Ameraucana eggs hatching

[Guest]

My 1st Ameraucana Chick hatched this is the 21st day out of 20 eggs 1 hatched this morning it has been 3 hrs and nothing else has happened is this a bad sign ? under the red light in the brooder the chick looks gray with silver breast

[Mike Gilbert]

What variety(s) were the parent birds?   Did you own the breeders or have eggs shipped in?

[Jean]

I\'ve only been hatching eggs for two seasons now, so here\'s my opinion.

I usually give them about 48 hours to hatch from the time the first one hatches, sometimes there are stragglers, but generally 48 for all of them to hatch.

If you keep the slow pokes, it just adds to your incubation time on your next generation from them.  Try to be as patient as possible, I know that they are so cute and you want them all out asap, but it never works that way.

Try not to open the incubator too often either, that will suck all the moisture out and the membranes inside the shell will dry up and that equals dead chicks.

Your chick is probably a blue, the red light alters the colors your eyes see.

Jean

[Guest]

I got the eggs shipped in from Ga from a breeder plus Ive got 14 from SC due tomorrow their true blue eggs and 12 due Friday Ill email  the lady in GA and find out just told her I wanted the true Blue eggs

[Guest]

thanks Jean I`ll be patient and keep the incabator closed I had some bad luck the last time due to a power outage and started to give up then I found these eggs and tryed again and glad I did

[Guest]

Mike here is some pics of her Chickens

[Mike Gilbert]

Not very good type and nonstandard colors that will not breed true to color.   It is very possible to  do better.   I would consider them easter eggers, not Ameraucanas.    Did you contact any club members for eggs?

[Guest]

yes a couple but they said they didnt have any at this time

[Jean]

Did you get those off of ebay?  I totally chewed out a lady selling her easter egger eggs as show quality ameraucanas and that looks like the picture that was on her ad.

I told her that if 4-H kids were buying her hatching eggs and showing the offspring at the fair, then they would most definately get disqualified and be very disappointed.

She also tried to tell me that the food she was feeding her chickens turned the eggs green, which I highly doubt is a possibility.

There is nothing wrong with easter eggers mind you, they are lovely colorful birds.  I own several and some of them have been great pets, but they are not a recognized breed with the APA and to advertise them as show birds is really dishonest.

Jean

[Guest]

You are right Jean and I`am realy disapointed Ive been trying
for months to get some real eggs maybe the dozen I got in Geer, SC that are true Blue will be the real thing their due to hatch friday week

[Guest]

Lamplighter(and Mike): If your only goal is to have birds that produce blue eggs then you may be happy with your birds.  Many of us on this board are breeding Ameraucana. Our primary goal is to breed and raise birds that are as described by the APA Standard of Perfection(which by the way isn\'t very expensive to buy).  The Ameraucana is also to be a blue egg layer. Some people are still working on the bluer egg thing. It\'s not uncommon with even show quality stock to have a more green/blue egg than a blue green egg. If you decide that the Ameraucana is the breed for you then I suggest joining the ABC.  I would suggest when shopping for birds of any breed that contacting that breed\'s club is the best place to start. Eggbid is fun  and there are good birds there and some uh, not so good birds there. Perhaps Mike or one of the other members of ABC could give us some sample questions to ask when shopping for Ameraucana? Good luck and even if you didn\'t get true Ameraucana this time feel welcome to hang out on this board.

[Guest]

Lamplighter, don\'t get discouraged. Many,many people, as well as I guess ALL the commercial hatcheries sell non-standard Ameraucanas/Americnas/Aracanas... they have not been recognized as a breed for that long, and the rest of the poultry world has yet to catch up,I suppose.
  When I first got into chickens, I got some \"Ameraucanas\", along w/ several other breeds, but the colorful, smart little guys quickly became my favorite,hands down.  I found a wonderful website called Backyard Chickens thru the Almighty Google, and soon learned the difference between Ameraucanas and \"Easter Eggers\", which led me here, and to the pics of the standard  chickens.
   Some of mine appeared to deviate from the pics here, some were very close, but  overall
the beards,slate legs,etc., seem to be the deal breakers.
Then I started learning that some Ameraucana breeders use such birds as Old English Game Bantams, Buff Orps,Polish,etc.,etc., in their breeding programs, to create Ameraucanas, and I got even MORE confused, LOL.  :stare:
   Seems that the Ameraucana is simply a \"work in progress\", but it is WELL worth the effort.  The people that are working on the breed really seem to be genuine in their love of the breed, & also  what the breed may become.
  I have become one of the above-mentioned  \"addicts\"..  :p
due to two awesome Wheaten Roos from two breeders here , and I am really excited about the fututure of the breed.  It is very dicouraging to newbies, all the confusion surrounding the breed, and I for one wish there were a way to prevent all the hatcheries from knowingly selling non-standard birds, claiming that they are either Ameraucanas or Aracanas.  Seems to ME, that all these hatcheries MIGHT be able to afford a copy of The American Standard of Perfection.
   I realize that w/ the relaivly small number of breeders, it may take a while for the breed to become standardized all over, it just doesn\'t seem fair that the hard work of  some of the breeders here seems to be kind of nullified by the continuation of the misrepresentation of the breed.  
  I\'m sorry if I got a bit off-topic, but the whole hatchery \"thing\" really ticks me off, as well as the way that individuals  continue misrepresent the breed, and the un-suspecting public pays the price, as well as the breeders who have worked so hard and get no recognition.

[John]

breeders use such birds as Old English Game Bantams, Buff Orps,Polish,etc.,etc., in their breeding programs, to create Ameraucanas

While we are off topic, lets go a little further down the road.
I know that there is a \"heritage\" breed fad going on and that some feel they are doing their duty to help preserve some of the more rare breeds and varieties of chickens.  Personally I just enjoy breeding chickens and seeing the breeds and varieties develop and improve.  If Ameraucanas aren\'t around 100 years from now it doesn\'t matter to me and probably won\'t to the people alive then.  If the earth is still around chickens will be here.  Maybe they will all lay blue eggs and be either commercial meat or egg birds.  Maybe there won\'t be poultry shows or breed clubs.  
The Ameraucana was bred from other breeds, but all of those other breeds were bred from other breeds or non-standard chickens also.  I think that some people believe all these different  breeds came off the ark as show quality chickens.  A chicken is a chicken and they are all related to each other, just like every dog is related to every dog and all people are related to each other.  Even the evolutionists would have to agree with me there.  
...what was the topic again?    

[Guest]

Thanks everyone for trying to help only 4 of the Ga eggs hatched and 3 of the four died and the one left is 4 days old and has`nt got on his feet yet I dont think its gone make it
I have 12 eggs due friday I got in Greer,SC that are true Blue
I hope these do good

[Guest]

Though I\'m out of the bird business now, I haven\'t lost interest -- and hopefully partaking will keep my own knowledge proficient.

When incubating, don\'t forget that if you\'re using an egg turner, heat rises. On Day 18, when the eggs go out of the turner and on to the deck, the temperature has to be raised so that it\'s 99.5 at the top of the eggs. I did not due this, and as a result, the temp declined and that increased the mortality rate some.

Since you\'re getting two batches of eggs within a day of each other, I would set the incubator up now, empty -- and then put both batches in on the same day. Incubators work better with more eggs; if you must do a small batch, keep them towards the center.