Author Topic: Ameraucana Breeding Literature?  (Read 5223 times)

Mitchell Taylor

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Ameraucana Breeding Literature?
« on: October 20, 2017, 06:27:50 PM »
Trying to educate ourselves on Amerauacana breeding and we've searched the forum's for the best literature for beginners and didn't know if there was any new books out that anyone would recommend? Most of the information we found in the forums was from older books and we didn't know how much things have changed in the industry since.

Another question we have is what happens when you cross a blue Amerauacana with a blue wheaton Amerauacana? Will it be a blue, blue wheaton, or simply an Easter Egger?

Thanks for any information.

Mitch and Tiffany

Don

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Re: Ameraucana Breeding Literature?
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2017, 07:15:21 PM »
Mitch and Tiffany, 

A cross between a Blue and Blue Wheaten would produce a mess.  They are two totally different genetic foundations and it will take generations to get back to a usable offspring to either variety.  And anyone that you sold stock to would likely not be happy for a Long time. 

I am not aware of any newer books for Breeding purposes.  There are a several different older "classic" books that are still viable both for reference and general info for the newer breeders.  There is a lot of information available on line, but I would caution that you can get some really Bad info from the wrong sites too.  Some others might offer some suggestions on their resource books.   Can you provide some of the questions you might have at this juncture?  This might spark some ideas on what might best suit your needs now.       
Don Cash
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Mitchell Taylor

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Re: Ameraucana Breeding Literature?
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2017, 08:19:26 PM »
We're both beginners at poultry breeding so we're going to need information for beginners to help get us started. We're planning on breeding the blue varieties (blacks, splash) and the wheaton varieties (blue wheaton, and splash wheaton) so any information regarding color, lacing, and other varibles that affect show quality poultry we'd greatly appreciate it.

Don

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Re: Ameraucana Breeding Literature?
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2017, 09:54:31 PM »
There is some information specific to the Breed in the different Handbooks printed over the years.  And of course the info on the ABC Forum is specific to AMs as well.  The rest of the information that is printed is going to be general to poultry or general information about color Breeding.  Information is quite varied and as you probably have figured out already is not Always agreed upon by all folks breeding poultry, Imagine that, that we don't all agree on things.  You will learn as you go about your stock, how they produce and how you can read their traits thru the generations.  It is great to be able to relate the chick color to the adult plumage so you can cull early and not waste feed and space on poor quality stock.  There is info here on the Forum that suggests the best color of chicks of the different varieties.  Use this with a grain of salt as you learn about your lines of AMs and ask plenty of questions from the original breeder.  They can probably tell you about their experience with the lines and hopefully save you some time and effort.  A word of caution, once you cross lines the genetics may change some of the "Tells" that you may have learned about your original line too.

I would suggest that you read the basic info about E locus to understand the basis for each of the colors. This is helpful to know what you can use to breed together and not upset the whole genetic balance in your matings.  Beyond the E locus, there are other genes that are thought to impact color as well.  Silver vs Gold is one of the genes behind the scenes that can help or hinder certain colors.   

There are a lot of books that have been printed thru the years and few are still in print.  I am sure everyone has their favorites, but the ones that come to my mind are Bantam Chickens/Fred Jeffrey and Start Where You Are With What You Have /Ralph H. Sturgeon.  Both are available from the ABA bookstore.  There are some old books written by Jeffrey about the colors of the Old English Bantams, but I have not been able to find a copy.   The OE folks are light years ahead on color breeding IMO. 

In addition, there are a number of websites that have discussions about colors.  And to beat a dead horse... read and learn, As in the political world "Trust but Verify", and know that there are different perspectives about most things.
http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php  - lots of discussions about color breeding
http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html     - a good tool when crossing colors, makes it seem simple
http://www.edelras.nl/chickengenetics/  - basic info about poultry genetics and color 

And ask a lot of questions.  Find someone you trust and ask specific questions about your topic of interest.  The Blue color has a lot of things happening with some folks trying to add the true lacing.  Lots to discover. And the W/BW/SW is a very interesting group of colors.  The wheaten colors have everything going on, male and female /diphoric colors, Hackles too dark in the males and even coloring in the females, the lacing issues in the BW, Leg color, earlobe color issues.....    Both of these colors could be discussed/debated at Great length in individual conversations.   I hope this helps a little bit, Take is a little at the time and Enjoy the hobby along the way.   
« Last Edit: October 20, 2017, 10:24:01 PM by Don »
Don Cash
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Mitchell Taylor

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Re: Ameraucana Breeding Literature?
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2017, 10:37:43 PM »
Thank you for all the information Don we are really looking forward to getting into the breeding and genetics, hopefully we'll get our first hatch sometime in early to mid March. Looking very forward to diving into this information and educating ourselves on the genetics and developing our flock along the way.

Birdcrazy

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Re: Ameraucana Breeding Literature?
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2017, 11:02:54 PM »
Don, I'm still breeding and looking for that perfect bird. It's not like playing Mr. Potato Head where you can exchange body parts to get the perfect ending. You look at your growing pens and look at that comb on one bird, another bird the great tail set, another bird the muff and beard, another bird width and depth of the chest and you could go on and on. If only I could put that body part from that bird on the other bird. It's virtually easier said then done. But after all, isn't that what creates an endless challenge and the fun looking at each years hatches. It never ends as one always thinks he or she can do better. The only disappointing thing is that when you think you are really making progress along comes that bad word PREDATORS! Well that's another topic for another time!
Gordon Gilliam