Me too!!!!
I don't know to much about Ameraucanas but why aren't they in the American Breed class if they're an American breed? Yet they are listed in All Other Breed class it's almost like a mystery where they came from.
I am not sure why on the class but the where developed in the U.S
They look pretty good to me.
The older birds are starting to molt in these photos. They look just a tad better otherwise. I culled one of the younger cockerels, and this set of pictures is only a general representation of what I am starting with. I have a couple pullets, and a cockerel that I like more than any of these. I would like to post updated photos of these three. These birds have a long ways to go, but I think that there is enough here to start with. I would nit pick these photos, but the list would be too long. Some things that I like about these birds that you cannot get from a picture is that they are productive layers. They are decent low light layers. Egg size is large. The color has varied from a clean white to off white to light pink. Egg shape and quality is great. They come into lay around 20wks. Some as early as 18 and as late as 22. I do not have a clear picture on their molting pattern. This was unusual year for many around here, so I will withhold judgment. I do know that if you hatch these early in the year like many that show birds do, you will have late spring layers that molt the first year. My birds from the later hatches, did not seam to suffer any setbacks in size, came into lay at a similar time, and did not molt. These pullets have been good winter layers. Early hatching is not necessary and they would be in their prime for fall shows. They do not molt out as fast as commercial strains, but molt out faster than many birds that I have had. They return to laying pretty quick. They are confident, and easy to handle. I have grown out a few nervous birds, and I culled them. I am of the opinion that we should be mindful of this as we move along. Active, assertive, and confident are compliments. Nervous and difficult to work with are not. We and the birds are better off when we have an easy to manage flock. The last thing we want is man fighters. There is absolutely no good reason to use such a bird. Out of around 120 hatched birds, I had one. Unfortunately my favorite otherwise. He got buried in the garden. These birds do not have a tendency to fly. They are easily contained, and they adapt well to confinement. I would not recommend close confinement, however. They do need a little more room than some of the breeds that I would call lethargic. They are active, and should have the room to be active. I had no feather picking problems with the chicks. Knock on wood. No egg eating. From such a small flock, and from such a rare breed, the fertility and hatchability was great. Many of the settings had fertility of 100%. Overall, I probably had a little better than a 95% hatch rate. The chicks hatched fast, and got off to a good vigorous and strong start. I do not remember having a single loss, though I may have. They are good active foragers. The results have varied by pen. I am of the opinion that how they are raised is a big factor. If allowed to, they make excellent free range birds. Their alertness and activity level is a plus. I have never been one to call chickens smart, but I am convinced that these are smarter than most that I have had. They pick up on things fast. I will post some updated pictures soon, instead of these random shots. With that set, I will mention the negatives. The things I want to improve and possibly what I am unsettled with.
