NH Homesteader- turkeys!

[NH homesteader]

Going to be around 5 tonight. No wind though, luckily

 

[CntryBoy777]

Down to 15 here. Did the hen stay in the fenced area at least?

 

[NH homesteader]

No one informed this chicken she is supposed to be a zombie chicken after dark. The snow is crunchy and loud and she keeps running away. Atleast she is sleeping on a chicken run in the yard with a spotlight illuminating the area. When I bring the dogs out after kiddo goes to bed I might try again

 

[NH homesteader]

Nope she's totally on the loose. We have them in a coop with a run and she never made it in the coop.

 

[farmerjan]

IIRC:

• The shell of a white egg is white all the way through
• The shell of a brown egg is white all the way through with the brown "wash" added just before the egg is laid. And that is why brown eggs are no more healthy than white eggs, they ARE white eggs "under the covers"
• The shell of a blue egg is blue all the way through. The hen that laid it either has 2 blue genes or 1 blue and 1 white
• The shell of a green egg is blue all the way through with the brown "wash" added just before the egg is laid. You can't "override" the brown gene with the blue. The blue is dominant so a hen with 1 blue gene and 1 brown gene will never lay a blue egg. She will lay green.
• While an Easter Egger SHOULD have a blue gene, it may not which is why some EEs lay neither blue nor green.

The hen of a blue laying offspring will have at least 1 blue gene, the rooster may or may NOT have the blue gene. If he doesn't he is from a white laying breed so the offspring can still lay blue.

Both Arauna AND Ameraucana (that would be the true APA Ameraucana, not hatchery "Americana" or "Ameraucana/Araucana" which are actually Easter Eggers) are blue layers. The "original" Araucana chicken back before there were APA Araucana and Ameraucana could be anything that could lay blue eggs and be muffed and/or bearded and/or tufted and/or tailless and/or tailed. Two factions decided to breed for specific traits. One wanted the rumpless, tufted type, the other wanted the tailed, muffed and bearded. Both have to lay blue eggs, have specific feather coloring, etc. Thus it would be most correct to say BOTH the current APA Araucana and Ameraucana came from Easter Eggers. Easter Eggers were not created by crossing an APA Ameraucana with a chicken of another breed though you can certainly do so. Easter Eggers will not breed true.

Bruce, I was trying to do 2 things at once and did not proofread my post or I would have corrected the statement about the brown over-riding statement which did not make very good sense. I agree with you on the blue being blue all the way through, as well as the brown being adhered to the egg on it's "way out" as if you scrub a brown egg hard you can take the color off. And the brown will cause the blue to become "discolored", but there are also degrees of that as evidenced by eggs from olive to lt green to a reddish/purple tint. And the genetics of the crosses will determine to some extent the shades of the eggs, as does the feed they eat. You cannot take a "green" egg and scrub the color off to see the blue underneath. What I do have to disagree with is that araucanas come from easter eggers. Araucanas were originally a south american breed, and probably imported into this country in the 1920's-1930's. There are different claims to that, but they were a rumpless and tufted breed with a pea comb. There is also some history that they were imported into Scotland, and also into Australia and New Zealand. There they were bred and split into 2 "types" with one being rumpless and the other tailed. Here they are actually split into 2 different "breeds" although related. The easter eggers are a crossbreed. There have been instances where an araucana had muffs but again it is well accepted that they were a result of a cross; of which there is some documentation of it being done early on. The Ameraucana was developed in the 70's here in the US from some of the araucana stock, but they are bearded, muffed and have tails and cannot have the typical araucana ear tufts. A very good friend and founding member of the Virginia Poultry Breeders had some of the best araucanas I had ever seen, for many years, and did alot of crossing to study the genetics on them. He is now 90, still showing chickens although no longer has the araucanas, and can tell you histories of different breeds like it was written in front of him. The man has a mind that most 30 yr olds would like to have. I have had a few over the years, but like the Japanese bantam, the lethal gene that caused the chicks to not fully develop had been linked to the tufted rumpless combination. You can research it with the Araucana Breeders assoc and also, Wickipedia has some interesting info on the different importations. It is even thought that Columbus may have brought some to the US...
And the "claim that brown eggs are more nutritious" came about because people see a "brown egg" and think of the chicken being in a "farm flock" and a white egg coming from a caged layer that never sees the ground. It was actually a very good ploy to market brown eggs. And to play devils advocate, most farm flocks were brown egg layers; they do spend time foraging and there have been studies that prove eggs from chickens that forage do have higher contents of certain vitamins/amino acids...Yes the white eggs from my purebred LT Brown Leghorns that live and eat and forage alongside my Black Langshans (which are a creamy lt tan color)and my New Hamps ( nice golden brown) all have the same basic "quality" but the New Hamps eggs will sell better everytime. And the dark brown eggs from Marans and Welsummers will outsell the New Hamps...
Like marketing "angus Beef" as the best beef....
Araucana eggs were originally marketed as being more nutritious...

Sorry to hijack your thread @NH homesteader

 

[farmerjan]

@NH get a long handled fishing net. We use them at poultry show to catch errant birds that escape.... or leave her alone and in a day or two she will want in if she survives that long.

 

[NH homesteader]

That's OK! An acquaintance told us once that blue eggs are made of high best for you!

I cannot convince him that what the chicken eats is far more important than what color the egg is.

 

[NH homesteader]

Well for lack of a net and my chicken grabber being loaned out to a friend, I can't get her. When I leave her alone she stays close to the house. The more I chase her the closer she runs to the woods. At least she has the sense to roost near the light. DH is working all weekend most likely so I'll try again tomorrow but he is the bird person in the family.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Well ya got more on order, and if he is sick, ya will have to anyway, so no time like the present to work on it... don't blame ya on the turkeys, but chickens can be a challenge tho I'm sure ya can figure something out...just don't let the others out while trying to get her in...

 

[CntryBoy777]

If ya have a carry cage for a puppy, sm dog or cat...cover it with a light colored colth and place in a funnel spot...like a corner of a building, put down some scratch just outside door and inside...herd her to the building and keep your distance from the building and she will peck and you can use her fear to "Push" her into it and run shut the door...then release her with the others.