She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[snowbird]

Quote: I have seen different breed of Males with the look and usually it is because they roost with their back end too close to the wall. I have never had a Self Blue with a tail as you describe. My neighbor raises Self Blue Orpington and see has none of that.

 

[RubyNala97]

Sorry for the super long multi quote. I've had quite the day.

I have heard of them. Some folks have mixed them hoping to improve the Marans eggs and really messed up the genes in the Marans line. They have a coronation comb that pops up all over the Marans world and makes Marans breeders very sad. Are those the darkest they produce because a good Marans can.........

That was just a picture I found in an article. I didn't know there was another breed that layed eggs darker then marans. I was under the assumption that a lot of people just wanted the dark eggs, so I'm really surprised they are not more popular. Even if they only lay as dark as. You know?

I went out to greet the flock this morning, and one of my boys started crowing! It was so cute. Just 3 little syllables... Err-er-errrrr, but he was flapping his wings and strutting around. I went back inside to get my phone to try to get a video, but he quit.... darn it. Is 14 weeks about normal?

Mine started at 7 wks!! I almost fell off the toilet. They were still in the brooder! Now he's 11 wks and crows every morning when I open the coop. It's still pretty pathetic sounding. I hope it stays that way.

This is copy and paste from Murray McMurray's website: [COLOR=0000FF]" Adults are of medium size with pea combs and our breeding stock is selected for their ability to produce colored eggs. They exhibit a wonderful combination of colors and color patterns and several of these birds will be a hardy addition to your small farm or backyard flock. Baby chicks come in all colors, plain and fancy, just like the adults. Our Araucanas/Ameraucanas are recommended for egg laying color and ability and not for exhibition."[/COLOR] This drives me insane. Everything they said says EE, then they write the disclaimer that they are not for exhibition. Call them Easter Eggers! They would sell just as well. EEs are beautiful birds, and lay beautiful eggs. Why the false advertising?

That's very interesting and weird! I totally agree.

Remember it like this. Araucana= Arrow-cana. The "O" is after the R. So when you spell Ameraucana, spell it like America up until the R, then the "O" after the R

Isn't that funny how we all have a way of remembering how to spell something. Mine is strange. In my head I do, "Amer" for America and then "au" for Australia add the Cana.

Ameraucanas have pea combs... he's off color, so definitely not Am...

Like the chart. What do silkies have?

here's a better pic of my newbie.

handsome!

 

[WVduckchick]

Ruby


Hey Ross, did you lockdown this morning?

 

[FridayYet]

Great answer Ravyn.

But if I breed a color like Self Blue in over time and the bird meets all the other points of the standard it would still be AM. At least that's how it seems to work in other breeds. Will the AM standard NEVER allow another color?

Do you have Foleys Ebook on culling and picking BLRW? It's so worth the $10. Will save you hundreds if you are working on great BLR.

I can totaly understand this... to a point. I don't want them to accept anything besides SOP, but I have a hard time thinking a bird is not a certain breed just because of color. Now leg color and genotype are great reasons to say a bird is an EE.

I like Self Blue much better than Lav for the naming convention. Thank you for the update Don.

People are working on project colors. Self Blue, Mottled, etc. When there is a dedicated group of breeders working on one of these project colors for several generations, and they are breeding true, and they conform to every other breed specification, some will allow them to be called "project Ameraucanas". Then they get the fun job of trying to gain acceptance.

 

[RubyNala97]

I find the AM crowd a little strange (present company excluded ). If I have a lavender wyandotte than it's still a wyandotte. No one calls it a Cream Egger. 

When I posted my first AMs someone said they are not AM because they had the wrong color. What the heck does that have to do with it? It may not be a "recognized" color, but can't it still be an AM?

For example. My daughter can show her Sable Point Lionhead rabbit at the ARBA show for certain prizes even though it's not an accepted color for the ARBA. But no one will walk by the cage and say "That's not a lionhead, it's an Easter Bunny. Wrong color.". 

