Need Help Sexing Blue Ameraucanas Please

[ALChickGal]

Hi, Friends! I bought some chicks to add to my existing flock (23 hens) about 10 weeks ago. So, these are about 11 weeks old. I bought Blue and Black Copper Marans and these Blue Ameraucanas. Sexing the Marans is pretty easy, but I am not sure about these Ameraucanas. Any help is appreciated! I am going to post 2 pics of each of the 3 birds
Bird 1A . Bird 1B

Bird 2A Bird 2B
Bird 3A Bird 3B

Also, I would like to ask if it is too early to add them to my existing flock. They are 1 year old. If I add them, what do I do about feed? The hens are eating laying pellets right now. And the young chickens are eating grower. I have been letting them forage together for about 3-4 hrs each day this last week trying to get them acquainted w/ one another. Thanks for any advice in advance! Blessings!

 

[Nocila]

I'd say birds 1 and 3 are both roosters (they appear to have saddle feathers)

I'd say that they should be okay to integrate into the coop, and I'd probably just give them some All Purpose Poultry, as layer feed can harm young birds (though they might be old enough to handle it, I'm not sure...)

 

[ramirezframing]

#1 and #3 are roosters and all appear to be ee's not blue ameraucanas (blue ameraucanas should not have the other color in them like your's do)


ETA since I couldn't count this morning

 

[Basskids08]

 #1 and #3 are roosters and all appear to be ee's not blue ameraucanas (blue ameraucanas should not have the other color in them like your's do)


ETA since I couldn't count this morning 

X2, unfortunately that leakage disqualifies them from being true Ameraucanas.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

#1 and #3 are roosters and all appear to be ee's not blue ameraucanas (blue ameraucanas should not have the other color in them like your's do)


ETA since I couldn't count this morning

I agree, #1 and #3 are cockerels.

I also agree that the blue isn't pure in the boys. A true blue Ameraucana would have black shoulders where yours have a cream color, and I'm not sure what's up with the lacing on the feathers on bird #1. Because of the color problem, the Ameraucana Breeders Club would probably call them EEs since they don't fit the standard.

The cream in the boys makes me suspicious that the pullet has some bad genes in there, too. I wouldn't breed these birds unless you just want some pretty eggs for your basket.

 

[ALChickGal]

Thanks so much to all of you! I had guessed that 1 and 3 were roos. I just was not positive-- the Copper Marans roos which are the same age have been crowing for a couple of weeks now. I have never had this breed before. And... maybe I was just holding out hope. LOL!

So, I have been letting these young birds (there are 8 of them) forage each evening with my existing flock (1 year old) for about 3-4 hours each day. So far, no problems- they prettty much stay together. The older hens have checked them out, but nothing traumatic. If I continue this for a week or so, would it be okay to move them in together? I am planning to keep one black copper roo and one blue copper roo, but the others will go. I plan to keep the roos in a separate pen. I appreciate all your advice. Thanks, again, to you all!

 

[ALChickGal]

Oh... and I had wondered about that coloring in them, too! :-/

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Thanks so much to all of you! I had guessed that 1 and 3 were roos. I just was not positive-- the Copper Marans roos which are the same age have been crowing for a couple of weeks now. I have never had this breed before. And... maybe I was just holding out hope. LOL!

So, I have been letting these young birds (there are 8 of them) forage each evening with my existing flock (1 year old) for about 3-4 hours each day. So far, no problems- they prettty much stay together. The older hens have checked them out, but nothing traumatic. If I continue this for a week or so, would it be okay to move them in together? I am planning to keep one black copper roo and one blue copper roo, but the others will go. I plan to keep the roos in a separate pen. I appreciate all your advice. Thanks, again, to you all!

The big problem with letting young birds in with a laying flock is excess calcium in the layer pellets. If you want them to all live together, you can switch from layer pellets to Flock Raiser or All Flock and make sure that you always have oyster shell available for the hens as they need it. The roosters will be much healthier this way, since they never need the extra calcium found in layer pellets.

You don't need to keep the boys in a separate pen as long as you have enough hens for them. As long as you have 8+ hens per rooster, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[ALChickGal]

Thank you, WalkingOnSunshine!

I keep crushed oyster shells and egg shells in a feeder all of the time. I thought that I should use Flock Raiser, but wasn't sure. So you think they are old enough to move in a week? They will be about 12 weeks old then. And, at what age do roosters start "roo-ing"?

I really, really appreciate the help from everyone. This site is so wonderful.
Blessings!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Thank you, WalkingOnSunshine!

I keep crushed oyster shells and egg shells in a feeder all of the time. I thought that I should use Flock Raiser, but wasn't sure. So you think they are old enough to move in a week? They will be about 12 weeks old then. And, at what age do roosters start "roo-ing"?

I really, really appreciate the help from everyone. This site is so wonderful.
Blessings!

They are old enough to move any time that they can go in with the main flock and not get beaten up too badly. If the birds don't know each other, that is usually when the babies are big enough to hold their own; i.e. 18 weeks or so. But with your flock, it sounds like they know each other pretty well already so you can put them together whenever you want. Just watch them closely and be prepared to separate them until they're bigger if they get badly beaten up.

Cockerels start mounting chickens at different ages, depending on how fast they mature. Usually around 16-18 weeks. They won't be very good at it at first, and may mount the wrong end or pull out feathers or just jump on hens without dancing first, etc. They're not really considered mature until they are over a year old.

When you're evaluating which cockerels to keep, I advise paying special attention to their behavior. You want birds that are not aggressive to humans and are good to hens. Make sure they aren't displaying aggressive behaviors to you, like stalking up to your back with their heads and tails held really high, or coming up to you with their hackles raised. Watch to see if they show chickens where the goodies are, etc. If you have one that attacks people, I would not breed him. Aggression is heritable, and an aggressive cockerel will have aggressive sons and daughters.