Ameraucana Breeders Club
The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club => Breeding => Topic started by: Lindsay Helton on August 27, 2017, 01:47:17 AM
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Every now and then I immerse myself in different breeding topics on the forum. I thought it would be a good idea to hear from the most experienced breeders out there regarding the following topic: Earlobe color
The APA standard calls for earlobes to be "red, except female earlobes which are to be very pale, matching the color of skin."
Under disqualifications, the standard states that "in breeds where a red earlobe is specified, a positive enamel white is a disqualification."
Positive enamel white is defined as "permanent white in the earlobes where red is required. The term is not intended to include paleness of ear-obes due to poor condition, nor any slight white appearance which lacks the satin-like characteristic of the ear lobe of rose comb bantams."
My primary question is, at what age do you typically cull for incorrect earlobe color? I know progression may vary from line to line. My line tends to be slow to develop. I often have several late bloomers. My chicks tend to hatch with skin colored earlobes, and the earlobes of the cockerels turn red many months later.
Is there a period of time that you give cockerels, and if they don't turn red by that point, you consider them culls? Also, if a cockerel ends up with skin colored earlobes, but no enamel white it present, is he still a definite cull?
Thanks for your time.
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I battled with porcelain white in my wheatens and blue wheatens and, just when I thought I had won the war, another skirmish would break out.
I would not cull a cockerel for skin colored ear lobes, but I will cull for porcelain white - which is something of a misnomer, since porcelain white actually can appear almost bluish in color. With cockerels, it is difficult to tell if there is any presence of porcelain white until they start to turn red...and if they have natural skin color now, I would think they will, eventually, turn red. With pullets, it is even harder to tell, but you can see it as they reach sexual maturity.
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Thanks for your response Susan. :) I brought in a new black cockerel for my splits this season and yesterday I started sorting through some of them to check for faults while I had some free time. They are from my March hatches. Anyway, I noticed that some of the cockerels have skin colored earlobes and it concerned me. I think they are perhaps just slow to develop....I do not see any enamel white on them at this point.
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If it is skin color, I wouldn't be concerned about it. :)
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Yeehaw! :)
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Those skin colored ear lobes have turned red now. :)
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Yay!!