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News and Information / Re: Voting begins tomorrow!
« on: September 05, 2016, 06:16:54 PM »
I didnt get anything
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more gradual rise at the base of their tail. It may just be the way he stands in the pictures also and you can`t tell by a picture how he will carry himself when he is walking.
Hello. I am new to the Ameraucana breed and I'm trying to learn as much as I can before my Ameraucanas start laying. I have a couple wheaten/blue wheatens, and a handful of blacks. At what age should I evaluate a bird's pose/tail angle/back slope? Would it be helpful in evaluating a bird if someone saw a video of him/her walking, along with some still shots?
Also, I know that a pullets first eggs will be irregular, but how old should the pullets be before I hatch their eggs?
I forgot to mention that you can line breed chicks to their parents but it is not good to breed sibblings together. I breed parents sometimes to their young ones but i only do it once then i get a different non related bird to use. The main reason i do it once in awhile is to get better egg color or to keep feather quality in my line. For example, i have done this with my Buffs to get the nice Buff color down to the skin. After my birds started coming out good, i brought in non related birds that had the nice color to breed in. Now i get good feather color and good egg color.
I teach Agricultural Science and have for years. I teach Advanced Animal Science in High School. My students are competitive in showing breeding heifers, market steers, breeding gilts, market hogs, breeding goats, market goats, breeding lambs, market lambs, broilers, roasters, and breeding poultry. Some of my students are limited as to what they can raise and show due to finances, space, and/or residential restrictions. I think that chickens are great projects for any student, but especially the ones with limitations.
No, I am not yet NPIP. Why does that matter?
I have a pen full of black, blue and splash hens, but no rooster to keep them in line.
I am looking for a large fowl young cockerel as close as possible to breeding age. I have Paul Smith lines, so I need something unrelated or at least distantly related. I'd really prefer a blue, but I will take a black , if necessary. Even better - if you have two roosters that can go in the same pen together, that would be great, too! I have 16 hens, so two roos would be a plus.
Must be NPIP. If you're within a 2-4 hour drive from central AL, I'd love to just pick him (them) up to avoid shipping stress. Otherwise, let me know what shipping would run to 35146 zip. TIA!
For you guys that show regularly, are the show birds kept separate from the breeder flock? I do have the space for separate pens.
Dan, I seldom show birds from my breeding pens as feather condition can be a problem. It seems cocks and cockerels are prone to tail feather damage, and hens and pullets back, head, and neck feather damage. I do let my male birds run with the females all the time. Perhaps if I only let the cocks stay in the pen for a short time and remove them and reinsert them a few days later and remove them off and on, this might help on feather condition. Another factor may be many of my breeding pen runs are only 3' X 8-10'.
I dont care, or see it as a big deal. Its sets a good precedent for other hatcheries to follow. Id rather have hatcheries sell "bad" true Ameraucanas than EE's labeled as Ameraucanas.And this is the debate on the other forum as well. I see points on both sides, and I am so new to this that I don't have a really valid argument for either side. I love to see the hatcheries distinguish EEs from AMs, but I also think the market will be flooded with sub-par birds. My guess is that eventually there will be hatchery quality and breeder quality, it's like that with most other breeds anyway, and most people buying from hatcheries won't care. I didn't know a thing about SOP until joining BYC and learning. That's what made me seek out Paul's birds to replace my EEs. I think people that want backyard layers for a pretty egg carton will buy from hatcheries, and those that learn and want more SOP birds will seek out breeders. That's exactly what happened with me. If the concern is how it will affect sales for breeders, I think it will drive the price up. After my fiasco with the BCM, I would have paid much more for Paul's birds than what he charges. Thankfully, he is a very nice man who enjoys helping people, and isn't greedy.
Also we cant lump all hatcheries together. Cackle has been calling their EEs correctly even before they got their Ameraucana stock, so i can respect that. They did start with a reputable breeder. What ive heard is the owner of cackle brings in quality birds to improve their stock when its needed. Besides that, what they are doing is no different than what every "BBS" novice breeder is doing now. Which is breed everything they got initially together without a plan. I see it on Facebook all the time.
Luckily they're selling blacks, I dont think you can muck up the color, only type haha. They use to sell blues and I still know breeders who have the blues that originated from them and from what I was told they were really good "typed" blues.
Only time will tell.
I saw the SLW brought up as well. A friend of mine just went through the exact same thing with those as I did with the BCM. He started with hatchery stock, learned about SOP, and replaced them with birds from Foley. He paid a fortune for an adult trio, but the difference is incredible. When the inevitable happens, and these birds are mass produced, I think it will be a good thing for the breeders and those that want to learn
Besides that, what they are doing is no different than what every "BBS" novice breeder is doing now. Which is breed everything they got initially together without a plan. I see it on Facebook all the time.
Luckily they're selling blacks, I dont think you can muck up the color, only type haha. They use to sell blues and I still know breeders who have the blues that originated from them and from what I was told they were really good "typed" blues.
Only time will tell.
I don't think you can compare what a few novice people are doing with their backyard pens of a few blacks, blues, splash with the visibility and genetic impact of a good sized commercial hatchery. And, while you may disagree with inter-breeding blacks, blues, and splash; there are many other breeders that have been around a lot longer than either you or me, Cesar, that have made that a standard practice. Don't confuse disagreement over methodology with a complete lack of breeding ethics.
Those novice breeders will either get out of Ameraucanas in a few years when their poor quality birds don't win at shows or don't sell enough to pay the feed bills. That commercial hatchery will only ramp up production as the demand for Ameraucanas grow - as it is now.
I do not think Cackles is setting a good example for other hatcheries to follow. I do think they are setting a precedent that will be regrettable in the future.