Meyer Ameraucanas?

[HollowOfWisps]

Anyone ever buy Ameraucanas from Meyer? Are they actually Ameraucanas? Obviously they would be hatchery quality, but my son really wants me to order some with this next batch. I am fine paying the extra if they are indeed Ameraucanas, but if they are Easter eggers I would rather buy the cheaper Easter eggers they also have listed.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Meyer has true Ameraucana and Easter Eggers. The Ameraucana are labled as "(color) Ameraucana" and the Easter Eggers are labled just "Easter Egger".

 

[Rose the Legbar]

I am unsure with Meyer but I know Cackle breeds some pretty nice true Ameraucanas.

 

[SourRoses]

If I had to order from a hatchery, I'd go with Cackle.

Meyer has this to say about their Ameraucana:

will lay 4 to 6 medium to large, beautiful, blue or green eggs weekly. According to the Ameraucana Breeders Club (ABC) color chart, Ameraucanas can lay shades of green. While it is not desired, a green egg does not indicate that they are not pure Ameraucanas.

Which says to me, they don't bother trying to breed for blue eggs, and they don't want customers complaining about it.

I also notice some very bad tails on their photographed stock, the Lavender roo especially has a squirrel tail as well as bad feather shredding.
Ameraucana are one of the only breeds that breeders managed to clean the Lavender feathers up, so if you wanted that color I would only go with a good breeder.
How can they charge $32 for inferior stock??!! Breeders don't get anywhere near that. On that train of thought, you know there are breeders who ship chicks, and usually charge around the $10 +/- range per chick. What about looking up one with the quality stock that will get your son off to a good start?

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

I have two Meyers splash Ameraucauna hens,had a splash rooster ( lost him due to the heat had to add more fans and more water holes)anyway, my girls lay blue eggs, as 2 year olds they are laying large to extra large blue eggs..

 

[4xhennifer]

If I had to order from a hatchery, I'd go with Cackle.

Meyer has this to say about their Ameraucana:



Which says to me, they don't bother trying to breed for blue eggs, and they don't want customers complaining about it.

I also notice some very bad tails on their photographed stock, the Lavender roo especially has a squirrel tail as well as bad feather shredding.
Ameraucana are one of the only breeds that breeders managed to clean the Lavender feathers up, so if you wanted that color I would only go with a good breeder.
How can they charge $32 for inferior stock??!! Breeders don't get anywhere near that. On that train of thought, you know there are breeders who ship chicks, and usually charge around the $10 +/- range per chick. What about looking up one with the quality stock that will get your son off to a good start?

Here is my experience and I will start with the negative first:

I recently made my first order with Meyer and it had some issues, to say the least. I ordered a Lavender Ameraucana pullet. She is very sweet and lovely, but she has the shredder gene AND she is practically bantam-sized. I also ordered a Speckled Sussex and they sent me a Welsummer instead (with a crooked toe, mind you). I ordered FOUR chicks.. FOUR and they managed to screw up one of the breeds.

Based on the breeding genetics of those two alone, this tells me this isn't just a hatchery, but a poultry sweatshop. They do not care one bit about genes. My LA was $43! For a Bantam-sized Shredder-gened bird that may lay green eggs! WTF! SMH.

Now the positives:

The breed selection is amazing and I LOVE that they have all of the breeds I wanted. I also ordered a Wheaten Marans and an Olive Egger in this order, and the WM is STUNNING. She is absolutely divine and frankly, very close to SOP for that breed. What a crap shoot! LOL They also have the loveliest temperaments. Like serious lap chickens (even the Welsummer, which is notoriously independent!)

I have another order arriving on October 7th with 9 other breeds. Even with the breeding quality issues and mis-breed, I am still willing to give them another try. Let the roulette games begin! LOL

 

[LCsAChickenLover]

Older post but here is my splash ameraucana from Meyer

 

[4xhennifer]

Older post but here is my splash ameraucana from Meyer

Stunning. How old is she? Has she started laying? If so, do you have a pic of her eggs?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Stunning indeed!

 

[LCsAChickenLover]

Stunning. How old is she? Has she started laying? If so, do you have a pic of her eggs?

Her eggs