I have a situation that I would appreciate some feedback on...
I keep and breed 3 breeds of chickens; Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas (very nice stock purchased from Barbara Campbell on 2 separate occasions, which breed true and provide consistent egg color.... HI Barbara!), Buff Orpingtons, and Cuckoo Marans. While my chickens free range my farm during the rest of the year, I separate my birds into breeding groups 30 days before I begin to collect eggs for hatching. Never a problem until now.
I had a local guy call me about BW Ameraucana chicks this spring. We talked on the phone at least 3 times, and during the first 2 calls he asked me at least 3 times in each conversation what color my eggs are. The third call he only asked me once. Fast forward to chicks have been picked up by him and his 3-year-old child (and he was happy with the egg color after all that!) I get a call and email a few days later that one of the chicks looks like a Buff Orp. I know from our previous conversations that he has Buff Orp chicks purchased from someone other than me, so my first thought is that the young child might have mixed up the chicks. No, he assures me this did not happen. I\'m trying to figure out how this could have possibly happened on my end... while I did have Buff Orp eggs in the \'bator during that particular hatch, none of the Buff eggs hatched out, and we learned that all our Buff eggs were not fertile (I had used a young Buff rooster). I have a small operation, I do it all myself and I\'m not color blind, and no brown eggs hatched, so there is no doubt there.
Assuming the customer is always right, and after wracking my brain, the only thing I can think of is that, due to the fact that my BW Ameraucana birds are in an A-framed ark (which has heavy rabbit wire... only 1/2\" holes in it) that maybe one my extra Buff roos that free-range during breeding season MIGHT have bred one of the housed hens through the wire??? Do you think this is at all possible or probable? Here is a photo of the ark (which had Marans in it at the time the photo was taken):
http://www.greenerpasturesfarm.com/ChickenHousing.html The housing in question is the top photo on the above URL.
I have more BW eggs in 2 incubators and have mentally written them off as a loss for breeding stock because of this claim. I guarantee the purity of my birds and have already promised to replace all the chicks this guy purchased from me with new stock AFTER I move my BW group to another henhouse and wait 30 days before collecting eggs again.
I\'m not asking about my guarantee; I will honor it no matter what. But I need to know for my own peace of mind if it is at all possible that a hen could have been bred through the wire?
Thanks!
Ronda
SW Washington