The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Ameraucana Marketplace
Leg color in chicks
Guest:
The chicks are about 3 weeks old and less.
Guest:
Wesley,
According to the 1998 edition of the Standard of Perfection: Black Ameraucanas Shanks and toes to be very dark slate to black, bottoms of feed and toes white.
Blue Ameraucanas Shanks to be dark slate, bottoms of feet and toes to be white.
I have had birds disqualified for having a slight yellowish tinge to the pads of the feet. Even with slate shanks. Yellow bad, white good! LOL
Keep em for a while, and see if the yellow fades.
John:
--- Quote ---Yellow bad, white good!
--- End quote ---
Amen!
No yellow on the feet or shanks is allowed no matter the age. Just make sure it is yellow, not the lighting or stains on the soles/pads, and then cull.
--- Quote ---Wheaten and blue wheatens hatch with yellowish legs
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---Some chicks are born with willow or yellow legs.
--- End quote ---
Genetically they are not yellow or willow, although they may appear to be willowish for the first several weeks. Still the pads/soles should always be white or pinkish. Recessive wheaten doesn\'t let the desired slate color to show in chicks. It changes (or should) with age.
As I recall we voted to allow slate to black legs/shanks on blue and brown red also. Maybe it will be in a revised Standard?
Guest:
I am going to look closer when I get home. These are adults from a very known breeder in the Club. Is it possible for this trait to show up in any breeders birds or would this have been a trait that should have been culled. All the adult breeders have the correct leg color.
John:
I sold a LF blue pair this year and the buyer hatched 4 chicks. She said all four have yellow pads/soles. The leg and foot color on the parents is according to the Standard and I\'ve checked all my young LF blacks and blues. Some of them may have come from this same hen and/or cock, but their colors are correct. Recessive genes can pop up. In breeding LF blacks and blues for 15 to 20 years I have never bred to a bird with yellow or willow legs or feet. I don\'t check their foot color when they hatch, because I wasn\'t aware these genes were even present in these varieties. Years ago a member in Ohio bred his LF \"Ameraucanas\" with yellow legs, because he preferred them that way. I didn\'t use any of his birds in developing mine. Trap nesting each breeder would be the only way I know of to completely eliminate the problem.
Another breeder of the same varieties said about 1% of his chicks have yellow pads.
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