Should I bother breeding any of these?

[Guest]

I need experienced opinions, please!  Pics below.

I\'m new to Ameraucanas (I breed Marans), but I would like to start a small flock of quality birds.  I purchased the eggs I hatched these from from a breeder who said that the hens were show quality.  I know that not all offspring from show quality birds will be show quality themselves, and I\'m not attempting to prove the breeder wrong/dishonest.  But I would like honest opinions from those more experienced than myself.  If these guys aren\'t worth breeding, thats fine; a couple of my laying hens ran off with a fox, so I needed a few replacements, anyway.  I\'m thinking that the answers will be \"don\'t bother,\" but before I throw them out with the laying flock, here they are.  

These are 10 weeks old. I have 7, but there are only two that I think I would even consider breeding:

#1, dark blue pullet:



#2, lighter blue pullet:



I hatched no cockerals (unless someone surprises me) ??!!  I can\'t believe that--guess the 50% off the eggs that didn\'t hatch were males!

Thank you for your help!
Maria

[Guest]

It looks as if the pullet in the top picture has a flaw, a spot of red on her hackle. If so, I can speak from experince that it is definately a genetic trait (inheritable) and may even be dominant. It also means she is gold, not silver.

[Guest]

Thank you!  Yes, I noticed that--I thought it was dirt (my chick \"kindergarden\" is getting crowded).  So I just ran out to the barn to get a better look--it is indeed an off-colored feather! But now that you explain this, it should have been a lot more obvious.  See that buff/gold-colored chick in the second pick?  Same hatch.  I thought that maybe a random egg got thrown in as an extra, but it\'s looking like all of these guys are carrying some sort of gold gene.  

Is this something that frequently happens when breeding blues, as in, better stock won\'t gaurantee this off-color won\'t still pop up occasionally?  Or does it mean that these were crossed with another color not too far back, and I should not attempt to breed it out?  

Thank you,
Maria

[Jean]

Maria,

If you look closely at the feet you will notice they look kind of green in the picture.  Do the feet have green in them?  The soles of the feet should be white.

The off colored bird really looks as if the legs are green.

I think you got some birds that were bred up from easter eggers.

Jean

[Guest]

The more I learn, and the more I look at them...I think you are exactly right, Jean!  :rolleyes:

I won\'t breed them, but they will be nice additions to the backyard laying flock.  I\'ll seek out good, quality stock if I want to seriously pursue breeding these guys.


Thank you!

[Guest]

Nice lacing on the darker one--Might be good for breeding to others lacking in this trait who are strong in areas in which this one is weak?
Distinct lacing can be a difficult trait to foster. I\'m not sure the means for enhancing, especially if you have to cross colors, too. I\'m working on Blue Wheatens and want to improve clarity of lacing, but it\'s difficult to find...
Best wishes to you in your breeding explorations.

[Guest]

Well, I\'m admitedly new to Ameraucanas, but they look like nice birds to me.  I don\'t see why you couldn\'t use them and breed up.  Everyone starts somewhere.  I have some wheaten colored \"EE\" bantams that I plan on breeding up.  I don\'t see anything wrong with that.  Even if you start with stock from a professional breeder, not all your chicks will grow up to be show quality, but you can keep bettering them until you have what you are happy with.  

[Mike Gilbert]

Well, sure, they could be used if a longer term project is acceptable.  They are certainly better than what we started with years ago.   But breeding birds with yellow foot pads and greenish feet (that was not apparent on my computer screen)
is asking for long term trouble.   Ameraucanas are a white skinned bird, and yellow skin is caused by a recessive gene.  That means it can lurk unnoticed in a breeding flock and reoccur whenever  two carriers are mated together.    Been there and done that - it\'s not worth the resources needed to eradicate it.   Every single breeder would have to be test mated, and then the offspring marked somehow and raised to at least six weeks or more of age.   Another point:  these birds have edging, but I would not call it lacing.  Much better coloring is achieveable.