Need Info on Ameraucana Leghorn Crosses

[ButtonHoarder]

Thank you!! I love them too hence why I’m too attached to give them up sorry

I know, jk

 

[ShrekDawg]

I know, jk

Yeah I figured you were joking haha I was too, joking back you’re too far away anyway.

 

[lomine]

Ok thanks!
Do those hatcheries ship to Canada?
There is so little available here and it's just so frustrating.

I don't know. I'd ask in the Canadian thread in the "Where am I? Where are you?" forum. They'll have a much better idea of your options. They may even know some breeders.

Thanks so much!
Yes that's mostly the reason.
With EE's though, what kind of things would it cause?

Like others have said, EEs are a bit of a genetic grab bag. You never really know what they carry. You also have the added complication of the addition of the genes for brown coating, which gives you green eggs when paired with blue shells. Of course, all those unknowns can make it more fun. One advantage EEs have over AMs is their production. All my EEs, both those I've hatched from crossing AMs (or Legbars) and those I got from hatcheries, lay a lot more eggs than my AMs.

I’m not really sure why people keep trying to discourage you or get you to just buy an existing breed instead. It’s obvious that’s not what you want and there is nothing wrong with experimenting. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work but at least you tried. I bred my Lavender Orpington to my birds just because I liked him and wanted to see what he would produce. I love his chicks and am glad I did. They’re not gonna win any shows but they’re beautiful to me and have so much personality.

I pointed out that this cross already exists in the Whiting True Blue because if that's OPs only end goal it saves them a lot of time and money to just buy that breed. I don't think anyone is trying to discourage OP, just pointing out facts or offering other options. It's true that Legbars have the same purity for egg color and better production than AMs so I don't see why a person wouldn't point that out.

No problem! And I’m not really sure but I think the issue with EEs is more just that there is such a huge variation within them so you really don’t know what you will get. I’ve had 4 and every single one looks totally different and laid different colors too so I think it’s just not very consistent and harder to predict.

For instance, I bred two of my EEs to my Lavender Orpington and got two totally black chicks my birds are orangey red and black laced and then one kind of lav/blue ish base color with gold on top so I expected at least some red LOL the cockerel did actually end up with a fair amount of red leakage and green tail but still.

You got black chicks because your rooster is Lavender (sometimes called Self-Blue). Every chick he sires will be black, no matter what the hen looks like.

@ButtonHoarder if you want to create these crosses, just go for it. Don't be discouraged by the amount of information we are throwing at you. If you don't want to hatch 100s of chicks, just hatch what you want. If you can't find AMs, use EEs. If you don't like what your getting, change things up. If you don't want to do it anymore, just stop. As long as you have an idea of what to do with any birds you cull from your breeders I don't see any harm in trying. It sounds like you aren't just trying to get a specific outcome, but also wanting to experiment and have fun. I think that's great. Worst comes to worst you end up with a flock of chickens.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I don't know. I'd ask in the Canadian thread in the "Where am I? Where are you?" forum. They'll have a much better idea of your options. They may even know some breeders.

Like others have said, EEs are a bit of a genetic grab bag. You never really know what they carry. You also have the added complication of the addition of the genes for brown coating, which gives you green eggs when paired with blue shells. Of course, all those unknowns can make it more fun. One advantage EEs have over AMs is their production. All my EEs, both those I've hatched from crossing AMs (or Legbars) and those I got from hatcheries, lay a lot more eggs than my AMs.

I pointed out that this cross already exists in the Whiting True Blue because if that's OPs only end goal it saves them a lot of time and money to just buy that breed. I don't think anyone is trying to discourage OP, just pointing out facts or offering other options. It's true that Legbars have the same purity for egg color and better production than AMs so I don't see why a person wouldn't point that out.

You got black chicks because your rooster is Lavender (sometimes called Self-Blue). Every chick he sires will be black, no matter what the hen looks like.

@ButtonHoarder if you want to create these crosses, just go for it. Don't be discouraged by the amount of information we are throwing at you. If you don't want to hatch 100s of chicks, just hatch what you want. If you can't find AMs, use EEs. If you don't like what your getting, change things up. If you don't want to do it anymore, just stop. As long as you have an idea of what to do with any birds you cull from your breeders I don't see any harm in trying. It sounds like you aren't just trying to get a specific outcome, but also wanting to experiment and have fun. I think that's great. Worst comes to worst you end up with a flock of chickens.

I’m sorry if you thought that I was referring to you or anything. I was not. Your replies were all very helpful and most of this thread has been great. And I totally get mentioning other breeds to consider either buying or using for the cross instead. But when the OP already mentioned they weren’t interested in Legbars and wanted to try breeding themselves, to have them brought up again and told it was a bad plan or almost acting like it was dumb to try when you could just buy them was where myself and clearly OP had the issue. There WERE people telling her not to do it or to just buy after stating she didn’t want to. Not yours though, your replies were great.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I don't know. I'd ask in the Canadian thread in the "Where am I? Where are you?" forum. They'll have a much better idea of your options. They may even know some breeders.

