Blue Andalusian Chickies!

[allosaurusrock]

Hello everyone! So, I have been wanting to breed Blue Andalusians for quite some time, ever since I bought one splash chick at my local feed store. Unfortunately, I could not find a breeder near me, so I ended up ordering from a hatchery. I am going to be logging how my Andalusian project goes on this thread. I believe the chicks should arrive in two days.

 

[theuglychick]

Best of luck, I've kept abdalusians for a while. They're such a joy! Keep us posted!

 

[allosaurusrock]

I will! Do you have any tips for them? So far I only have the one.

 

[theuglychick]

Sure!

Some people claim that they are nervous flighty birds, but all of mine were the sweetest, tamest, and most curious birds. As chicks they would always fly on us and continued to do so as adults. These were multiple generations from several sources, so it wasn't just a particularly friendly strain, all of them seem to be that way.

Mine really enjoyed to roosting high up, so high perches and roost bars for days and night is a good idea.

Be careful if you free range. Once they matured, while all other good little chickens went into the coop, they would go (waaaay) up in a tree and we had to get them down. (Raccoons would have surely eaten them right off the limbs).

They are excellent hunters and foragers, so a chicken tractor or other movable pen is a good idea. We would take them out and let them follow us around the yard while we caught them crickets and other bugs and they caught on really fast! They'd be waiting at the ready when we moved a pile of limbs or leaves!

They were also great layers. They laid almost every single day. Eggs were a little small but that was ok.

I hope you enjoy them like we did!

 

[N F C]

Looking forward to seeing some photos of your new chicks!

 

[allosaurusrock]

They have shipped! Should be five andalusians, 10 cornish X, and the free "exotic" chick.

 

[allosaurusrock]

Okay! Sorry it took me so long to post. One of the meaties arrived really weak and didn't make it, but the rest are super healthy and strong. Here are the five Andalusians. Two blue, two black, and one splash. I also have a splash hen who I will take a picture of later.

 

[sourland]

They are nice sized, healthy looking chicks.

 

[N F C]

Cute chicks, looking forward to seeing how they do for you.

BTW, what was your free exotic chick?

 

[springvalley123]

Hi, I have some Andalusians too! I live north of Phoenix so it gets plenty hot. I ordered 13 Blue Andalusians and 12 Brown Leghorns, sexed as pullets. Both breeds do much better in the heat than the Rhode Island Reds and Black Australorps, but I think the ANdalusians do a bit better than the Leghorns. Mine hatched 7/26, so I got the phone call from the local post office about 5 am 7/28, just as I had discussed with the postal employee. The ANdalusians were a bit smaller than the Leghorns (thinking of the egg size), but they caught up in a couple of weeks. The ANdalusians were the first to explore their pen, seem to be the farthest ranging in the yard, and they did even try to perch on the hose to their mist system! At least one of them looks at me with interest when I make clucking noises at him/her. THey seem to grow more slowly than the dual purpose birds, but they are very entertaining to watch!