Comb Question

[Brandy Harrington]

Hello! My name is Brandy and I am new to the page.  I am looking for some advise on the comb of my young black Ameraucana.  I'm interested to see what experienced breeders have to say about the potential of breeding or showing him.  He is close to perfect in every way except the needed "pea comb".  Any suggestions/advise welcomed, even if the answer is cull 

[Max]

Hi Brandy,  Welcome to the ABC!

 If he is all you have then you should use him for breeding. He probably wouldn't do well at a show.  Combs are relatively easy to improve. Be sure to breed him to a female with a nice proper comb. You should get a male with a good comb which you could then breed back to his mother.

BTW, how are the chicks doing that I sent to you?

[Brandy Harrington]

Hey Max! Thanks for help.  The pic I posted here had a better shot of his comb then the other one I sent you.  Your chicks are growing fast!! And they are beautiful.  My intentions are to hopefully breed him to one of your black hens when she's old enough.  I will post pics of the wheaten/blue wheaten for you to see.  I can't tell you how excited I am to have them.  Thanks again for the response! I'm sure I will have other questions along the way 

[Don]

Brandy,  You can read a bit about comb genetics at the Sellers site.  He does look nice, how are the others from the same family?  Do they have good Pea combs?   Like Max said, you use the best you have.  You may have to raise more and select out of the youngsters and then keep good records to know which ones you want to breed together next year.  How is his weight?  And it may be the picture angle, and he is young.  His body looks pretty stout compared to his neck/head.  You can't tell his leg color very well in the pictures either.

http://sellers.kippenjungle.nl/page2.html#t9       Comb genetics is about a third of the way down the page.
 
Also, the pens in the background look great.  Did you build these yourself, Any more pictures?   

[Brandy Harrington]

Don, Thank you for the link, I have printed the genetics information and plan to study it over the long weekend.  I do have 4 hens from the same bloodline with good pea combs so far.  (Splash and Blue) They have some growing to do still so I guess patience is what I need more than anything right now.  I have read so much literature on Ameraucana's and it can be a bit overwhelming at first but I'm learning.  It's sites like this that gives us beginners an opportunity to get accurate advise to help us along the way.  My end goal is to raise show quality Ameraucanas, not to be confused with EE's.  I just love this breed 

His weight is good,(I need to get him on the scales again for an accurate number) he was a bit fluffed out when I took the picture.  He is obsessed with the ladies and likes to strut in front of their pen. lol

He has the slate color legs with white on the bottoms of his feet.  No leakage in his feathers, shiny black with green tints. 

We built the coop ourselves.  It's still a work in progress.  For some reason I keep having to add on...and on...and on.  I will upload what pic I have of the coops.  It was dark thirty when I took it but it gives an idea to how I am set up.  (My favorite place in the yard to sit)

[Susan Mouw]

Nice!!

We're re-doing our coops this year (a work in progress) and I'm still trying to decide what I want the final outcome to look like.  Frustrates my husband to no end!  lol

[Don]

I know I have taken this off topic.  (Susan might want to split this into another thread.) You all did a great job on the building.  Additions do seem to be the norm every few years for poultry folks.  And Not many folks find time to go back and reconstruct earlier builds, cudos Susan.  I really like the big pens, looks like you could raise quite a few birds with this set up.  Our property is open and once in a while a neighborhood dog will come thru nosing around.  For this reason, we keep a heavier dog wire on the bottom of the cages as a precaution.  But having the smaller wire along the bottom keeps smaller animals (possums and racoons are out biggest problems) from reaching in to grab birds at night too.