The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Ameraucana Marketplace
Yellow feet
dak:
Makes sense. This is a single cockerel and pullet I\'ve been hatching from so I know exactly who to watch.
Anne Foley:
If I culled every chick that had yellow foot pads, there would be next to no Ameraucanas on my property. I have been keeping a close eye on this issue and yellow on a chick\'s foot is not an indication of future yellow feet/shanks in adults, at least not in my birds. If you are concerned and want to cull anyway, that is fine. If you would like to cull early but don\'t want to make a mistake and get rid of something good, look at around 8 weeks. It there is still yellow on the foot pads at 8 weeks, that\'s a bad sign. Pigment migration during development is complicated and it pays to be patient.
greeneggsandham:
Anne, I\'m glad you posted that. I also see yellow pads on chicks that later turn to flesh or white color with age. I don\'t hatch large numbers so don\'t cull early except for issues like split wings and lack of muffs.
Also, I hatched some eggs bought from a woman who also raises Ameraucanas in order to get some newer blood in here. I was getting very poor hatch rates and thinking maybe my birds were too closely related. And I needed some good eye color. Her chicks (and I did see her breeders who looked very nice) all hatched with varying amounts of yellow/willow shanks with black and/or slate. Two colors on the shanks. Now the ones I did keep did end up with the correct color several weeks later. I haven\'t seen this before on any of my chicks I have hatched, so can someone tell me if this is ok and similar to yellowish feet turning the correct color later?
John:
--- Quote ---I also see yellow pads on chicks that later turn to flesh or white color with age.
--- End quote ---
On \"E\" based chicks the pads should be flesh color when they hatch. Yes, some that look yellowish at hatch may not look yellow as they grow. This is all the more reason to cull them as day-old chicks if you don\'t want to see it in future generations.
I\'ve noticed this more in the bantam blacks than large fowl.
As Curtis pointed out once you know what phenotype to look for you can cull very early and save on feed.
dak:
Opened up a can of worms did I?
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