk back to me too.
We had them when I was growing up, and when I could I bought my own birds (called Auracana at that time by the hatchery - now known as Americauna or Easter Eggers). We always had a mixed flock - whatever was available at the feed store or free chickens got crossed with whatever else we had. I always loved the blue/green eggs so that's what I chose for my chickens.
I kept a small flock when I moved out on my own - about a dozen or so birds. I made my own cross using a New Hampshire rooster for larger eggs and better longivity - and got greener eggs too. I incubated my eggs, and kept the hens. I always loved the beeps (baby peeps), they are soooo cute! Their peep-squack stage is funny too (adolescence).. gangly looking birds you never knew if they were going to go peep or cluck! And then come those lovely blue/green eggs!
When I moved up to Northern California I left my birds with my mommy - but after tasting my first store bought eggs I called her up and said "I WANT MY CHICKENS ... how can anybody EAT those eggs? ICK!"
The one thing my hens never did was go broody - so after I moved up here and had a terrible time trying to incubate some eggs (my houses have all been wood stove heat - and the temperatures fluctuates too often for the incubator (little styrofoam one) to keep the temps constant) I bought more chicks from the feed store.
My chickens die of old age.. I can't seem to bring myself to eat them! The roosters were given away on the few that I successfully hatched - but after having to buy chicks to replace old hens three times I decided I wanted some broody hens!
My mother now raises OEG mixes - and I loved her silver duckwing mommys!
So last year I placed an order with McMurray for a mix of birds. What I wanted was some BROODY hens! I bought 6 more Americauna pullets (EE), 3 Bantam Americauna (NOT) (2 survived, both Roos and neither one looks ANYTHING like an EE except for the green legs.. more on them later), 2 Buff Brahma Bantams (both Roos), 2 OEG bantams (1 Roo survived), 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes (1 defective crossbeak roo, 1 hen), 2 Golden Laced Wyandottes (hens), 3 Mille Fleur (2 roo, one hen), 2 Phoenix (hens), 3 Partridge Wyandotte Bantams (2 survived, 1 roo, 1 hen), 2 Summatras (1 Roo, 1 hen). I also bought some chicks from the feed store.. 1 blue Silky (hen - thank goodness), 2 Mottled Houdans (1 roo(died)1 hen), 2 more Mille Fleur (both roos!), 2 Porceleans (both hens), 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes (both hens), 1 Light Brahma Bantam (hen), 1 White Cochin Bantam (roo) and 1 Americauna (EE) (clean faced Roo).
I gave my mother most of the Roos.. she has contacts in New Mexico that will buy roosters. I kept most of the hens (gave away the Golden Laced Wyandottes - they were mean) I kept one Bantam Americauna (NOT) roo, the OEG Bantam roo (too cute), the BLRW defective Roo (probably going to have to eat him.. just don't have the heart .. yet), The Partridge Wyandotte Bantam Roo and the Summatra Roo. I traded the other roos to my mother and got two of her economy package mixed chicks that she bought from McMurray a week after mine came - one who I hope is a phoenix (???) roo and the other who I think is a Splash Andalusian roo.
I found BYC while looking to find out what I had gotten instead of the fuzzy faced Americauna (EE) Bantams I expected. One roo is black and white all over with green legs (Xerox) and the other one is a beautiful cream/gold colored bantam roo (Eagle). I gave Xerox to my mom and he got his adult feathers in and she brought him to the fair over in New Mexico and was told by the judge that he was a Lemon Blue Splash OEG Bantam.. very rare! So I went looking for what my Eagle could possibly be.. and found BYC.
I also found out what I had been calling Americauna/Auracana for many many years is now called an Easter Egger. The Auracana name got registered for the rumpless tufted birds ONLY in 1976 (the original description from the 1914 world's fair) - and the Americauna name is a derative of the registered AmeraUcana name (1980) ... so they call them Easter Eggers.
I read the history pages and this is the information I found: http://www.ameraucana.org/history.html Facinating reading!
I am fine with calling them Easter Eggers.. but I read all the way thru the thousand plus pages of the Ameraucana page - and went on the Ameraucana Breeders Club pages too.. and found that many Ameraucana owners are very touchy about the Americauna name used by the hatcheries for their unregistered cross-breeds. I am currently reading all the way thru the EE Braggers thread... lots of beautiful birds that look very much like my birds.
I am planning on getting some REAL Ameraucanas from one of the founding breeders - LF (Large Fowl) as I really love the look of the Lavenders and would like to help on getting them to standards (work in progress) and I got some Silver AMs that I sure hope will be the hoped for silver duckwing broodies - with the addition of having lovely blue eggs AND fuzzy faces! Any excess roos will be daddies over my EEs - for more blue egg EEs - and those WILL be mutts - but well loved mutts.
Now to go post Eagle's picture on the "What is this" page.. I hope somebody can tell me what he is supposed to be... altho he might just be an EE bantam mutt....
