What I was referring to as "quality chicks" are chicks that are actually REAL Ameraucanas. SO many have been sold EEs as Ameraucanas - and not just from hatcheries. I'm a firm believer that if you're paying for something, that's what you should get. I'm well-researched enough to know that birds will hatch "as-is," and culling is part of the process to getting the best end result from breeding stock.
Every time someone asks me for an Ameraucana I ask them if they want a TRUE Ameraucana or just a bird which lays a colored egg. (The answer is about 75% colored egg and 25% Ameraucana with some questioning about true Ameraucanas.)
I live in a super rural area and constantly get questions about "Orphingtons" and "Domineckers" and "bannys"... I had someone tell me that they could buy hatchery Black Copper Marans for less than mine. You may pay less but they probably won't actually be Black Copper Marans, or they will be a hybrid that doesn't lay a dark egg. You do get what you pay for (except Ameraucanas, apparently).
It's why we put off getting Ameraucanas for so long. If we were going to get "Ameraucanas" the BF wanted ACTUAL Ameraucanas and not Easter Eggers. It's tough to find breeders who breed true Ams and not Easter Eggers. We lucked out and found our first pair on Craigslist from someone a little over an hour from us. We also emailed people before and got great responses until it was time to actually purchase chicks/eggs and then it all went quiet. It's a hard breed to get into if you don't already know people.I hear those descriptive "names" around here, too - I'm in Eastern KY now (came from Central KY) and I am constantly giggling at the pronunciations of some of the breeds - or the lack of even knowing anything at all about breeds in general. I get asked on a weekly basis by a fella in town when I go pick up our feed if I've "got any of them there colored-eggers layin' yet - ain't they old enough to lay once they get their feathers?" ;-)
I've definitely learned over the years that in livestock, you get people that will pull the wool on you if you don't know what you're looking for, specifically. Rather than argue the validity of the "Ameraucana" label on the chicks I saved at the store, I argued their care, and managed to save money AND lives. The big coop/pasture is for our layer flock - the side pasture is being divided this coming week into three separate pastures and I've got two more coops in progress in the basement for the breeding/show flocks I have planned. I already have one flock going - just need to get the Lavs going and I'm set with all I can handle for the time being! Thanks for the honest reply - congrats on the acquisition of the Lav chicks recently!
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Ah, by "quality chicks" you mean you want real Ameraucanas, not EEs. Yes, that can be a challenge because there are people who do not know the difference, and those who think their birds are "Real" because the Hatcheries told them so. I would say MOST of the breeders on here know their birds - and if you follow their conversations a bit you can learn exactly what they are working on with their birds. Those that are working on something are the ones that know. Those that are just enjoying the eggs or pushing "Real" when the birds don't look right - those I would avoid. I would also avoid most of the auctions on eBay, etc...
I think if you had placed an order and sent your check in when you started last year this year you would have some juveniles to work with. I have three Lavs and 5 Black/Splits.. may have more boys than girls but I have a place to start. I would not "contact" John. I would print out his order form, fill it out - and send it in. I placed my order in August - he hatches Feb to May - and he was out of Lavenders by November. You can only buy 10 Lavenders - but you can buy the rest as Lavender Spits or Blacks -so you can work on the feather problems. The gene that creates the color has been isolated. It needs to be "improved".
I hope you enjoy the forum here. I really enjoy reading the wisdom of Jerry with his amazing knowledge of what crosses in and what doesn't work and how to get back to the "right colors" - and the pictures he has shared. I learned a lot from reading this thread from the beginning, and reading on the ABC website the discussions about breeding, genetics, etc, and on the first Ameraucana thread. I also learned that they have had to answer on that thread time an time again the same questions from EE owners.. the "No, your bird is not an Ameraucana, Yes, you were lied to by the Feed Store, Hatchery, Private breeder who doesn't separate colors and didn't tell you"... etc...etc. So when they get short with people who refuse to believe them.. I understand. I have hopped in a few times and answered to try and re-direct people to the EE thread, because EEs are good birds, they just are not purebred. I am glad you saved your group - they are some of my favorite birds and I have been raising them almost exclusively for the past 20 years. The only thing I didn't like was they did not go broody - so I lost my breeding stock to old age and had to buy more - except the EEs are getting skinnier and now have the possibility of un-fuzzy faces and brown eggsI now have a good incubator and a few broody hens of a different breed.
I hope you can find the birds you want to start with, and I agree that a good incubator is the best investment. That way you can get eggs here and there, pick the best that you grow and go from there. You will also need that incubator when you start crossing your birds - I have heard that 1 in 100 will be a good bird, yikes!
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Hmm.. that was rather the opposite of my introduction. I learned about them last year - and I decided I liked the Lavenders and wanted to work with them. I put it on hold for a bit, then when I was setup to get some more birds I went online, found the order form, filled it out and sent it in with my check to John. The chicks arrived this year. I don't know why you received silence... and I know nobody in chickens...
It wasn't Lav breeders we got silence from - we originally looked at BBS. Then crystal creek's Lav's became available and we took that opportunity.Hmm.. that was rather the opposite of my introduction. I learned about them last year - and I decided I liked the Lavenders and wanted to work with them. I put it on hold for a bit, then when I was setup to get some more birds I went online, found the order form, filled it out and sent it in with my check to John. The chicks arrived this year. I don't know why you received silence... and I know nobody in chickens...
