Messages

871

Ameraucana Marketplace / Pics of LF

« on: July 01, 2006, 11:14:52 AM »

Ford is around 7 months old now.  He was hatched late November/early December.  He is going to a new home after the fair in September.

I have a young man that has been showing chickens most of his life that really wants the bird!  He is going to help me go through my chickens when it is time to cull and show me what I am looking for and his payment will be Ford.

Jean

872

Ameraucana Marketplace / Black roo/Blue roo or both

« on: July 01, 2006, 02:22:36 AM »

So, back to the original question, do you prefer to use a black roo on the black and blue hens or a blue?  Or is it just a matter of which bird/birds are the best representation of the breed standard?

Also, I read a post about possibly getting splash accepted as a standard color; has anything happened with that lately?

Thanks alot,

Jean

PS I am showing off some of my chickens tonight... attached is my BOB and BAOSB pullet from last year\'s local fair.  The judge was Jeanette Frank, so I know she knew her Ameraucanas.

873

Ameraucana Marketplace / Pics of LF

« on: July 01, 2006, 01:55:34 AM »

I know this is not the greatest picture, but I wanted to show off my favorite roo.  This is Ford, and he was one of my \"electricity went off and had to sit in the car with the heat blaring for 2 1/2 hours to keep my embryos alive\" babies.

Ford is actually from a blue on blue mating.  Out of the seven that hatched, three were black, one splash and three blue.  I\'m really quite pleased with his coloring at this point.  I have been checking his hackles quite often for gold and have not found any yet.  I hope he stays that way.

My older blue roo escaped the hen house yesterday and beat him up, he lost some of his muff. (I hope it grows back by the time the fair starts or there goes my championship.... HA HA wishful thinking)

Jean

874

Ameraucana Marketplace / Black roo/Blue roo or both

« on: June 30, 2006, 09:47:11 AM »

I would say I have quite a few nice birds so I wouldn\'t need to keep any that were slightly off in color.  

Since you mentioned the blues, are light colored blues acceptable if they have nice lacing?  I actually have three colors of blue; light, medium and dark.

There is so much to learn about breeding, so I will be asking lots more questions.  I don\'t want to mess up the good genetics I paid for with ignorance.  And I want to get a good reputation and have nice birds when I sell or promote them.

Jean

875

Ameraucana Marketplace / Black roo/Blue roo or both

« on: June 29, 2006, 09:40:13 PM »

I had a question for some of the more experienced breeders out there.  I have only three breeding pens available and have four colors of chickens.  One of the pens is twice the size of the other two, so I am combining my blacks and blue hens in it.  My question is; when breeding blacks and blues in a combined setting do you prefer to use only black roosters or do you use blue also?

I know some people like to breed their blacks and splash.  But I am working with a space issue, and I am concentrating more on my buffs since they are in need of the most work.

Two more questions:

1.  How much purple is too much purple on a black pullet or hen?  I know they are preferred to be green and most of mine are, but a few have some purple sheen.

2.  Have you ever seen a chicken with a kind of black comb?  I have a couple that look black, should they be culled?  If you want a picture, I think I can get one or two.

Thanks everyone!

Jean

876

Ameraucana Marketplace / Spiral Leg Bands

« on: June 28, 2006, 02:01:17 PM »

Does anyone out there use spiral leg bands on their chickens?  I am using a size 12 on my 16 week old birds and I am noticing that they look a little snug on the cockerels.  Is a size 14 better for the Ameraucana roos?

I am also  thinking of getting a toe punch.  How hard is it to do on the chicks and do I need any silver nitrate stick?

Thanks,

Jean

877

Ameraucana Marketplace / What genes?

« on: June 25, 2006, 11:45:39 PM »

John, how did those chicks turn out?

I agree with you that it is probably coming from Jay Horn\'s stock.  When I got my chicks from Paul S in March there was one in the box with those exact markings on its head and I know he also got a trio of birds from Jay.  Unfortunately all my buffs from Paul died and he sent me some hatching eggs.

I didn\'t get any more chicks with the funny marks when my eggs hatched.  Anyway, just curious.

Jean

878

Ameraucana Marketplace / LF buff leg color

« on: June 25, 2006, 11:08:57 PM »

My photo is too large and I cannot make it small enough.  I guess we\'ll have to use our imagination.  Same color rooster, shorter tail .  HE HE

Jean

879

Ameraucana Marketplace / LF buff leg color

« on: June 25, 2006, 11:00:26 PM »

Mike, that is one of my buff roos.  B) He is out of McKinney stock and I had to do a lot of cullling to find him. I am very proud of him!  He has a roost mate that is very similar except his tail is shorter.

He is what I plan to cross my pullets from John and Paul with.  I have decided that I am going to breed for size and plumage color first.  I have quite a few nice pullets out in the garden, so I think I can really work on those two items first.  

As I was staring at all my lovely birds, it occured to me that I may even have a couple  breeding trios that I could sell.  I also have some nice cockerels and pullets from my starter flock.

Jean  

Attached is the other roo...  You may use any of my pictures also for the web site.

880

Ameraucana Marketplace / Breeding out green in eggs

« on: June 25, 2006, 04:18:17 PM »

Mike, I was trying to ask what a recessive wheaten looks like.  I have wheaten and blue wheaten stock and have not breed them, so, I do not have recessive birds....

Jean

881

Ameraucana Marketplace / Breeding out green in eggs

« on: June 25, 2006, 12:20:23 PM »

John,

What does a recessive wheaten look like?  I just acquired wheatens and blue wheatens and have not began breeding and I have buffs also, so if I were to try to improve my egg color with a recessive wheaten, what am I looking for.

Thanks,

Jean

882

Ameraucana Marketplace / LF buff leg color

« on: June 25, 2006, 12:14:30 PM »

How long does it take, or how long should I wait to see if a Buff\'s legs are going to turn slate? I\'m so impatient.....

I am working on the buffs also and I have many questions.  Which is worse.... poor leg color or poor angle set on the tail?  Or to put it another way, which is easier to fix in a breeding program? (yeah, I\'m a newbie)

The buffs really are a beautiful bird!  I have great color on my birds, but I have to work on size, tail set, fertility and egg color.

I would like to thank John B and Paul S for selling me some of their stock so I can improve my flock!  

Jean

883

Ameraucana Marketplace / Araucana eggs Hatching

« on: June 25, 2006, 12:03:38 PM »

I had a simliar problem last fall with some eggs I was trying to hatch.  I ended up in my car for two hours with the heat blowing full blast to keep my eggs warm.  I got 7 out of 12 to hatch, which was pretty good since they were \"medicated\" eggs.

I even have one beautiful roo out of that hatch that everyone around here wants.  He is going to our local fair first then I can sell him.  His name is \"FORD\". HA HA

Sorry you lost your chicks.  You may want to consider getting a generator if you plan to hatch chicks, it is a good investment!  We have one, and I just couldn\'t get to it in the middle of the night in the dark when my electricity went out.  It is left in a \"easy to locate\" spot now.

Jean