My rant about chickens.....

[moms_pantry]

I'm confused. When you buy chicks from the feed store and they sell them as Amercana's what are you getting. I bought some and that is what the label said. What is the difference in EE's and Amerecana's. Mine lay varying shades of green/blue eggs.

 

[seriousbill]

It is confusing, moms_pantry. Here's an article from Backyard Poultry magazine that explains it:

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/2/2-3/John_W_Blehm.html

 

[kodiakchicken]

It's not just Feed Stores. I ordered from a hatchery and ordered one of what he was selling as Aracaunas. I love the chick, but there is no way it's a purebred Aracauna or even Americauna. After all, she has a butt and no tufts (so far). I was really disappointed that a hatchery would sell them under the wrong name.

 

[Dinos_rock]

Usually Ameraucanas from the feed store are really easter eggers. Ameraucanas are purebred and ees are mixed. It really doesn't matter if your chickens are ee's or true ameraucana (unless you are showing them), they still are wonderful chickens. But it bothers some people (like me) when ee's are called ameraucanas. EE's usually lay blue/green or sometimes brownish egg (one of my dads ee's lays pinkish brown eggs). If you are not sure if they are ee's or ameraucanas, post some pics on the what breed section (or here).

 

[farmgirlie1031]

Your FFA sounds like mine. We had 55 chickens until some mean people killed almost all of them for who knows what reason. I had never had sheep but I knew more than my FFA advisor about them and ended up teaching him instead of him teaching me! He ended up killing our lone hen that survived the attack because we had 5 roosters that were all attacking her. I put her in my sheep pen and made sure she had access to feed and water that the sheep couldn't get to. Well, that dummy put her back with all the roosters and she was dead by the time school got out for the day. I was SO MAD! He also made me worm a very sick lamb and ended up killing it. It was too sick to be wormed.

 

[Guitartists]

Where do they find these people?????

 

[Dinos_rock]

Quote:
Yep, that sounds like mine too. We ordered all these fancy breeds of chickens from a hatchery, and I was going to have three. I was literally counting down to the day when the chicks would come. When they arrived, half of them were dead. My teachers couldn't tell which breed were which, so I couldn't take mine home until they were old enough to tell apart. Then one day someone flooded the greenhouse (where they were kept) and they all died. So as a last minute solution, they got ee's from the feed store. I told them forget it, I didn't want ee's so instead I showed pigeons!

They also keep all the roosters in one pen and all the hens in the other, I'm actually surprised the roosters aren't dead. And the students don't eat the eggs, they throw the eggs on the ground for the chickens to eat - 10-20 eggs per day. Once they (the people who own the chickens) let me throw some on the ground and it was fun...

But I still love FFA. I love animals, that is why I love FFA.

 

[Dinos_rock]

Quote:
That is what I'd like to know....

My dad says I should be one when I'm older, because I love animals and because I know so much about them, but I don't know if I will.

 

[moms_pantry]

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Thanks for the information. The website was helpful.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Why, in the Name of the Goddess, wouldn't they eat the eggs??? Do they think they're just zapped into the carton?

I remember the story of the flooded greenhouse...that set my teeth on edge...
well, angel, your advisor was an idiot too...
We need more "kids" like you two that know what's what.