Topics

16

Ameraucana Marketplace / Need some advice with breeding

« on: March 10, 2011, 12:11:41 PM »

First off I\'d like to say that I\'m not well read in genetics and struggle to understand what I\'m reading most of the time.  Anybody got a recommendation for a good simple book that would help me get a simple understanding of the genetics of birds?

Secondly, I\'ve been pairing my birds up for the last few years based on looks to try and obtain some better looking birds.  Like I said, I don\'t have a good knowledge of genetics.  I did obtain my birds from a well known breeder here and have been working with what I have, taking notes on them, etc.  I feel I have made some progress in this area, but still have some problem areas that need work.  Mainly, eye color, and leakage.  What I\'d like to ask about here is hackle and saddle leakage.

My colors are black, blue and splash LF.  I have three nice blacks with good hackles and saddle feathers.  I have one splash roo with good size, eyes, form etc.  He has quite a bit of \"straw\" color in his hackles and saddle feathers though.  I would like to get a nice splash roo from him without that problem.  Same with a blue roo I hatched last year.  I kept the best looking one.  He was bred from a black roo x blue hen.  I must say however, looking at pics, that the hen was more lavender looking than blue, imo.  Anyway, he is about 9 months old now and when I put the camera on him, it appears that I am seeing some reddish tint in the hackles and saddle feathers there.  The light in the pen isn\'t great and I never noticed it before.  So, what should I be looking for in my hens to pair up with these two to try to eliminate this problem?

I\'ve got some good looking blue hens here with nice lacing and black legs (I think), a couple of lavender looking hens (with ticking though), blacks and only two splash hens.  

17

Ameraucana Marketplace / question on pupil size and form

« on: December 24, 2010, 12:50:05 PM »

I\'ve got a couple of questions regarding pupil size and form.

Does anyone experience pupil irregularities in their LF blacks?  By irregularity, I mean the pupil is not perfectly round.  This one looks almost like a triangle.  Is this a genetic defect that is likely to be passed on or is this the result of disease, specifically Mareks?  I read on another board that it was believed to be caused by Mareks, but I\'m not too sure.  I don\'t vaccinate, but keep a closed flock and have never experienced any Marek symptoms before.  My bird is about 7 months old now but this showed up much earlier.  He is not the only one.  I have one other that shows some slight irregularity.  I do not see any gray eye.  And they appear to see just fine and do not act ill.  I would think if I had Mareks here that some of my older birds would have displayed some symptoms over the last few years.

Also, when working on the eyes, just how large should the pupils be?  My splash chickens seem to have the best bay color and small pupils.  The blues seem to be somewhere in between.  The blacks seem to be larger on pupil size and sometimes the eye color just seems a bit more yellow than bay.  Is it the females that determine size and color in the eyes or either?  I\'m not well read in genetics, and trying to make good choices.  
The above cockeral I\'m talking about looks ok in eye color and in all other aspects.  I have two other black cockerals I am planning on keeping and want to have a third from different parentage, just in case something shows up later like gold in the hackles. So I\'m trying to decide on whether to keep him or his brother who has wing and tail issues.  Or I could go with one other cockeral who looks good in eyes and other aspects but small in size and carries his tail low.

Any ideas or advice?  Would be much appreciated.

Merry Christmas, btw.  

18

Ameraucana Marketplace / breeding question

« on: June 02, 2009, 12:04:18 AM »

I have read you shouldn\'t breed siblings together, but can you breed a roo to what would be his neice?
I have three splash roos and need to get rid of two.  Two I bred this season.  The one that I didn\'t breed is the one who would be the uncle and I would like to keep him over keeping the other two.  He has nice size and muffs/beard etc.  Only fault I see is there is some gold I guess you would call it, on the edges of some of his darker saddle feathers.  Assuming I can breed him back to his sisters offspring, is this gold feather edging something that is a fault?  I had a blue cockeral once and he displayed this coloring on his hackles and saddle feathers also.  Is it difficult to get rid of?
Thanks,
sharon

19

Ameraucana Marketplace / Question about laying

« on: December 05, 2007, 08:38:19 PM »

Hi,
I have a couple of LF black ameraucana hens that are now 28 wks old and have not produced an egg yet.  Seems quite a long time considering my 26 wk old Easter Egger layed her first egg about three weeks ago.  They have their choice of scratch, layer pellets and grower crumbles and free range.  I have kept them penned for half the day the last two days just in case they may be laying outside the nests, but still no eggs.  Shouldn\'t they be laying by now or is this breed a much later starter?

Thanks,
sharon