Ameraucana Breeders Club

The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club => Ameraucana Marketplace => Topic started by: Beth C on March 07, 2011, 04:31:11 PM

Title: Juvenile Wheaten plumage
Post by: Beth C on March 07, 2011, 04:31:11 PM

I have a couple of chicks feathering out that appear to be female, but with a lot of dark in their hackles. They are only about a month old. How accurately do these first feathers predict problems w/adult plumage?

Title: Juvenile Wheaten plumage
Post by: John on March 07, 2011, 05:41:04 PM

Beth,

If you do some searches on this forum you\'ll find this subject discussed under several topics.  The main conclusion, with wheatens/blue wheatens, is to wait until they are mature to cull.  
http://ameraucana.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=811
http://ameraucana.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=233

Title: Juvenile Wheaten plumage
Post by: Beth C on March 07, 2011, 06:54:42 PM

Thanks, John!

Title: Juvenile Wheaten plumage
Post by: John on March 07, 2011, 08:54:29 PM

After thinking about it a bit more maybe I should have mentioned the bigger problem is with the cockerels.  With pullets you may make some judgements sooner.

Title: Juvenile Wheaten plumage
Post by: bantamhill on March 08, 2011, 12:30:04 PM

I would hold off on judgements on blue wheaten and wheaten pullets and cockerels until 5-6 months at least.

A technique I used to make culling easier with my lines was to leg band and take pictures of blue wheaten/wheaten chicks at one week intervals. I found that over time in my lines certain plummage development patterns generally led to the best birds and I was able to cull much earlier. The patterns were very much line specific. If I added a new cockerel or pullet from outside, all bets were off for several generations until the new line stablized.

Michael

Title: Juvenile Wheaten plumage
Post by: Beth C on March 09, 2011, 07:20:04 PM

Great idea, I\'ll do that!

And, since I\'m taking pics, here are some of the oldest 3:

chick #1

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/4254be23.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/a4dd56a3.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/ea4aa157.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/7b1c6128.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/544792e1.jpg)

chick #2

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/26c45f34.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/af5765cf.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/413b8ecc.jpg)

Chick #3

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/99984e23.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/bncarey/chickens/5fc6f6b7.jpg)