Thoughts on Meyer’s Blue ( BBS ) Ameraucanas?

[willchickeneat]

Weren’t the Arucanas crossed with another breed to produce the Ameraucanas? I don’t imagine anyone knows what the other breed was. OR, did they only use the Arucana and just pick and chose traits from different birds of the same breed?

Araucanas and Ameraucanas both have the blue genes. In the beginning, Araucanas were any bird that laid blue eggs. Some had tuffs/rumpless, some had muffs/beard/tails. Eventually Araucana was accepted and became standard breed. Those that had birds that had muffs/beard then breed the birds that had the muffs/beard qualities and it was accepted as a standard in the US. They were one, now two separate breeds.

 

[willchickeneat]

He’s gorgeous! He looks like the real deal. I have a black ameraucana cockerel I got from a local breeder but he has red leakage ( being optimistic here, hopefully it’s from him having red-brown in his linage ), so I was thinking about adding in a new cockerel. I’ll still be keeping my current boy, but I definitely don’t want to use him for breeding.

I highly doubt that guy is a brown red or has brown red lineage. That guy is just a black Ameraucana with leakage. BTW, brown red Ameraucanas are pretty hard to come by.

 

[cluckingheck]

I highly doubt that guy is a brown red or has brown red lineage. That guy is just a black Ameraucana with leakage. BTW, brown red Ameraucanas are pretty hard to come by.

I’m not too familiar with Ameraucanas yet, still have a lot to learn. Someone on here offered that explanation for his leakage. What could be a reason for his leakage, though? Wouldn’t that be an indication of Maude not being pure?

 

[cluckingheck]

12 ( 13 counting this one ) comments in and the original question hasn’t really been answered other than dobielover’s input lol

Anyways, a more general question: what’s the opinion of Meyer’s in general?

 

[Newyorkrita]

Me too, I would like to know if they are the real thing and not Easter Eggers.

 

[willchickeneat]

Me too, I would like to know if they are the real thing and not Easter Eggers.

Meyers now sells real Ameraucanas. Last few years they were selling easter eggers as Ameraucanas, but now relabeled them correctly. The BBS Ameraucana should be real Ameraucanas. I'm not sure of their quality though. They're being sold at almost $25/chick. Kind of overpriced in my opinion, however I guess that's what you get as convenience. Most Ameraucana breeders will sell day old chicks between $8.00 - $15.00. I've seen some folks sell em for $25, but on rare occasions. Cackle Hatchery sells Ameraucanas at a cheaper rate, but most of the time they are not available. I believe their stock is from John Blehm. You can actually order from him direct off his website fowlstuff.com.

 

[willchickeneat]

I’m not too familiar with Ameraucanas yet, still have a lot to learn. Someone on here offered that explanation for his leakage. What could be a reason for his leakage, though? Wouldn’t that be an indication of Maude not being pure?

No, leakage is leakage. Ameraucanas are either gold or silver base. Red leakage means they are gold base. Silver/white leakage means they are silver base. In general, best black Ameraucanas for show are gold base while BBS leans more towards silver base. However, it's hard to know if one is silver or gold base unless the breeder in which you are ordering from has that historical knowledge. If an Ameraucana has leakage = cull. Overtime culling will result in no leakage/less leakage in chicks. Having leakage does not make them unpure. It just means that they do not meet the standard of perfection for that breed. Remember, at one time -Ameraucanas and Araucanas were easter eggers. Dedicated breeders throughout the years worked toward selected varieties and got them approved. Even now, there are project varieties that are in the works. Getting a color variety is a lengthy process and you need enough breeders to collaborate and show the chickens at poultry shows for it to be considered for APA/ABA approval.

 

[CockaDoodleBlueFarms]

No, leakage is leakage. Ameraucanas are either gold or silver base. Red leakage means they are gold base. Silver/white leakage means they are silver base. In general, best black Ameraucanas for show are gold base while BBS leans more towards silver base. However, it's hard to know if one is silver or gold base unless the breeder in which you are ordering from has that historical knowledge. If an Ameraucana has leakage = cull. Overtime culling will result in no leakage/less leakage in chicks. Having leakage does not make them unpure. It just means that they do not meet the standard of perfection for that breed. Remember, at one time -Ameraucanas and Araucanas were easter eggers. Dedicated breeders throughout the years worked toward selected varieties and got them approved. Even now, there are project varieties that are in the works. Getting a color variety is a lengthy process and you need enough breeders to collaborate and show the chickens at poultry shows for it to be considered for APA/ABA approval.

It all depends on your intentions with the birds. If it's just backyard flock then yes these are great birds but if you are looking into breeding/showing ameraucanas then i wouldn't purchase from here. Your best bet is to get some hatching eggs or chicks from breeders known for showing and breeding quality ameraucanas (i can give you some recommendations if you'd like). Base line is if you buy from them from the hatchery there is a chance you'll get a great quality bird but it's also unlikely. It's also possible to get an awful bird from two parents that are almost perfect in type, wherever you get them from you have to cull HARD. I breed bbs and lavender ameraucanas and i'd say we cull 7/10 of our birds. Half because they are roosters lol, i've got a few nice cockerels that i'm happy with, and then we keep about 3/5 hens depending on the year and quality.

I'm not positive but i believe these are "true" ameraucanas

 

[SnootyHen]

I have one of theirs, hatched Sept 28th. She's legit but she's not laying yet to tell you about her egg color. I have posted pics here before though and others confirm she is Ameraucana and not EE.

 

[SnootyHen]

12 ( 13 counting this one ) comments in and the original question hasn’t really been answered other than dobielover’s input lol

Anyways, a more general question: what’s the opinion of Meyer’s in general?

I have 5 Meyer pullets hatched in September, one is a BBS Ameraucana. I had a great experience with them. All 5 birds were healthy and have nice personalities. Too young to lay so I can't comment on that but they're good birds. And the Ameraucanas are actual Ameraucanas, not EEs.