New at this

[Steve Todd]

Hi have just started with Lavender and Wheaten Ameraucanas. I have 15 wheatens and 2 lavenders I got from Paul Smith from his June 9th. hatch. I have 42 more lavenders I got from 4 different people. I have 10 I hatched from eggs I bought off ebay. They came from Bowling Green Ky. I have 12 I bought from a lady here in S.C. where I live. I have 20 more I bought from 2 different ladies in N.C. They were all a week or so old when I bought them. The reason I only got 2 from Paul Smith was because he was sold out for the season. So I got him to sell me the 2 hoping I would get at least a rooster for the hens I keep out of the others. So these lavenders mostly are about 9 or 10 weeks old except for Paul's. I am now ready to start giving some roosters away. I have spent a lot of time going through post on here that has helped me identify some of the roosters. I am still having trouble with some. I did not know breeding chickens was so hard until I started going through these post. And the post on the ABC. The wheatens don't seem to be as hard. I see now I have a lot to learn. I see people using terms that I don't even know what they mean. Is there a book or books any one could recommend? I saw one post where it was recommended not to get birds from several different breeders, but I have them now so I will keep what I can find out is the best and go from here. This is my first post. I will take any advice I can get. My name is Steve and I live in S.C. THANKS

 

[tigercreek]

Hi have just started with Lavender and Wheaten Ameraucanas. I have 15 wheatens and 2 lavenders I got from Paul Smith from his June 9th. hatch. I have 42 more lavenders I got from 4 different people. I have 10 I hatched from eggs I bought off ebay. They came from Bowling Green Ky. I have 12 I bought from a lady here in S.C. where I live. I have 20 more I bought from 2 different ladies in N.C. They were all a week or so old when I bought them. The reason I only got 2 from Paul Smith was because he was sold out for the season. So I got him to sell me the 2 hoping I would get at least a rooster for the hens I keep out of the others. So these lavenders mostly are about 9 or 10 weeks old except for Paul's. I am now ready to start giving some roosters away. I have spent a lot of time going through post on here that has helped me identify some of the roosters. I am still having trouble with some. I did not know breeding chickens was so hard until I started going through these post. And the post on the ABC. The wheatens don't seem to be as hard. I see now I have a lot to learn. I see people using terms that I don't even know what they mean. Is there a book or books any one could recommend? I saw one post where it was recommended not to get birds from several different breeders, but I have them now so I will keep what I can find out is the best and go from here. This is my first post. I will take any advice I can get. My name is Steve and I live in S.C. THANKS

Welcome Steve! I'm in SC and also just starting with Ameraucanas. I am in Edgefield, and have ordered spring chicks from Blehm and Paul Smith to go with the pair I already have. I don't think it is a bad thing to mix lines from different breeders with Ams. They are a relatively new breed and the added diversity will not hurt them. Once you get your lines traits set, I would be carefull about what type of bird I added though. I would certainly consider getting the Standard of Perfection from the APA. It's a must have if you are going to be a serious breeder. Lots of information about what traits to look for along with breed drawings and word descriptions of all accepted breeds...let me know if I can give you any help....stan

 

[Steve Todd]

Welcome Steve! I'm in SC and also just starting with Ameraucanas. I am in Edgefield, and have ordered spring chicks from Blehm and Paul Smith to go with the pair I already have. I don't think it is a bad thing to mix lines from different breeders with Ams. They are a relatively new breed and the added diversity will not hurt them. Once you get your lines traits set, I would be carefull about what type of bird I added though. I would certainly consider getting the Standard of Perfection from the APA. It's a must have if you are going to be a serious breeder. Lots of information about what traits to look for along with breed drawings and word descriptions of all accepted breeds...let me know if I can give you any help....stan

Thanks Stan, Did you order lavenders from both? I plan to order more from Paul for next spring, just in case the ones I have does not suit me. Plus it can't hurt to add more of his blood in. I will try to post some pic's of mine. Where did you get the one pair?

 

[tigercreek]

Thanks Stan, Did you order lavenders from both? I plan to order more from Paul for next spring, just in case the ones I have does not suit me. Plus it can't hurt to add more of his blood in. I will try to post some pic's of mine. Where did you get the one pair?

Did not get the lavenders ordered yet. I split an order from John and he has a limit on how many of each variety you can order and the person I split the order with only wanted lav. I was primairly interested in silver, so all I was able to order was black/split to lav. I am in the process of ordering from Paul, so will get blues and lavs from him. They should go well with the split blacks...There is a pretty good breeder locally and I was able to get a black cock and a splash hen from his line. She hasn't laid since I got them a month ago. Don't expect her to till spring...