Which roo should I choose...

[Funky Feathers]

I know nothing about any of these breeds, but that Araucana is just soooooo pretty! I say breed him!

 

[NYRIR]

Ok..I must tell you...I voted BCM...what a beautiful Roo!! Of course...they all are

 

[cpartist]

Quote:
Interesting dilemma and responses. I have both breeds and will give you my 2 cents. Factor # 2 first as I'm understanding you will be selling purebred hatching eggs from this pen. Obviously you will be able to tell the Ameraucana eggs from the Marans eggs so it's fine to mix hens, but if you have an EE'er roo in the pen, you won't be able to know which eggs are pure. Regarding the popularity, as Henry has said, the Marans boom is over, however since they have been so badly bred to cash in on the boom, the few breeders who are maintaining good egg color and striving for correct conformation will be able to get decent prices for eggs. I believe the Ameraucanas are more the "rising stars" as people are becoming more educated as to true blue eggs and recognized varieties that breed true. IMO there is no chicken more beautiful than a W/BW roo or as lovely as the creamy beige hens.

1) The peacomb of the Ameraucana is less susceptible to frostbite.
3) Both my Marans and Ameraucanas started laying between 18 and 20 weeks. The Ameraucanas lay 5-6 eggs each a week, the Marans average 4. The Marans eggs are larger, though, and I've only had one broody...all the Ameraucanas have gone broody including one for the second time when her chicks were just 6 weeks old.
4 and 5) Both my Marans and Ameraucana roo's have shown no aggression towards people, and are good with their girls.When growing out in a pen mixed with other breeds, seem to establish dominance without too much brutality. I think either would be a good choice in this regard.

Another caveat is that my Marans are a little boring, while the Ameraucanas are friendlier and more fun to watch interact. It's like Junior High, the way some will be best bud's for awhile, then seem to be constantly having spats the next week. This may be my particular situation, as I've let the broodies raise babies in the same pen as the adults, and I guess the pecking order is constantly changing, but no one gets hurt and it's highly entertaining

. Even the adults though still fly up to roost on my shoulder when I'm in the pen. My Marans are much more wary.

My advice would be, since you are aiming for Olive Eggers, is to use the Marans in that pen to get the darker Olive color and pure Marans eggs. Find another spot for your EE'er and put that pretty Blue Wheaten roo in a separate pen with a W/BW girl or two to hatch some pure W/BW awesome chicks

 

[shelleyb1969]

Thanks so much, cpartist!

That's the kind of info I need to help me choose. The advice you gave me is EXACTLY what I had originally planned on doing...but had changed my mind due to the available space I have. To do that, I would need at least 1 more pen, if not 2. But maybe I can figure something out.

I really would love to keep all 3 roos as I like them all. Not sure what to do with the little EE fella...he's currently in the pen with my Ameraucana. The only reason I'm keeping him is because I think he's really neat...and he's 1/2 BWA. If I had some extra Ameraucana hens to put with him, then I could have 2 "reverse breeding" Olive Egger pens. Then eventually downsize to 1 after I see which pen's offspring produces the best eggs. Wow...what a dilemma I'm creating myself. I started this thread to find a solution, but now I've got a hundred ideas going through my head...and not enough money/space to follow through.

 

[cpartist]

Quote:
I hear ya' on the money/space thing

. I've had to make some tough choices as well, including selling my Olive Egger trio to make room for more W/BW Ameraucanas. I was really looking forward to seeing the second generation eggs of these. The cool thing about Olive Eggers are that you can use the Marans and Ameraucanas whose eggs or feather coloring are not top notch to make them, and have fun playing with the combos.

Your roo's are cuties, I hope you find a way to house/keep all three and then maybe you can rotate them a couple of times a year.

 

[poultryhaven]

I voted for Marans cause you said you wouldnt want an aggressive rooster. I havent had a mean Marans yet and I have had a couple aggressive EE roos.

ETA:Oh, the EE roo is gonna be in there, I didnt realize you were deciding between a true ameracauna. I havent had a true ameracauna so I wouldnt know.