Buff Ameraucana Large Fowl

[philipu]

Since I have decided on concentrating on the Buff Variety of
Ameraucana, I have been reading, information on the Ameraucana.
I have some questions if there is anyone who is willing to enlighten
me, I will appreciate it.
On the Large Fowl Buff, what are the biggest challenges,
is it size (are they larger or smaller than the other varieties), eye color, shank color, feathers...undercoat?
What should I look for in the positive and in the negative, of
this variety?
Thanks for any information.
phil

[philipu]

Yes, yes and yes.  By the way, the buffs whether LF or bantams make the best setting hens of all the Ameraucana varieties.
An even buff color without shafting is always a primary goal.  The eye color tends to be too dark when mine have dark slate legs.  Because of the other breeds I used to develop my LF buffs the combs may need some improvement along with the egg color.  They are very docile and beautiful birds, but you already knew that.

Thanks John,
when you are talking about shafting, am I hearing right,
the shaft of the feather is the same shade as the feather? Can it be a little darker?
On breeding of birds with combs less than what one wants,
do you use them, or try to find male with the correct comb.
I have heard that the female gives type and the male color,
does this hold true?
Also how much sun can a buff take before the color starts fading?
I don\'t want to make the birds a \"hot house\"  bird.
I like to see the birds being chickens, dusting, scratching, digging in the dirt, and even mud, and listening to their chatter.
Thanks again, phil

[Mike Gilbert]

Hi Phil,
If I may interject here, shafting is when the shaft of the feather is lighter in color than the webbing.   I don\'t think a darker shaft is discriminated against.   I raise my buff bantams in the shade mostly.   The sun can bleach out the buff color, especially in females.   I think it is extra damaging when the birds are left out in the sun after they get wet from a heavy dew or the rain.   In general terms, a little sun won\'t hurt them, but shady conditions are best.  With regard to comb selection, try using females with combs as small as possible to correct oversized combs in the males.  It may take more than one generation inasmuch as there are a multitude of factors to select for besides the combs.

Mike

[philipu]

Hi Phil,
If I may interject here, shafting is when the shaft of the feather is lighter in color than the webbing.   I don\'t think a darker shaft is discriminated against.   I raise my buff bantams in the shade mostly.   The sun can bleach out the buff color, especially in females.   I think it is extra damaging when the birds are left out in the sun after they get wet from a heavy dew or the rain.   In general terms, a little sun won\'t hurt them, but shady conditions are best.  With regard to comb selection, try using females with combs as small as possible to correct oversized combs in the males.  It may take more than one generation inasmuch as there are a multitude of factors to select for besides the combs.

Mike

Hi Mike,

My little shed is inbetween to rows of trees and stays pretty shaded,  I was thinking of stretching some of that shade cloth over the top, especially for the summer sun, to block that out.
It will be a new experience showing a variety that has this demand on them to keep them in feather color.
I was wondering on the shafting just how hard judges were on that, especially since its in the same shade as the feathers.
If it were black then I could see the problem
Thanks for the tip on the combs.  The combs on these males that I got from John B are really nice, a good number of the pea combs I\'ve seen on birds is irregular, oversized, just not there.
Susie\'s birds have really nice combs too.
I hope to be getting some of the FOR SALE  birds this coming week weather permitting.  It\'s suppose to cool down into the low 80\'s to mid 80\'s.
The 4 males I have in bantams are looking pretty good, still need to get feathers in hopefully by October or November.
I separated them today, they were wanting to fight, of course, I still had them in with the females...and I guess they are getting to that age......
Females are my favorite\'s, they seem to manage to get along, or get their pecking order real fast, and no damage done.
Males  another story, as you well know.
Thanks again for the information you and John give to us here on the board.  phil

[Guest]

Hi, Phil!

I just want to ask/mention as to your altitude there in Jerome? We\'re at 7,000 ft. elevation here in Flagstaff and most any buff color will bleach out tremendously due to the sun effects at this altitude. When I did have buffs (Ameraucanas and Orpingtons) I did have to use a shade cloth indeed to keep them at their best for showing.
We even get sunburns through t-shirts here and have to be careful in the sun.

Good luck with your new birds. I ordered from John as well and love the birds I received!

Take care,
Kathy

[philipu]

Hi, Phil!

I just want to ask/mention as to your altitude there in Jerome? We\'re at 7,000 ft. elevation here in Flagstaff and most any buff color will bleach out tremendously due to the sun effects at this altitude. When I did have buffs (Ameraucanas and Orpingtons) I did have to use a shade cloth indeed to keep them at their best for showing.
We even get sunburns through t-shirts here and have to be careful in the sun.

Good luck with your new birds. I ordered from John as well and love the birds I received!

Take care,
Kathy

Hi Kathy,

Thanks, that\'s what I was thinking on the bleaching of the feathers, I\'ve got Buckeye Bantams, and I have my shed in the trees which keeps most of the hot sun off the birds, except when
they want to take a sunbath.
We are desert here, just at just a little over 4200 feet, wind usually always from west and east.  The air movement helps with the heat, at least
its moving and helps one feel a little cooler.
I have shade cloth on the sides of the pen and now need to finish with the top, I have my pen covered with flight net, we have the Great Horned Owl, Hawks, large and small, coyote, fox, raccoon, feral cats, and dogs that come through once in a while and are worse than any of the others. They even grab the wire and try to tear it,
Not good...
But this year I haven\'t lost any to any of these...
Iappreciate your input, I am waiting for the weather to cool,
then John will be sending me birds...
later, phil

[philipu]

I haven\'t been able to get to the board, have been busy here.
I am fortunate to been able to place an order with John and Paul,  I am going to concentrate on the Buffs alone.
I have large black and whites, and three blue....I am going to donate at the shows, first one first weekn end of October,
Great Falls, a trio of Blacks and a trio of Whites, large fowl.
I will do the same at the Utah and Idaho show, these are going up for raffle and auction.
What is left I will  put in the auction for raising more money for our clubs out here...
Thanks John for the buffs I have received, phil

I think I\'ve mentioned it somewhere here before that several years ago Arne Schmidt and I sold LF buffs to Jay Horn, of CA, at a big joint ABA/APA meet in Ohio.  He has done well breeding them and even had some wins at shows.  A few weeks ago Paul Smith, of TX, was looking for LF buffs (they seem to be few and far between) and I recommended he contact Jay.  He did and is buying a trio from him.  Jay is cutting back to work on a masters degree and I am buying the rest of his LF buffs, except for a few that are very young.  Jay called tonight to say they are in the mail and on their way.  If all goes well I should be able to double my breeding flock of buffs by adding his birds.  If anyone is interested in ordering LF buff chicks for next spring, please don\'t wait to place an order.  The Order Forms are on my website.  Phil has already put in an order.  Paul may be offering them too.

[Guest]

 I shipped a number of birds out this past fall, (both Dutch and Ameraucanas) and found it best to drive directly to the Cincinnati airport (47 miles one way) and ship them from the Air Mail Facility there, rather than try to ship them from my local (very rural) post office.

The folks at the airport are very experienced with shipping \"lives\" and all my birds arrived safe and sound within one day. I sent birds out to Staten Island (hi Ron), Dallas, two places in Colorado, and two places in Missouri (hi Mike.) The only time I had trouble this year was last spring when a breeder in the UP of Michigan tried to ship me birds who wound up coming here by truck.

I think using your nearest large airport is the way to go, if it\'s not too far to drive to.

[John]

Philip Urrutia, from Idaho, asked me to post these photos of a couple of his LF cockerels.  Please feel frre to critique them.