The Ameraucana Breeders Club is currently seeking approval for the splash variety in large fowl. Our first prequalifying meet was held in Norman, OK on 11/7/20 and it was a success. Our second prequalifying meet for the large fowl splash variety will be held at the Heart of Ozarks poultry show in Fayetteville, AR on 11/6/2021. The ABC will need four head in each class (C/H/K/P) for the next prequalifying meet to be successful. Please make plans to raise large fowl splash this season and help us with our newest color variety approval process!
The ABC has received numerous questions regarding breeding and conditioning the large fowl splash variety for the approval process. The splash variety can be produced from breeding blue to blue, blue to splash and splash to splash. A blue ameraucana bred to a blue ameraucana will create 25% splash, a blue ameraucana bred to a splash ameraucana will create 50% splash and a splash ameraucana bred to a splash ameraucana will create 100% splash.
A few of our members have asked about the beak color of a splash ameraucana. The standard will call for the beak to be horn to black. We have also received questions about the splash plumage color. The splash plumage color is created from two copies of the Blue (Bl) gene. The Bl gene is an incomplete dominant diluting gene. Incomplete dominance means that one allele is not completely dominant over the allele it is paired with. This results in a phenotype that is a combination of both alleles. This explains why blue and splash chicks produced in a blue, black and splash breeding program are not all the exact same shade of blue or splash. Some birds may be lighter in color and others may be darker in color. The standard will call for the splash ameraucana to be sooty white with blue splashes. Some of the blue splashes may appear to be black, but if you thoroughly inspect the splash areas you will find that they are in fact blue. The splash males will have a slightly darker head, neck, back and saddle as a result of their sexually dimorphic plumage. The shanks of the splash Ameraucana should be bluish slate.
The disqualifications for the large fowl splash ameraucana are any appearance of rust in the plumage and more than 50% blue in the plumage. Rust should not be confused with brassiness. Rust is reddish-brown in color. Brassiness is a light yellowish metallic color particularly in the hackle, wingbow and saddle of the male. It is a serious defect that may be hereditary or affected by exposure to the sun or certain items in the diet. An American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection book can be purchased at
www.amerpoultryassn.com. Hopefully this post will be of help to you as you breed your splash ameraucanas towards the standard. If you are interested in helping the ABC with our color variety approval process browse through our breeder’s directories to locate hatching eggs, chicks, started birds and adult birds!
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