When to put permanent leg bands on pullets??

[Amelise]

Some breeds are slower to mature, and those bred more for show than for utility are some of the slowest to mature. Your Ameraucana boys are probably totally normal for their breed and will crow when they are ready.

Ok, good to hear!!

As for their region, do you mean what class they fall under for showing? I believe large fowl Ameraucanas are in the AOSB (All Other Standard Breeds) class in show.

Ohh, I get it now! There's American, Asiatic, Continental, English, Mediterranean, and AOSB is like the miscellaneous class. And that's the class Ameraucanas are in. Thanks!

 

[Tankueray]

Ameraucanas are under the "All Other Standard Breeds" Class in the SOP, that's what you enter them under. They were developed in the US back in the 70's though.

I believe I put my bands on the second hole for my girls, I don't like those bands much though. After a year, only 3 of 20 still have them on. I still use them because I've got a bunch. You can get a 1/8" stamp set at Harbor Freight and stamp in extra information on the bands, like year born or parentage (e.g., 18x05 band number of sire and hen).

Sounds like your show is more laid back, so they'll probably just want you to write the band number on the card when you get there.

Yes, sometimes roosters won't crow if there are other roosters around or a dominant rooster. One of my Lavender Boys was the biggest in the flock but not dominant, so he rarely ever crowed, it even took him so long to crow that I thought he might be mute. Come to think of it, my current biggest rooster, an EE/Barred Rock mix, rarely crows either. The Ameraucanas crow less than the smaller Spitzhaubens, and my Denizli Longcrower and Ayam Ketawa only once in a blue moon. They have their own women though, so maybe they don't need to.

 

[Amelise]

Ameraucanas are under the "All Other Standard Breeds" Class in the SOP, that's what you enter them under. They were developed in the US back in the 70's though.

I believe I put my bands on the second hole for my girls, I don't like those bands much though. After a year, only 3 of 20 still have them on. I still use them because I've got a bunch. You can get a 1/8" stamp set at Harbor Freight and stamp in extra information on the bands, like year born or parentage (e.g., 18x05 band number of sire and hen).

Spent a few days perfecting my stamping skills and I was able to fit the birds name and my phone number on each band. I'm pretty happy with how it's working for Henrietta so far.

Sounds like your show is more laid back, so they'll probably just want you to write the band number on the card when you get there.

Yep, junior competition!

Yes, sometimes roosters won't crow if there are other roosters around or a dominant rooster. One of my Lavender Boys was the biggest in the flock but not dominant, so he rarely ever crowed, it even took him so long to crow that I thought he might be mute. Come to think of it, my current biggest rooster, an EE/Barred Rock mix, rarely crows either. The Ameraucanas crow less than the smaller Spitzhaubens, and my Denizli Longcrower and Ayam Ketawa only once in a blue moon. They have their own women though, so maybe they don't need to.

I'm thinking crowing is taking longer because of lack of hens?? I gave them my 8 extra chicks and it turns out of my whole brood of 11, 6/11 were cockerels and 5 were pullets.

I have 3 pullets. My grandparents had 2 pullets but now only one because one of their pullets was shot and killed. I'm wondering if the boys have even realized there's a girl in their flock, lol!
Either way, when they start crowing, were going to convince the grandparents to sell all but one of the cockerels and then take them to buy more pullets. Hopefully their pullet stays safe until then.

 

[DarJones]

A rooster starts to crow when he goes through puberty. This is generally between 6 months and 8 months old for large fowl. You will be able to tell because the hackle and saddle feathers lengthen as testosterone kicks in. This is also the time when mature roosters will start to show dominance toward the younger birds.

I made the mistake of putting a game rooster in with a pen of mixed egg laying breeds about 20 years ago. As he grew, he eventually reached a point where he started fighting the other roosters. He whipped #3 in a couple of hours and from that point forward Game Boy was #3. Then a few weeks later he fought #2 for about 4 or 5 hours. When he whipped #2, he became #2. Then he tackled #1, the dominant rooster that was twice his size. They fought for 3 days before Game Boy won. It was almost a pyrrhic victory as both roosters looked like they had been drug through a knot-hole. But from that point forward he was #1. He was about 8 months old when he became cock-of-the-walk.