South Carolina

[WestKnollAmy]

No, I do not plan to go to any other shows than the one down here in Clemson SC in 2 weeks. Some friends and I are going to have a blast there but that will be it til next year.

 

[ccw2005]

Hi, this post is for new member Chicks & Guineas....since i still have yet to learn how to use the quote feature.

I assume you got your chicks from the Savannah Hwy TSC since that is close to you. I ordered four Araucana's from there last spring and I actually "think" they are Americauna's. Maybe someone here can explain the difference to me, since I thought one had rump feathers and the other was rumpless. Someone told me I am confused since their wings look to be making a feathered rump when they are just pecking around the run.

Anyway.....the four I bought are doing great from that TSC. One of the managers told me if I wanted them I needed to get on the list since they went fast. So, if you are looking to get some, check with Dierdra, Jeanette or the cashier, Cindy for more info.

I guess by knowing the TSC crew on a first name basis it shows I spend too much time and money on stuff I really do not need!

As a matter of fact I was there today with the Wife and when we walked in, I took my usual verbal abuse from the crew and my wife told them she would come back at 8pm to pick me up. No one took her up on the offer so I am back home.

 

[ccw2005]

I am here to pass the blame onto this site. It is all of your faults combined for what has happened and I tell you I am not very happy...

I should have eight babies in by Nov 16 so I figured I would split the shipping costs between everyone!!! I will post where you can mail the nickel.

I ordered eight more Red Stars so that I can have a bit bigger egg than my other girls are making. It is actually my wife's fault since she began complaining that the eggs we are getting were not fitting properly in the egg containers that we have been saving and we always get one big egg and the rest small.

My question is this...

This past spring I had everyone nice n warm in a room attached to the garage. Used heat lamps and the like for a bit longer than a month. Since I am getting these babies in winter, should I try to keep them locked up for about 4 months in a small coop in this room or will they be okay to start acclimating them to the chicken run maybe in February?

Those with good info can forget the nickel fee!!!!!!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Sure, I would be glad to explain the difference between Araucana and Ameraucanas. I have hatched and raised both as well as the Easter Egger and Olive Egger.

Ameraucanas have beards and muffs. Their faces have a lot of fluff going on around them. They always have tails and certain colors are accepted into the American Poultry Association. They always have a pea comb and are supposed to always lay a very blue egg. They never have feathered legs, never have straight combs and are not to ever lay a brown egg. Their legs are supposed to be a certain color to match the color of their feathering but that gets into too much detail for here.
Here is one of my roos growing up now.

Araucanas are a rumpless chicken, meaning no tail. They lack the last vertebra in the spine. They are also supposed to have tufts (not to be confused with muffs) but some are clean faced because breeding 2 tufted birds together gives you a high mortality rate in the shell. They also have a pea comb but because so many breeders get frustrated with breeding rumpless to rumpless and do not get high fertility rates they often have introduced outside birds with tails and green eggs pop up. I have always bred rumpless to rumpless and sometimes tufted to tufted. These birds are also supposed to have willow colored legs unless they are black.
Here is a nice roo I sold last fall. This was a 3rd generation for me.

Easter Eggers are a product of mixing some other breed with Ameraucanas or Araucanas or mixing the feather colors together. They are called EEs because they can't be shown. They may or may not produce a blue egg but may give green, tan or brown. Some may also lay pink eggs but my Rocks lay pink so it isn't a specific of EEs. They may or may not have beards and muffs and very rarely would you find one with tufts. Hatcheries sell Easter Eggers, no matter what they tell you.

Olive Eggers are a product of crossing a blue egg layer with a dark brown egg layer. The outcome is a beautiful olive colored egg.

I am working on a page to go on my website right now to show the differences between these breeds. But the best way to learn is to go to the breed clubs and read the SOP.....Standard of Perfection written for that specific breed and accepted by the American Poultry Association. There are so many people that breed birds and call them a breed when they really aren't. I bred, hatched and sold a lot of Easter Eggers and never called them anything else. I could not in good conscience lie to someone about the breed. Before I breed something I research it and try to breed what I like and call it what it really is.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
You will hear a lot of different ideas on this.
I can tell you I hatch and raise chicks all year around. I am trying not to this year but so far I haven't been very strong. Though I am only hatching out a dz or less every week since I am selling most of my small hatching eggs. The big ones can be sold for eating eggs. Last winter I hatched out 400 chicks a month, the most I had ever done in a winter. I quickly got tired of cleaning brooders every day in the cold. And naturally, it snowed here a lot. That taught me! I have cut back now. This will be the first slow winter for me in a long time. I plan to enjoy it!

