Texas

[jockeyeba]

Since the weather is keeping from working on my coop, I decided to take the DW and kiddos into Wimberley to piddle around. I picked up a rooster for all my single ladies. Best rooster ever! He doesn't crow, eat, or poop anywhere. Anyone take a guess at the breed? I think I will call him "The Colonel".

I think he is a "Painted Metal" breed.

him

 

[hensfortherapy]

31° here in Liberty Hill. The chickens are out scratching in the drizzle. I hope this cold front doesn't last long.

 

[magpiesing]

Hello fellow Texan. It was 79 when I went to chruch this morning, now it's 55 and drizzling. My chickens were happy to get out for awhile but didn't stay out long once it started raining. Looks like three days of yucky weather then a warm up again. i am so ready for warm weather. Eager to get my garden in. Magpie

 

[therarebreed]

Sheesh, we've been working outside all day, just felt the wind change to the north a little bit ago and I decided it was time to come in! The drizzle is starting to feel cold.

 

[topdycke]

I think he is a "Painted Metal" breed.

 

[LBejaran]

Woot! We are watering the lawn (I call it my tiny pasture, hehe) with well water! I've stopped Dad from using it since last year, just so all the rain we've gotten would make it's way back into the water supply. The ducks love it! Even the chickens have taken the opportunity to find any buggies that were floating atop the water.

Here's Rizzo, looking all majestic before I tossed him into a puddle, haha!

 

[jajeanpierre]

I don't know anything about Ameracauna's, the lady that had him bought him & others as chicks out of CA from a supposed breeder, the pullet I bought from a local breeder that called her an Ameracauna I don't care if they are EE's I just wanted a blue egg to go with my colorful egg basket

I will read up on them, thanks for the links

If you are just looking for a pretty big blue egg, I bet a well bred Easter Egger will be a better producer for you. I am likely having some Ameraucana chicks this year. Maybe you want a couple? They will be purebred blues and splashes, bred from Paul Smith's birds. I'll be showing the mother, but the cockerel might not live long enough to get into show condition. I will likely also have some excess purebred cockerels from a bunch of chicks I bought from Paul Smith a couple of weeks ago--they'll be black, blue or splash. It looks like I'll have exactly half of each sex. I'll want to keep a couple of the birds to replace this blue b

The pea comb is closely associated with the blue egg-laying gene. The two sets of genes are physically close to each other so are often inherited together. Ameraucanas will have two copies of the blue egg laying gene (dominant). In Easter Eggers, the color of the eggs will depend on the second gene. If the second gene is white, the eggs will be blue. If the second gene is for brown, they will be various shades of green.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about this breed, and a lot of the people who are very serious about the breed get very upset when Easter Eggers are passed off as purebred Ameraucanas. I'm not so upset, because many of the people claiming their birds are proper purebred Ameraucanas just don't know--they have bought and paid for purebred Ameraucanas, why wouldn't they think of them as such? It's not their fault they have been deceived. Often times I think the person they bought their birds from has also been deceived. Many in the club are VERY touchy about it, believe me. Just the incorrect comb on your bird makes him not an Ameraucana.

 

[bnjrob]

Yes! But only supervised..so not all day.
I've seen a few hawks and, although we have pretty solid fencing, we also have dog's on both sides of us.
So only supervised free ranging! I usually go home for lunch for about an hour and then I'm home after 6, in the summer they should get some time in the evenings. The I'm off weekends. Plus my husband is home everyday until 2:45pm so they should get some decent free time

Unfortunately there aren't any plans, so we'll be kind of borrowing, looking at other examples.
I don't think 6x 12 would be a problem

I'm definitely making adjustments!
Thanks for that suggestion! I'm definitely new to building so..I need all the help I can get!

It Does open! I guess in the pic she said they hadn't covered it with hardware clothe though. Another thing is she used independent roosts, so she can take them out to clean them. I like that idea.
I'm hoping that Dutch door isn't hard to make..it doesn't seem like I would be.
I'm sorry about them chasing you!

Yes! I actually found it on the coop section here. It's under Medium Coops and is by...I want to say lilacFeather? Or something similar.
Here's the link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/lilacfeathers-page

I like this overall. I would add some more windows and/or vents at the bottom of the coop portion that have hardware cloth in them and flaps that go on top of them.

You'll get better air flow with more windows/vents in the coop portion since in summer it gets so gross and is still often 90 degrees at midnight. When you put a flap on the windows that you can open and hold them in place with a chain, you still get the air flow but it helps keep rain out of the coop. And then in winter, you just unchain the flap and let it hang, and that will still give you some airflow in the coop but won't close it up too tightly and cut off all airflow - cuz then you risk humidity and frostbite issues if you close it up too tightly in winter.

oh yeah, and some vent holes in the nest box. I use a hole saw and make small round holes up at the top of the walls of the nest box and cover with wire. And make the nest box roof to that it overhangs the sides pretty good to keep rain out. It gets hot in those next boxes in the summer.

 

[lovingmyhens]

I don't know anything about Ameracauna's, the lady that had him bought him & others as chicks out of CA from a supposed breeder, the pullet I bought from a local breeder that called her an Ameracauna I don't care if they are EE's I just wanted a blue egg to go with my colorful egg basket I will read up on them, thanks for the links

I'm the same...just wanted a colorful egg to go with the brown and white. My two aren't the friendliest but they sure do lay well!!

 

[granthamkk]

Jockeyeba, this bird does not look like a purebred Amemeraucana at all.  He has the wrong comb.  Ameraucanas have a pea comb.  The Ameraucana Breeders Club has pictures of examples of the breed.  www.ameraucana.org

Here's a link to the Ameraucana Breeder's Club FAQ page which deals with Easter Eggers: 
http://www.ameraucana.org/faq.html#TWO

There is another article on that web site somewhere that goes into a great deal of discussion of what is a purebred Ameraucana and what is an "Easter Egger" but I was unable to find it.


The hatcheries continue to sell Easter Eggers as Ameraucanas, Araucaunas and Americanas, passing them off as purebred Ameraucanas.  Easter Eggers are often better egg layers than purebred Ameraucanas because they have crossed a blue egg layer with a breed that produces larger/more eggs.  A blue egg gene does not make an Ameraucana.  There is a lot of misinformation on the breed and many in the breed are really hysterical over the issue.

 

Good info here. You can also see them called Americauna, and some do it on purpose but others don't. If you want colored eggs, it's not an issue. If you want to breed or show, make sure to get from a reputable breeder. For me, I'm in it all for the eggs. I've got no EEs but would love some one day.