The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Ameraucana Marketplace

Culling time/ advice and contacts for one up north...

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John:
I have answers to a couple questions.  Any check that I can cash is great, but due to the extra cost of postage we ask for Family memberships ($15) for anyone without a US Zip code.
I know this Forum has a polling option, but since I didn\'t know what it was for or how it worked I\'ve avoided it.  I\'ll check the admin. settings to make sure it is turned on.  

Guest:
Mailed off my (our) membership today. In the meantime, I\'ll just keep sending questions.

Like:
Are color descriptions other than solid colors, somewhat arbitrary or at least subjective? My library does have Extraordinary Chickens (beautiful birds and photos!) but I\'m not sure what designates silver from birchen, wheaten from buff, and what qualifies as mottled, spangled, laced etc.
Much less how to breed for these desirable colorings. Also there seem to be huge variances in birds called red/brown and blue.
My birds look like a class of overeager kindergarteners got them to hold still long enough to get their fingerpaint covered hands on them.

I\'m really looking forward to your handbook and directory and any pictures members post.

and thoughts:
In reference to douglas graham\'s posting:
It might be useful to prospective breeders to have a user/buyer rating system for hatcheries. I would guess that most people- who don\'t live near or know someone who breeds or raises birds- get their start with hatchery stock.
If you focused on 10 major type characteristics, awarding 1 pt. each when a desirable trait is present and 0 if it is absent, you could get a best possible rating of 100 per every 10 birds.
For example, using the main characteristics from the above post, my 10 LFs from Rochester Hatchery would probably score somewhere in the 60 -70 range. They all look like Ameraucanas, but none of them possess all of the breed characteristics (or a single color pattern.) Hatcheries that are selling anything from a colored egg as \'americanas\' might not be too keen on an independent user rating, but hatcheries keeping and propagating good stock would!

My LF hens love me now. I weeded the strawberry patch and saved them all the slugs an a couple of worms that got in the way!

John:
I know it isn\'t cheap, but would agree with Mike that you should invest in the APA \"American Standard of Perfection\".  I think you can order it from their website and we have a link to them on our links page.  
Also, try to attend some real poultry shows (not fairs) and take your camera.  This was the biggest help to me in understanding what different varieties are supposed to look like.
There are very few commercial hatcheries that sell what they call Ameraucanas that are close enough to the Standard to use as breeders to produce Ameraucanas.
I think most any ABC member would suggest buying from fellow \"breeders\" and not buying from a commercial hatchery.  That goes for other breeds of poultry too.

Guest:
Let me see if I\'ve got this right...
Buying from a major hatchery could be like, say, buying feeder goldfish from a pet store (hoping they\'ll look like koi), whereas buying stock from a reputable breeder would be like deciding on koi and going out and buying koi... sort of?

That being the case, I might do like douglasgraham and take my purtiest birds to a local fair, see if I can bring home some ribbons and an empty cage or two ;), while saving up, educating myself and sourcing out some good breeding stock for next spring.

Another question:
Do reputable breeders ONLY  sell adult birds?
If so, how does one so far away from said breeders, with a border and import regulations to deal with- get the (breeder) flock started?  :(  

I train with some University students @my dojo. I\'m going to see about getting a look and maybe some color copies of relevant pages of the Standard from their library. They must have a copy!

In the meantime, I\'ll have fun and try to get over as many of my rookie mistakes as possible with my feeder goldfish! :D

John:
Adult, started and chicks are available from breeders.  Hatching eggs are also an idea.  Not everything is avilable all the time.  Check with Rob and Shelly about importing problems, costs and procedures.  They\'ve gone thru it and know.
If you are not too far from a breeder in Washington you could drive there to pick up birds.  You can also have chicks sent to a US Post Office, just over the border, and drive there to pick them up.  The costs for the birds can be doubled because of the vet bill, paper work, gasoline, etc.

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