The color of a chicken or variety does not make a chicken a certain breed, it's the type. Or at least starts with the type. Build, comb, etc. Maybe EE just came up as a convenient way for any AM folk to DQ or discourage the breeding of non approved variety's? I understand it now for the most part, but as a noob it's very confusing and discouraging because the rules are literally different when it comes to AMs vs other breeds.

So because the bird was the wrong color but had all other correct type, what was the bird considered? Is it considered a mix or "mutt" if not an accepted color?

 

[sideWing]

I can't remember where I read it, but I think it was GRITS magazine in an article called "The lavender project". I will have to read it again tonight. It said something about a large percentage of birds having shredded looking tails, like they had been pulled backwards through a fence
May have been in Backyard Poultry

My Self Blue Wyandottes have it SC. I also have the brassy leakage that Don is talking about.

The shredded or weak feather look in the (once Lavender) now Self Blue birds is common, but I have read it can be bred out. It's also mentioned by Allan Brooker as being a challenge that can come along with the Self Blue. Maybe it depends on where the Self Blue comes from to begin with. Great section about it in 21st Century Poultry Breeding. I just looked and GFF is calling them lavender too. Hmm

People are working on project colors. Self Blue, Mottled, etc. When there is a dedicated group of breeders working on one of these project colors for several generations, and they are breeding true, and they conform to every other breed specification, some will allow them to be called "project Ameraucanas". Then they get the fun job of trying to gain acceptance.

And I think that's the way it should be. And I'm 100% in the camp of breeding toward SOP and letting people know if their birds are not SOP. But when someone posts their "Ameraucanas" and they are EEs I would love to see questions like, what color are the shanks? What type of comb does it have? What color of eggs does it lay? Instead of "wrong color!". That doesn't change anything with any other breed and it makes the Ameraucana more confusing. And it doesn't help the noob understand the true Ameraucana breed any better.

Then you can always add, BTW the only APA accepted colors are........

I don't mean to come across as upset about it. I'm not at all. I just think better communication could help the breed instead of frustrate people.

 

[FridayYet]

My Self Blue Wyandottes have it SC. I also have the brassy leakage that Don is talking about.

The shredded or weak feather look in the (once Lavender) now Self Blue birds is common, but I have read it can be bred out. It's also mentioned by Allan Brooker as being a challenge that can come along with the Self Blue. Maybe it depends on where the Self Blue comes from to begin with. Great section about it in 21st Century Poultry Breeding. I just looked and GFF is calling them lavender too. Hmm

And I think that's the way it should be. And I'm 100% in the camp of breeding toward SOP and letting people know if their birds are not SOP. But when someone posts their "Ameraucanas" and they are EEs I would love to see questions like, what color are the shanks? What type of comb does it have? What color of eggs does it lay? Instead of "wrong color!". That doesn't change anything with any other breed and it makes the Ameraucana more confusing. And it doesn't help the noob understand the true Ameraucana breed any better.

Then you can always add, BTW the only APA accepted colors are........

I don't mean to come across as upset about it. I'm not at all. I just think better communication could help the breed instead of frustrate people.

I totally agree with you!

 

[scflock]

So because the bird was the wrong color but had all other correct type, what was the bird considered? Is it considered a mix or "mutt" if not an accepted color?

As far as Ameraucanas are concerned, it's a mutt. Leg color and body color are the first giveaways. The pictures of the EEs I posted with the pea combs and beautiful beards? 3 years ago I would have called them Ameraucana. Now when I see someone else post one I'm like, Nope, EE.
If you think this is bad, buy some BCMs...

 

[sideWing]

As far as Ameraucanas are concerned, it's a mutt. Leg color and body color are the first giveaways. The pictures of the EEs I posted with the pea combs and beautiful beards? 3 years ago I would have called them Ameraucana. Now when I see someone else post one I'm like, Nope, EE.
If you think this is bad, buy some BCMs...

And don't forget to post them!

 

[FridayYet]

And keep your hatchet nearby........