Yes. This thread is about Ameraucanas. The breed. Meaning breed specific. Not EEs. Not what you call pure, but color crossed non-APA / non-SOP approved - well, you can but I have yet to see anyone overly helpful because their is nothing to discuss. You are not improving the breed, you are just causing more problems. We are not questioning the SOP. We are trying to get varieties / colors (that breed true) approved. I just covered this topic. I am a fresh Ameraucana breeder (less than 2yrs into this) and I understand the frustration over this topic. It's like those who want to make a quick buck over pure non-standard variety/colored Ameraucanas that really have no purpose being bred but to make money off of the eggs! You want to raise mutts, then do it but don't advertise them as show quality birds when they are not! Don't expect a real breeder to consider them as anything more than what they are, either. If you want validation, you won't get it.
I am not trying to be rude, but it is what it is.
Oh my goodness! This thread is for discussing everything about Ameraucanas. Maybe there needs to be a thread specifically aimed at APA birds and people who want to discuss only them. I'm pretty sure I asked a breed specific question, that is relevant to this thread. On every other breed specific thread I am subscribed to people welcome discussing the SOP and non-APA birds and why they are considered such. I don't even breed Ameraucanas, so you can stop all of the finger pointing and exasperated emoticons! I have never felt so unwelcome for simply bringing up an apparently controversial topic. I have been nothing but civil to other subscribers on this thread. It seems like there is a lot of confusion over this topic. While I am fairly new to chickens I am quite proficient when it come to genetic principles and have taken many college courses on the subject, just pertaining to different production animals. I was thinking about purchasing some of these birds, but now I think I may steer clear of them. The one opinion I voiced was that in other SOP's for other breeds of chickens, when you breed a hen to a cockerel of the same breed the resulting offspring is considered said breed. Quality as it pertains to the SOP of that breed can be debatable based on the physical characteristics it displays. Some will be show quality, some won't. I wanted to know why this doesn't apply to Ameraucanas as well. I never said anything about trying to make a quick buck, or unethical breeders that raise poor quality birds. I wanted to understand the breed better before I dove into something that I might regret later.