Like others have said, EEs are a bit of a genetic grab bag. You never really know what they carry. You also have the added complication of the addition of the genes for brown coating, which gives you green eggs when paired with blue shells. Of course, all those unknowns can make it more fun. One advantage EEs have over AMs is their production. All my EEs, both those I've hatched from crossing AMs (or Legbars) and those I got from hatcheries, lay a lot more eggs than my AMs.

I pointed out that this cross already exists in the Whiting True Blue because if that's OPs only end goal it saves them a lot of time and money to just buy that breed. I don't think anyone is trying to discourage OP, just pointing out facts or offering other options. It's true that Legbars have the same purity for egg color and better production than AMs so I don't see why a person wouldn't point that out.

You got black chicks because your rooster is Lavender (sometimes called Self-Blue). Every chick he sires will be black, no matter what the hen looks like.

@ButtonHoarder if you want to create these crosses, just go for it. Don't be discouraged by the amount of information we are throwing at you. If you don't want to hatch 100s of chicks, just hatch what you want. If you can't find AMs, use EEs. If you don't like what your getting, change things up. If you don't want to do it anymore, just stop. As long as you have an idea of what to do with any birds you cull from your breeders I don't see any harm in trying. It sounds like you aren't just trying to get a specific outcome, but also wanting to experiment and have fun. I think that's great. Worst comes to worst you end up with a flock of chickens.

Oh and thank you for the info about the rooster. Although I ended up with half white chicks and half black chicks from the same rooster the white chicks were from my White Leghorn though and I think white is dominant?

 

[ShrekDawg]

Whoops, not bald. HALF white lol

 

[NatJ]

Oh and thank you for the info about the rooster. Although I ended up with half white chicks and half black chicks from the same rooster the white chicks were from my White Leghorn though and I think white is dominant?

Yes, the Dominant White gene is dominant, and it turns black to white.

Other dominant genes that could affect black are blue and barring.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yes, the Dominant White gene is dominant, and it turns black to white.

Other dominant genes that could affect black are blue and barring.

Thank you!! Very helpful!! So the white birds are technically black underneath, genetically? Or lavender or?

 

[NatJ]

Thank you!! Very helpful!! So the white birds are technically black underneath, genetically? Or lavender or?

You've got black birds carrying lavender.
And black-turned-white birds carrying lavender.

If you cross either kind back to their father, you should get some lavender offspring and some black offspring (and some white offspring if you're using one of the whites.)

If you cross any of them to each other you could also get some lavenders, but you'll get a higher rate of lavenders by backcrossing to the rooster that actually is lavender.

And yes, it's possible to get a chicken that is black, diluted to lavender, and also turned white (looks white but is also genetically lavender.)

 

[ButtonHoarder]

I don't know. I'd ask in the Canadian thread in the "Where am I? Where are you?" forum. They'll have a much better idea of your options. They may even know some breeders.

Like others have said, EEs are a bit of a genetic grab bag. You never really know what they carry. You also have the added complication of the addition of the genes for brown coating, which gives you green eggs when paired with blue shells. Of course, all those unknowns can make it more fun. One advantage EEs have over AMs is their production. All my EEs, both those I've hatched from crossing AMs (or Legbars) and those I got from hatcheries, lay a lot more eggs than my AMs.

I pointed out that this cross already exists in the Whiting True Blue because if that's OPs only end goal it saves them a lot of time and money to just buy that breed. I don't think anyone is trying to discourage OP, just pointing out facts or offering other options. It's true that Legbars have the same purity for egg color and better production than AMs so I don't see why a person wouldn't point that out.

You got black chicks because your rooster is Lavender (sometimes called Self-Blue). Every chick he sires will be black, no matter what the hen looks like.

@ButtonHoarder if you want to create these crosses, just go for it. Don't be discouraged by the amount of information we are throwing at you. If you don't want to hatch 100s of chicks, just hatch what you want. If you can't find AMs, use EEs. If you don't like what your getting, change things up. If you don't want to do it anymore, just stop. As long as you have an idea of what to do with any birds you cull from your breeders I don't see any harm in trying. It sounds like you aren't just trying to get a specific outcome, but also wanting to experiment and have fun. I think that's great. Worst comes to worst you end up with a flock of chickens.

Ok I'll do that.

Ah yeah, when I hatch some I would only do good blue eggs, if that would make a difference.

I know it would save a lot of effort to just but an already existing breed, but I'd like to create it in my own way

Thank you. I won't be, keep it coming I want to soak up as much as I can!

Exactly! Worst that can happen, I've got chickens!