Which Club?

[Susan Mouw]

(cross-posted from Real Ameraucana Group on Facebook)

"There have been quite a few discussions recently about "which club do I join?" and I thought I'd throw my few thoughts out there.

Of course, anyone that knows me knows where my loyalty is, but, putting that aside, how do you answer that question?

My thought would be - why not join both? Both have something to offer, both have long time breeders of top winning Ameraucanas, both have forums for asking, and getting answers to, the questions we all face from time to time.

If, however, you don't want to join both, for whatever reasons, then here are the questions I'd ask myself.

If you're interested in showing - which club has the most Meets, and has meets where you live? Which club offers points and awards for recognition of your wins?

If you're interested in gathering lots of information and history - which club has the most historical information and which club makes that history available for research?

If you're interested in being part of a fast-growing club, then ask which club is growing - not necessarily which has the most members, but which is adding new members regularly?

Again, I can't hide my bias towards the ABC, but these are the questions I'd ask if I were looking for a breeder's club and I could only choose one. The best answer still might be to join both - then re-evaluate at the end of the year and decide which one to move forward with."

[Birdcrazy]

Or the best conclusion might be I am happy where I am currently a member. That was my conclusion a couple of years ago. The ABC had done nothing to offend me, in fact they had helped me get my breeding program where it was at that point. The Forum with all the help from those who posted, a strong breeders directory for source to better my flock, great members who for the most part was concerned with the betterment of our breed and not their own personal gain. A strong show network.  I truly feel our club has moved forward and is strongly interested in the betterment of the breed. Look at the improvements in the last two years with the improved website, the improved forum, working to add new varieties of Ameraucanas, working through the AI shutdown of shows and rebuilding a new show network. Evidently   I am not the only one who feels this way with the influx of the new members in our club!

[Susan Mouw]

Very happy to hear you're happy here, Gordon!  And I agree with what you said about the club.  Looking back over the past year, we've made some incredible strides in education, exhibition, promoting the breed... in short, all those things we state as our purpose.  We have more work to do in the coming months, and years, but given our attitude towards progress, and working together, I have faith we'll accomplish much.

For me - the data geek - I love that we have many (though not all yet) of our previous bulletins and handbooks available for anyone to research and I look forward to when we have a complete historical archives.

I love the way this Board has worked together over the last year and a few months - even against some tough opposition, at times, and, some pretty challenging obstacles.  Obstacles that were meant to split us apart have drawn us together. Challenges that were meant to stop us in our tracks, have been overcome. And, still we grow!

With the help of all our great members, we'll keep moving ahead - with new varieties pending approval, more technology making our job easier and information more accessible, and more benefits for our members.

I can't wait to see what's next!

Like I said - I can't hide my bias towards the ABC.

[DeWayne Edgin]

I just want to add that i am very happy that the ABC is moving along with getting Self Blue accepted and Splash varieties also. I would think that Splash and Wheaten Splash should not be that hard to get accepted. The reason that i say that is because Splash is just breeding blue to blue. Since blue is an accepted varietey, you would think that Splash would just follow because they are not a new color made from breeding other breeds of chickens. Also they breed true. The same with Splash Wheaten. But i know the system doesn`t work that way and we need to take the proper steps to get them there. I am just glad the ABC is going to continue to help the Ameraucanas get the help that the breed needs to grow. If you look over the breeders directory, you can see a few members that raise Self Blue only and Black and Self Blue. My point is that there are people like differnt colors and the more varieties we have to work with can also mean more members to help our club. So the more varieties that get accepted can also mean more birds getting around to shows that promote the breed for new people to learn about the breed.