has anyone ever tried to work on the quail color variety that comes from the Ideal Hatchery? I got some 2 years ago, easter eggers of course, and ended up with a rooster in my batch of 4 \'all pullets\'. they are beautiful birds with big thick muffs and beards, pea combs... and legs green as tree leaves. but I let one of the hens brood out a few eggs, and got 7 babies that were 100% true in color- including the legs. my last cockerel from that batch last year produced 5 offspring on a white Ameraucana pullet a couple of months ago. again they are 100% true to color, including the green legs.
okay, the point of all this is, does anyone out there have any interest in working on a Quail variety? these birds of mine seem on the reddish side, less brown than the quail D\'Anvers we have. body type needs work, but they have better beards and muffs than any of my \'standardbred\' Ameraucana. they are also much pleasanter in temperament than my bantam blues.
just for my amusement, what color crosses can I use to try to introduce slate legs/ white skin? I have 2 breeding pens of LF buffs right now- is this something that works with the quail pattern? since a very big defining point of being Ameraucana is \'color breeds true at least 50% of the time\', it seems like a color that seems to stick pretty well, like these easter eggers of mine, might have some hope if the leg color can be corrected.
I\'m just to the point where my little half acre is so overcrowded with goats, horses, turkey pens, and my nephew\'s 9 varieties of OEGB, plus my few chickens, that I am trying to limit how many more pens I have to put up out there. for this reason I am not going to try the lemon blue Ameraucana at this time. but I already have the quail EE\'s.
any suggestions?