Whew! I guess you guys are having quite the discussion about egg color! Guess I should visit more often.
Angela...I wonder if your customers will be laughing when they get those green eggs?
Mom and Ozark Rose I have to agree with you...afterall blue eggs are what sets this breed apart, makes it unique and egg color should not be relegated to the back burner anymore than pea combs and muffs and beards should be ignored. What would happen if one of our well known breeder/exhibitors showed up at the Nationals with Ameraucanas with no muffs and beards and said...\"oh what the heck...the rest of the bird looks really great and besides...its a work in progress\"?
I keep hearing this is a new breed, a work in progress but after 25 years the breed still doesn\'t have consistancy in egg color.
Maybe its time to stop ignoring this problem in the breed.
My question is the need for the continuing addition of brown egg layer genes to the Ameraucana gene pool....and just because some of us are concerned about egg color doesn\'t mean thats all we are breeding for BUT even if we were how is that any different than people who just breed for show type?
Sort of like the pot calling the kettle black IMO.
I won\'t bore you with my by now well known rant about breeds ruined for the sake of show type. (its a pet peeve of mine)
The key to breeding any great specimen is to look at the whole picture....type, temprament, ability to thrive/hardiness, egg production and last but not least egg color.