The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Breeding
New with questions
John Scruggs:
Good morning! I am new to the breed and recently purchased hatching eggs from Mrs. Mouw. I am working with the 4H agents in our area here in middle Georgia and we are starting a poultry program for the kids. All the kids this year, bought copper marans chicks to show this fall and next year because that is what we had available at the time before school was out. However, I am planning to get them to change to Ameraucanas next year for a few different reasons. This year we had about 25 kids and they each got two chicks to take home and raise/handle over the summer.
My plan is to have a small breeding flock of quality birds. I will collect their eggs and we will hatch them in class next spring, and the kids will take the chicks home to raise and show.
All that being said, here is my dilemma. I have a very nice, concrete floor, covered metal roof pen that is 10 x 10. I have 7 black chicks and 10 wheatens chicks, some of which are showing blue wheatens coloration. I'm thinking with a pen this size, I need to keep whatever turns out to be my best cockerel and 4-5 of the best pullets for breeding stock. I am leaning heavily toward the wheatens because they seem to be the most calm and I have a few more of them for selection purposes. After a few months of grow out, I will probably find an interested kid and give them the best of the blacks. The rest I will just sell as easter eggers. If there are undesirable characteristics that are already visible, (mine are 5 1/2 weeks old and I am transitioning them to the outside pen this afternoon as it has been and looks to continue to be very hot here in Georgia) I can start thinning the flock now. Can someone post some picture of what I should be looking for as cull/selection characteristics in the wheatens? Ie. pictures of what to look for, and explanations of good and bad traits. Thank you!
Don:
John, Glad that you are interested in Ameraucanas, and thank you for working with the 4H program to help youngsters with an interest in animal husbandry. It sounds like you have a great place to start the young chickens grow outs. I know of several folks that use concrete floors for safety reasons and ease of cleaning. You might want to have some litter on top of this floor to allow easier cleaning and allow the chickens something to scratch thru as well. Paul uses hay and lots of others use shavings. And as soon as possible you can install a dusting box with sand, wood ashes and the some other various dry materials. They will start to enjoy this really early.
You can see some threads here where folks have started to document what the different colors look like as they go thru various stages of feathering. In my opinion its going to be difficult to cull at this early stage of growth. You can watch for any weaknesses in beak structure or crooked toes, slow growth or slow feathering and see how they develop in the next months. But the final color especially in the wheaten varieties is difficult to determine until they have more of their adult feathering. You might ask Susan what she has noticed in her lines and how to watch for those issues. But I would think that you have plenty of space and encourage you not to sell anything too early. I hope you don't lose any youngsters along the way. But its always good to have an extra or two just in case of problems or if you find any issues later stages of grow out.
John Scruggs:
Thank you! Yes, I have/will use hay for bedding on top of the concrete. I remember Susan telling me things about culling for dark feathering on their backs but there was so much information she gave me that day I just can't remember all the details. I will hold them all a while then until they are fully feathered and more mature. I will also get a dust bath going for them.
Birdcrazy:
--- Quote from: Don on June 13, 2016, 10:45:37 AM ---
In my opinion its going to be difficult to cull at this early stage of growth. You can watch for any weaknesses in beak structure or crooked toes, slow growth or slow feathering and see how they develop in the next months. But the final color especially in the wheaten varieties is difficult to determine until they have more of their adult feathering.
--- End quote ---
I agree with Don. Wheaten and Blue Wheaten seem to take longer to develop their full plumage color to see what you will end up in final results. As he stated you can cull early for obvious defects, but I usually wait until 6-8 months to start culling on conformation and color. I sometimes will cull for color earlier on Blue Wheatens on the shade of Blue in their chests, but will wait on later determination on coloration. You will see by the Blacks that you can begin to cull much sooner on these areas. Thanks again for working with the youth in your area!
Susan Mouw:
Hi John
As both Don and Gordon have stated, it is difficult to evaluate the wheaten and blue wheatens early. They go through so many changes, especially the cockerels, from hatch to a year old, I've pretty much decided to hang onto whatever doesn't have obvious faults (porcelain in the ear lobes, duck foot, scissor beak) until they are at least 9-10 months old.
The black in the hackles is one thing I look for, but it is one of the last things I look for in cockerels. In pullets, however, if they've got black in their hackles at 3 months, they will have black in their hackles as adults. I will cull for that early on and sell the chicks or started birds as backyard layers.
Other than that, it is very difficult to know how a wheaten or blue wheaten chick is going to color out as an adult. If you have the room, I'd recommend holding on to all the wheatens and blue wheatens you have (you can cross breed those, btw) until at least this fall and re-evaluate then. Feel free to post pictures here for critiques, as well.
You're right about the temperament of the wheatens vs the blacks. I've learned to raise my blacks with my wheatens so they pick up some of their calm, friendly manner. It's worked pretty well, so far - while my young black grow-outs are not as curious (or as quick to jump in my lap) as the wheatens, they are not near as flighty as the ones that weren't raised with wheatens. Wheatens and blue wheatens are two of the more challenging varieties in the Ameraucanas, but that temperament keeps me going with them.
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