I raise my chicks down in the barn in a brooder room. It is sort of insulated. I did it myself and I am not very good at that. I keep them in brooders with heat lamps on them until they feather up and start flying out onto the floor. They get a heat lamp down there but it isn't as much. It just keeps the chill off of them. They don't move outside to another room until they are well feathered. Probably around 3 months. I can move them up to my Silkie/Cochin shed where they go outside during the day but I close the pop doors at night. It is insulated in the walls but the mice have had fun nibbling that out and the cats have knocked down part of the ceiling insulation boards so it still gets very cold in there at night. No heat lamp but enough birds to keep each other warm and it knocks the chill off.

I can tell you that healthy birds over 3 months old can survive winter just fine but if there is the least thing wrong they are kapooey.

 

[Kenneth Flippen]

Quote:
Really interesting info I never knew that myself do you still raise or breed olive eggers? And can you cross either the aruacana or the ameruacana to produce them

Kenneth

 

[Southern Bee Lady]

Quote:
email
[email protected]

I think now that I see your email I met you at the Pickens County Beekeepers Association Meetings. Would that be you?

Probably was me. I don't go to every meeting. Are you going to next weeks meeting?
I plan to be there.
Mary

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Yes, I am still hatching and raising Olive Eggers. I no longer sell any because I need to keep enough to work on my next generation. People buy those like crazy. I totally understand. They are gorgeous birds as well as making lovely eggs. I hatched and sold more than 50 this past spring and summer before I stopped. Now I am waiting to get the ones I kept for laying so I can set up my breeding pens for next year.

I start by crossing my Marans roo with my Ameraucana hens. I also crossed my Easter Egger roo with my black copper Marans hens but did not like that cross as well.

Here is a recent photo of one of my Olive Egger girls. She is out of my Golden Cuckoo Marans roo over my blue Ameraucana hen.

And here is her full sister. Now you see why I can't seem to hang onto these birds. They are so beautiful and with the olive colored eggs they are a great addition to any backyard or farm.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
Yes, you can use the Ameraucana or Araucana to produce Olive Eggers. I have never used any of my Araucanas in my breeding to other birds other than I did put a rumpless cuckoo Marans hen in with my Araucanas and got some great rumpless Olive Eggers from that but big money talked me out of them and I no longer have those. They were fabulous but I set a lot of eggs to get so few chicks. Araucanas are a difficult breed and only the most determined breeders will own them and continue breeding through the years.

 

[Patsy29332]

Quote:
You will hear a lot of different ideas on this.
I can tell you I hatch and raise chicks all year around. I am trying not to this year but so far I haven't been very strong. Though I am only hatching out a dz or less every week since I am selling most of my small hatching eggs. The big ones can be sold for eating eggs. Last winter I hatched out 400 chicks a month, the most I had ever done in a winter. I quickly got tired of cleaning brooders every day in the cold. And naturally, it snowed here a lot. That taught me! I have cut back now. This will be the first slow winter for me in a long time. I plan to enjoy it!

I raise my chicks down in the barn in a brooder room. It is sort of insulated. I did it myself and I am not very good at that. I keep them in brooders with heat lamps on them until they feather up and start flying out onto the floor. They get a heat lamp down there but it isn't as much. It just keeps the chill off of them. They don't move outside to another room until they are well feathered. Probably around 3 months. I can move them up to my Silkie/Cochin shed where they go outside during the day but I close the pop doors at night. It is insulated in the walls but the mice have had fun nibbling that out and the cats have knocked down part of the ceiling insulation boards so it still gets very cold in there at night. No heat lamp but enough birds to keep each other warm and it knocks the chill off.

I can tell you that healthy birds over 3 months old can survive winter just fine but if there is the least thing wrong they are kapooey.

Great info! I think Amy saved her nickle!