Ameraucana Breeders Club
The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club => Ameraucana Marketplace => Topic started by: Guest on April 16, 2010, 04:49:16 PM
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Love this forum! Have a question about the lavender color.
I bred a Lavender Ameraucana rooster from John Blehm to a Splash Ameraucana hen and got these chicks. Really like the color but not sure if its Lavender or blue. Also Bred a black Ameraucana hen to him and got all blacks but two were this lavender/blue color. Thanks John for selling me this rooster he is so sweet and friendly.
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb141/socalrob/ameraucana.jpg
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I bred a Lavender Ameraucana rooster from John Blehm to a Splash Ameraucana hen and got these chicks. Really like the color but not sure if its Lavender or blue. Also Bred a black Ameraucana hen to him and got all blacks but two were this lavender/blue color. Thanks John for selling me this rooster he is so sweet and friendly.
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb141/socalrob/ameraucana.jpg
The birds in the photo are blues, but they also carry the recessive lavender gene since they are out of a lavender sire.
If you got blues out of the second mating, the lavender rooster must carry the dominant Bl (blue) gene as well as two copies of the recessive lav. Interesting.
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What kind of mess is going to be created when the lavender gene escapes into blues?
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Paul, it sounds like it already has. I would assume a bird carrying two copies of lav and one or two of blue would be an even lighter colored lavender? But can\'t say for sure until we see one. One good thing might come out of this. Blues will be recognized by their lacing, so that trait will be bred for, while lavenders must be one even shade of color - lighter than blue in most cases I think.
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Scary. I frequently see posts on BYC from people thinking just because they have a light blue chick it\'s a lavender, even though neither parent was. But then, if one parent were a black/lavender split, and the other a blue/lavender split, I suppose it could happen? Then, if they got a copy of blue as well, would you end up with a really light color but still retain the lacing? Or would the lacing wash out? Has anyone seen this happening with other breeds? I\'m pretty new to all of this, but I see the potential for lavender vs. blue to cause as much disappointment & hurt feelings as EE vs. Ameraucana for people just getting started...
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lavender gene escapes into blues?
It would be neat to see just what a lavender blue would look like. I know that lavender dilutes black and red and only can assume it would do the same to blue. I wonder if it dilutes that darker lacing more than the lighter gray/blue?
I still believe blues should be based on Birchen (to get good lacing) and lavenders based on Extended (to get the least gold/silver bleeding thru).
Blacks can be bred either way. One way gives nice slate shanks and the other less chance of gold/silver in the cock\'s hackles.
I know it isn\'t going to happen, but if lavenders are only bred to E blacks and blues only to ER blacks there wouldn\'t be a potential problem.
Either way, I don\'t see it as a real concern and like other recessive genes lavender can be checked for by test mating if needed.
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Beth, your concern echoes previous posts about unscrupulous \"horse traders\" in chickenland and the need to be careful when buying birds and hatching eggs.
I encourage others to pick a breeder with good references among his peers if they want to get what they were promised.
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These chicks were a test hatch to see what i would get. Thanks for everyone\'s input. Now i understand much more about the color lavender and blue. I plan to breed one of these chicks back to the lavender dad. Will keep you posted on what color the second generation will be.
Robin
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Scary. I frequently see posts on BYC from people thinking just because they have a light blue chick it\'s a lavender, even though neither parent was. But then, if one parent were a black/lavender split, and the other a blue/lavender split, I suppose it could happen? Then, if they got a copy of blue as well, would you end up with a really light color but still retain the lacing? Or would the lacing wash out? Has anyone seen this happening with other breeds? I\'m pretty new to all of this, but I see the potential for lavender vs. blue to cause as much disappointment & hurt feelings as EE vs. Ameraucana for people just getting started...
Hi, now that so many folks have discovered chickens in general i have noticed soooo many just breeding a breed when it is popular. Just like dog movies sparking sales in that breed.
I asked about the Black/Lav. to Black in general in another post because i didn\'t want to create a problem when lavs. breed true but blues don\'t... Like your reference to EE-Amer. a problem that did happen to me in Barnevelders is buying eggs from someone that you don\'t know. Because of the washed out egg coloration some people are crossing with Welsummers, thats fine if you call it what it is, but not if you are selling Barny\'s or Blacks or straight Lav. Amer. or.... The only thing one can do is to continue to educate when you sell your birds/eggs to new folks, at fairs,websites etc. I have had birds for 9 yrs. and non EE Amer. for 3 yrs. eliz
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educate when you sell your birds/eggs to new folks, at fairs,websites etc.
Good advise. I sell my culls and call them \"rejects\". When I advertised them as \"mixed\" breed chickens, some thought that meant \"assorted\" breeds and wanted to know what breeds.
How I advertise them locally as \"barnyard\" or \"backyard\" chickens. The problem is that isn\'t enough for many that still want to know a breed name, so I explain they are from my Ameraucana (or other) matings but they don\'t have the proper color or other characteristic. It can be time consuming and difficult to explain.
I have fliers for our local Fowl Fest (http://FowlFest.org)poultry show and give them out to folks that buy from me locally, encouraging them to come to see the show in October. It is a good educational experience for many each year that have never been to a real sanctioned poultry show.
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John: I\'m glad you posted that, because I\'ve been trying to figure out just how to word it when selling my culls to correctly identify them, but discourage anyone from attempting to breed them.
Robin: Paul\'s post made me think of a discussion recently on another forum, and I didn\'t think until after I posted it - hope it didn\'t sound like I was criticizing you. I think it\'s a neat experiment, and I can\'t wait to see what you get!
Eliz: I think you hit the nail on the head about education. I\'m sure there are crooks out there, as with any other product, but mostly I see people who simply don\'t understand what they have. They *think* they have a lavender because they\'ve heard lavender described as \"light blue,\" or they believe they have an Ameraucana because it said so in black & white on the hatchery website, or they\'re proud that they bought \"true\" Ameraucanas, and can tell you the lines they came from, but have a 3 varieties in the same pen and are advertising \"pure\" hatching eggs (which someone else buys, and so on.)
I encourage others to pick a breeder with good references among his peers
Well said. Like most people, when I started looking for Ameraucanas I was a bit overwhelmed, but I was lucky enough to find a breeder who had been around a while. Some time later I found out that breeder had actually developed the variety I bought (and failed to mention his life-time achievement award). That\'s the kind of intro to the breed I wish everyone got!
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When I sold my extra Ams, I explained to folks that if the bird has odd colored feathers/markings or a trait that would disqualify them at show, then I sell them as easter eggers and they are half the price. If they are just not good enough to be breeders but are basically true to variety (BBS), then I sell them as AMs and tell the buyer they are my culls. Haven\'t found anyone yet who cares if they are culls.
My little speech is basically who, what, where, when, how. It is time well spent. No complaints so far.
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If my rejects have slate legs and muffs/beards, I call them \"Color Culls\". If they are lacking those, I call them \"Easter Eggers\".