questions about: araucana gender and pasty butt

[Moriah]

Four days ago I finally got my babies, all araucana's from McMurray (plus one "rare" chick). 26 in all. They all seem to be thriving and are all very active, eating, drinking, exploring etc... Now, being relatively new to all this, I cannot tell what gender they are, I've read that you cannot tell gender by feathers in all breeds...how about the araucana? My chicks for the most part all look alike (one of four colors, light brown with dark brown spots or stripes, a two tone brown or yellow) I have no clue which is the "non-araucana" and it was mentioned to me that McMurry may have thrown in another araucana as the free chick.

As for pasty butt....I've been randomly checking their little fluffy butts but haven't seen anything, but I am not 100% sure of what I am looking for. Is pasty butt something that is fairly obvious without having to upend each little one?

Thus far I really like this site and have learned ALOT of new stuff and gotten some really good ideas for things to do.

 

[ChickenToes]

At that age you cannot tell what gender they are unless you vent sex them.

At 2 to 3 weeks old the males will begin to grow little bitty combs. As they get older, you can tell the males apart by their large combs and their thick legs. Their feathers are also more pointed than hen feathers.

I think your babies are probably past the stage of pasty butt. I always thought that only happened during stressful times like shipping. I think it's a fairly obvious thing if they do have pasty butt.

And one more thing - although McMurray and other hatcheries sell birds they call Araucanas, they are actually Easter Eggers. They are a mutt that lays tinted eggs. But don't worry about it! I got my Easter Eggers from McMurray and I love them. They are beautiful birds!

Good luck!

 

[Moriah]

Thanks for the info.

I had heard that McMurray's "araucana's" aren't full blooded araucana's and that the actual breed is in fact rather rare. I'm just fine with it, so long as I get my colored eggs, and hopefully they will have some of the traits that araucana's have.

My sister who has raised chickens before keeps telling me that I could still lose some of them. I hope not.

 

[ChickenToes]

Yup, true Araucanas are tufted and rumpless. My EEs definitely have rumps but two of my hens have muffs and one of them even has a beard. She's adorable.

If your chicks arrived healthy, you're already one step ahead of the game. Keep an eye on them, as they aren't out of the woods yet, but it's not something I would worry about. The one big indicator I look for in a healthy bird is bright, wide open eyes.