Ameraucana Breeders Club
The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club => Breeding => Topic started by: Michelle Lobaito on March 14, 2022, 11:22:30 AM
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I am getting prepared to set up my breedings and have been going over all my birds to be sure they meet criteria and decide who I want to put with who. I have one of my self blue pullets that I notice her tail has started leaning to the side. I need to get better pictures but I will attach the 2 I have and you can see her tail is not directly behind her. If it is wry tail I don’t want to breed from her and regret it down the road. This leaves me with a problem, now I only have 1 hen and 3 roosters to start with. Is this enough diversity? I wanted to set up 3 groups to start with, using the program in “Start Where You are with what you have”. Now I’m thinking it might be better to get more hatching eggs and try to get more hens before starting the program.
The pullet on the right is the one with the issue. I’ll go home tonight and take better pictures from behind.
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I wouldn't use her if you think the tail is wry.
As for do you have enough pens for diversity, well I guess not.
But you have something and can go from there, get some more and next year add those into the plan if you want. Or just move a little slower this first year.
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When I was out there I didn’t see her tail go to the side like I did the other day. I got some pictures. If it’s wry tail is it all the time? I picked up both and compared keel bones and ran my hand down their back both keel and spine felt straight and the same. Honestly though I’m just going by videos I’ve watch so may not know what I’m doing. Does she look wry tailed to anyone else. Is there something I should be doing different to tell. I’m going to keep a close eye on her, I still have about 5 weeks before I start collecting eggs.
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Her tail looks ok except for the last picture looks a little off.
If you've got some time to keep watching maybe it'll become more apparent.
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Sometimes they are just lazy and don't want to hold the tail properly. If you are going to use her, I recommend single mating in order to evaluate her offspring for the same trait.
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Michelle,
Wry tail is when the tail of a fowl is “permanently” carried to one side and is a disqualification.
Since she does not do it all the time, it may be a case of lazy tail like mentioned above.
I would hatch from her and simply monitor offspring for it and select against it if you see it.
I have also had one bird do this temporarily when he was in a smaller than preferred show cage at a poultry show. The judge noticed and commented that he sees it happen occasionally when a bird is maneuvering around in a small space.