The AMERAUCANA thread

[The Birb King]

Yeah when he first fully feathered out it was a nice clear lavender.

Same. I don't really have any pictures of my rooster right now hopefully I can take some soon. He's about 1 1/2 years old and I really like him. A great producer and protector of the flock

 

[kurby22]

Yeah when he first fully feathered out it was a nice clear lavender.

I have found the Ameraucana self blue to be much more susceptible to the sun bleaching than other breeds. I have self blue d’Anvers and their coloring is so much cleaner and not yellow! It’s weird

 

[I Like Turkeys]

Thanks! I agree, he’s quite handsome and his comb is nice and tight, I sure hope it stays that way! His only issue is some gold leakage in his hackles. It's very light leakage though, so shouldn't cause too many issues in breeding I hope! My best type boy is also gorgeous, but he's got some massive leakage So much so ww named him Leaky He’s also a bit of a butt!

Ohh no. Hopefully you can get some non-leaky sons from him? I don't know how I missed that in the first photos, but it does look very light.
Hopefully his comb shape will stay good too. I have a cockerel with awful comb shape, and looking back it was pretty apparent from the moment he started growing. It started growing upright, and just never stopped.

 

[NagemTX]

I have found the Ameraucana self blue to be much more susceptible to the sun bleaching than other breeds. I have self blue d’Anvers and their coloring is so much cleaner and not yellow! It’s weird

I'm wondering if it's because they may be based on the Gold based blacks. Or they have the gene that causes silver to bleach out.

I had two silver Phoenix cockerels one bleached out and the other remained clear silver. I sold both of them. Wishing i would have kep the non bleaching one now. So the two I have now that I'm growing out I hope they don't bleach out.

 

[I Like Turkeys]

I'm wondering if it's because they may be based on the Gold based blacks. Or they have the gene that causes silver to bleach out.

I had two silver Phoenix cockerels one bleached out and the other remained clear silver. I sold both of them. Wishing i would have kep the non bleaching one now. So the two I have now that I'm growing out I hope they don't bleach out.

That’s probably it. I’ve seen, on FB and the ameraucana alliance website, that people seem to breed black lines separately than blues, and often good black birds would be gold-based as opposed to silver-based like blues. FB breeders are super picky about how they breed birds- mind you, this isn’t a negative trait, I just mean that the line is drawn much more clearly between ameraucana varieties, and breeders are very very serious about segregating varieties for breeding. Since crossing blue to lavender is such a no-no, and people will often cross back to black, i wouldn’t be surprised if lavender ameraucanas are most commonly based on gold.

 

[NagemTX]

That’s probably it. I’ve seen, on FB and the ameraucana alliance website, that people seem to breed black lines separately than blues, and often good black birds would be gold-based as opposed to silver-based like blues. FB breeders are super picky about how they breed birds- mind you, this isn’t a negative trait, I just mean that the line is drawn much more clearly between ameraucana varieties, and breeders are very very serious about segregating varieties for breeding. Since crossing blue to lavender is such a no-no, and people will often cross back to black, i wouldn’t be surprised if lavender ameraucanas are most commonly based on gold.

It seams that the gold base makes the green sheen better. I believe silver is better in blue because it eliminates the brassiness that can occur in the color. This is why I believe silver base would be better for lavender because leakage would be less noticeable and it would help eliminate the brassiness they tend to have now.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Ameraucanas are so beautiful, I covet them! But they are SO pricey!

 

[NagemTX]

Ameraucanas are so beautiful, I covet them! But they are SO pricey!

If you can incubate do shipped eggs! Also if you do straight run from Cackle they are $9ish dollars. The sexed ones are expensive.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If you can incubate do shipped eggs! Also if you do straight run from Cackle they are $9ish dollars. The sexed ones are expensive.

Yes, I know. If I do straight run, all the cockerels will end up in the freezer. That's expensive dumplings.

 

[NagemTX]

Yes, I know. If I do straight run, all the cockerels will end up in the freezer. That's expensive dumplings.

That's true.