Looking for chicks/New member

[Guest]

Hi,

I\'m new to the breed (and new to chickens as well! LOL) I\'ll admit that when my brother asked what kind of chicken I wanted, I said I didn\'t much care, since a chicken was a chicken, right?  Who knew???  

Anyways, I got a variety of chicks from an order I split with them, then I started doing research on breeds, backwards, I know!

I ended up with two \"aracuanas\" which of course are probably mutts, I had no idea. We raise rabbits, and if I sell something as a Rex, it had better BE a Rex!

So, does anyone in the upstate NY have some reasonably priced chicks I can start over with? Or a link to a hatchery/breeder with actual \"real\" stock, and not sold out til next year???  :stare:

Since I\'m new to breeding, are there certain colors that I can breed together (like color families with rabbits) or do I have to get all one color chicken?

I also raise meat rabbits (Silver Fox and Rex) so if anyone in NY is interested in trading a breeding Trio of rabbits for a bunch of chicks, please don\'t hesitate to ask!

Dawn

[HarryS]

Dawn,
   There are some members in NY and one in MA.   Check the breeders list on the left of the Ameraucana site and download it.  Maybe someone will be showing in your area.   Check Poultry Press for some of the local shows, if you don\'t get Poultry Press you may want to look into it, you get $5 coupon generally every month off on Purina feeds which really pays for the paper.  There are still members hatching chicks so you may want to email them to see what is available.   As far as colors check the search here for the colors that are compatable.   Good luck,   Harry

[Guest]

Thanks!

Anyone ever bought them from Eggbid? There is a seller on now selling them (  xtremegamebirds ) Has anyone ever bought from them?

[Jean]

Dawn,

Those are easter eggers.

Jean

[Guest]

Dawn,

What color or colors are you looking for?

[Guest]

Well, I\'m getting some blues and blacks from Jean (Thanks! ) but I may be interested in some of the other colors if I can cross them with blue or black? What colors do you have? ;p

[HarryS]

Dawn,
   You can breed black to common blue and splash all in one pen without changing the integrity of you birds.
   You can breed wheaten to blue wheaten and splash wheaten.
   
   You can breed silver to blue silver.
   There are other ones maybe that someone else will have to tell you about them because I am not familar or breed those colors.  
    When you run a flock of all the colors you will end up with  Easter-eggers and loose the integrity of the birds.  With the cost of feed why produce culls.   HS

[Guest]

Can I breed blue to Splash? (Or blue wheaten?)

You can\'t breed black to blue wheaten though? Why not?

Guess its not like rabbits where black goes with everything, huh?  :stare:

[Mike Gilbert]

Dawn,
Did you read the next topic/thread?   I think it should pretty much answer your question.     Poultry color genetics are unlike those of mammals.

[Guest]

I did, someone want to explain \"chicken color crossing for dummies\" LOL

Is there someplace online that explains it?

I guess what I was really wondering about is if there was a third color that would go with  BOTH the blacks and blues.

So.... I could get Splash to go with the blacks, and blue wheaten to go with the blues, but not Vs versa, right? I want to be sure, since I am going to be building a coop this week sometime and it\'ll be easier to make 2 (or three) divided pens while I\'m doing it rather than having to go back later and fix it!

Now, WHAT am I going to do with those poor little hatchery mutts that are following me around like little puppy dogs?  :rolleyes:

[John]

Splash to go with the blacks, and blue wheaten to go with the blues

Don\'t get \"splash\" mixed with \"splash wheaten\".

Black x splash = 100% blue
Wheaten X splash wheaten = 100% blue wheaten.

Think of wheaten as you would black, since it has black feathers on it\'s breast (the cocks), tail and wings.  These feathers are blue on a blue wheaten and splash on a splash wheaten.  All the other feather colors stay the same whether a bird is wheaten, blue wheaten or splash wheaten.

[Guest]

Re. the \"hatchery mutts\":
Recently I\'ve gained an increased appreciation for Easter Eggers. Usually our eggs are just all together, but I\'ve been collecting hatching eggs from our Ameraucana hen recently. It raised my awareness of how large and numerous eggs our hatchery Easter Eggers lay in comparison. This is very desirable for many non-showing chicken owners.
Most customers ordering from hatcheries never plan to show or breed selective lines. It would seem in customers\' best interest to select whatever parent crossings produce optimal quantity and size of colored eggs, without regard to official breed standards, since eggs are a prime objective for many hatchery customers buying \"Araucanas/Ameraucanas\".
However, hatcheries should BE CLEAR in stating the chicks ARE NOT Ameraucanas or Araucanas.
--By the way: We\'ve had true Ameraucanas before that were excellent layers, and I\'m sure there are Easter Eggers that don\'t lay so well.