Rare South American Breeds including the Colloncas

[glendor787]

What a beautiful boy!

Are you still selling Colloncas eggs?

 

[Yashar]

Don't have any breeding groups at this time...
One day I'll do some digging to find who has eggs...
The genetics are out there.
Chickens are wonderful and the diversity is important to the future of chicken an man alike.
One day we may depend on them for our survival as we once did long ago.
A good steward is not just worried about the cute little tufts on their chickies cheeks, but guarding that bottle necked genetics don't spell the ruin of one of humanities most valuable companion. The chicken.

 

[MaryZoe]

Wondering about Colloncas as well. Wondering how they'd work with my Araucana...

 

[Yashar]

If you have clean faced rump-less birds then you have a Colloncas.
I'd say forget the tuft. It carries a lethal gene, sure their cute but....
When breeding Colloncas you never have 100% rump-less. But you don't cull them necessarily.
There just Americaunas.

 

[glendor787]

If you have clean faced rump-less birds then you have a Colloncas.
I'd say forget the tuft. It carries a lethal gene, sure their cute but....
When breeding Colloncas you never have 100% rump-less. But you don't cull them necessarily.
There just Americaunas.

Yashar,

Do you breed the Araucanas with tails? I got some eggs from Edd Sheppard and only 2 are rumpless. The rest are with tails.

 

[MaryZoe]

Yashar,

Do you breed the Araucanas with tails? I got some eggs from Edd Sheppard and only 2 are rumpless. The rest are with tails.

You didn't say how many eggs you hatched, but only 2 rumpless birds would be a disappointing hatch if I had paid for US Araucana birds, unless I had only hatched 3 chicks. Ed Shephard is a well known breeder, so that surprises me. Did you tell him about your hatch? Maybe he can help you out. I know you didn't ask me, but as someone who has bred Araucana for a couple years (not an expert by any means), I would say that whether to breed the tailed bird depends on what you want to do with your Araucana. If you want to ever sell your birds in the US as Araucana, you should not breed the tailed birds--at least you should be very clear with any potential buyers that their progeny carries the tailed gene, even if it's not showing. Like other chicken breeds, Araucana has a Standard of Perfection (SOP), so most people breed them toward the standard. In the US, that standard includes rumplessness and tufts. It would be frustrating for someone who has worked toward the SOP to add a chicken to their flock that added the tailed gene.

There is certainly debate in the chicken world (especially the international chicken world) as to whether the Araucana SOP should have tufts, because like Yashar said, the tufts come with a lethal gene. If you breed 2 birds that both carry the tufted gene, about 1/4 of the offspring will die just before or after hatch. This can usually be avoided by keeping careful pens. I only breed clean-faced to tufted birds, and my hatch rate is pretty good.

And in other countries (Australia and I think the UK), tailed Araucana are the standard. But not in the US.

Long story short, if you live in the US and want to raise Araucana to the SOP and potentially sell them as Araucana, please do not add tailed birds to the breeding stock. It just causes problems for you and others who want to breed Araucana.

Here in the US, tailed Araucana work great in Easter Egger or Olive Egger projects. They can be bred to other birds to add the blue gene to a hybrid. So there's no need to get rid of them. They are friendly, fun birds.

 

[glendor787]

You didn't say how many eggs you hatched, but only 2 rumpless birds would be a disappointing hatch if I had paid for US Araucana birds, unless I had only hatched 3 chicks. Ed Shephard is a well known breeder, so that surprises me. Did you tell him about your hatch? Maybe he can help you out. I know you didn't ask me, but as someone who has bred Araucana for a couple years (not an expert by any means), I would say that whether to breed the tailed bird depends on what you want to do with your Araucana. If you want to ever sell your birds in the US as Araucana, you should not breed the tailed birds--at least you should be very clear with any potential buyers that their progeny carries the tailed gene, even if it's not showing. Like other chicken breeds, Araucana has a Standard of Perfection (SOP), so most people breed them toward the standard. In the US, that standard includes rumplessness and tufts. It would be frustrating for someone who has worked toward the SOP to add a chicken to their flock that added the tailed gene.

There is certainly debate in the chicken world (especially the international chicken world) as to whether the Araucana SOP should have tufts, because like Yashar said, the tufts come with a lethal gene. If you breed 2 birds that both carry the tufted gene, about 1/4 of the offspring will die just before or after hatch. This can usually be avoided by keeping careful pens. I only breed clean-faced to tufted birds, and my hatch rate is pretty good.

And in other countries (Australia and I think the UK), tailed Araucana are the standard. But not in the US.

Long story short, if you live in the US and want to raise Araucana to the SOP and potentially sell them as Araucana, please do not add tailed birds to the breeding stock. It just causes problems for you and others who want to breed Araucana.

Here in the US, tailed Araucana work great in Easter Egger or Olive Egger projects. They can be bred to other birds to add the blue gene to a hybrid. So there's no need to get rid of them. They are friendly, fun birds.

Good afternoon,
45 eggs, 10 hatch, 1died, only 2 rumpless. I’m not a newbie hatching or with Araucanas. They were a challenge to keep alive, not very vigorous chickens. Many ppl had different opinions about Edd’s birds. He was very pleasant to deal with, but will definitely won’t buy again.
Glenda

 

[MaryZoe]

Good afternoon,
45 eggs, 10 hatch, 1died, only 2 rumpless. I’m not a newbie hatching or with Araucanas. They were a challenge to keep alive, not very vigorous chickens. Many ppl had different opinions about Edd’s birds. He was very pleasant to deal with, but will definitely won’t buy again.
Glenda

Wow. That is a low hatch rate, even for shipped Araucuana eggs. And a high tailed rate. I understand your disappointment. I have had a lot of luck with Ann Charles' eggs. You might want to try her next time. I've bought eggs and chicks from her for several years now and I think I've only had a couple partly tailed chicks--and it was a lone feather or two that stuck out, never a full tail.

 

[glendor787]

Wow. That is a low hatch rate, even for shipped Araucuana eggs. And a high tailed rate. I understand your disappointment. I have had a lot of luck with Ann Charles' eggs. You might want to try her next time. I've bought eggs and chicks from her for several years now and I think I've only had a couple partly tailed chicks--and it was a lone feather or two that stuck out, never a full tail.

Agree. Also if you read Ed’s book you will see that he is not into the standard of the breed but survival (I didn’t knew that). Must likely I will cull the roos and keep the hens as layers. He was nice and cordial during the egg purchase.
I got chicks from Ann too, only one came with a tail and she replace it right away. She is also a nice lady. Very helpful.

 

[Self sufficient chickens]

Agree. Also if you read Ed’s book you will see that he is not into the standard of the breed but survival (I didn’t knew that). Must likely I will cull the roos and keep the hens as layers. He was nice and cordial during the egg purchase.
I got chicks from Ann too, only one came with a tail and she replace it right away. She is also a nice lady. Very helpful.

Edds book is very informative. He cares much more than just about the SOP. He care about the long term survival of Mapuche chickens.

Here is one of my birds from him: