Ameraukana: description of the chicken breed, breeding features

How to breed a new breed? Take two different breeds, cross with each other, compile the names of the original breeds, patent the name. Done! Congratulations! You have developed a new breed of animals.

Laughter laughs, but in the United States of America it is indeed a practice to call a two-breed cross of animals the compiled name of the two original breeds, even if it is a cross between the first generation and the parents of the “new” breed live in your house.

For example, what is "Schnudel"? No, this is not a schnitzel, it is a cross between schnauzer and poodle breeds. And cockapoo - Cocker Spaniel + Poodle, apparently, will soon become the official breed in the United States.

The Ameraukan breed of chickens was bred in about the same way. South American chickens of the Araucana breed were crossed with local American hens. Due to the ability of the araucana to transmit the ability to bear colored eggs during crossing, the hybrids also differ in the original color of the shell of the eggs laid.

In general, in the Ameraucana breed, apart from the furious name, not everything is so sad. Crossbreeding of chickens began in the 70s of the last century, and a new breed was registered only in 1984.

The requirements for ameraucana are quite serious so that the hybrid of the first generation still cannot be attributed to the breed.

Attention! In America, all chickens that lay colored eggs of an unusual color are called Easter, and the second name for ameraucana is Easter chicken.

But professional poultry farmers are offended hearing such a name. Because of the nuances in the formation of shell color, they consider the ameraucanu to be a breed, and not just a “chicken with colorful eggs”.

And the eggs of the ameraucana are really multi-colored, since, depending on the color of the second parent, the araucana conveys the ability to carry either blue or green eggs. While Araucana itself bears only blue.

Considering that the Araucana was crossed with chickens of various colors when breeding a new breed, the Araucana lays eggs of all shades of blue and green.

Adult chickens, by the way, have a very decent weight: roosters - 3-3.5 kg, chickens - 2-2.5 kg. And the weight of the eggs is quite decent: from 60 to 64 g.

History of the origin of the breed

Inexperienced poultry farmers are sometimes mistaken and confuse these birds with other more famous Araucan chickens. These are completely different poultry, they differ in the history of origin, productivity and exactingness to the conditions of keeping. However, birds have one thing in common - they are very similar to each other.

The Araucan bird breed is the ancestor of Ameraucana. American scientists have been working on the breed considered in this article for a long time. Work began in 1970. Breeders have combined chickens of American origin with tailless Araucanos.

The selection did not stop at these works, and in 1984 this variety took root, scientists were able to fully approve the standard. Despite the outstanding performance in egg production, chickens are also famous for their delicate and unusual taste of meat, so the breed is usually classified as a meat and egg group.

Feeding

The diet for ameraukan is being developed as a standard one, provided for chickens of mixed production. In the summer, the chickens are fed in the morning with grain (usually wheat), and in the afternoon they are given a mash. Between feedings, fresh grass and tops of garden plants are thrown to the ameraukans.It is also useful to sometimes feed such a bird with animal protein. This can be, for example, fish or meat and bone meal, earthworms, etc.

The owners of farmsteads usually prepare mash for chickens from carrots, nettles, apples, zucchini, etc. That is, from everything that grows in abundance in the garden in summer. Also, bran and premixes are added to such mixtures, for example, "Laying", as well as chalk and a little salt.

Concentrates - grain, mixed feed and bran, in the warm season, it is not recommended to give too much to chickens of this breed. Otherwise, the bird will become fat and reduce egg production.

In winter, the bird is fed at least three times - in the morning, at lunchtime and in the evening. At the same time, concentrates are the basis of the menu. Grain is given to the bird in larger quantities than in summer, in the evenings. At the same time, root crops, potatoes, bran, vitamin premixes are added to the mash. Such mixtures are most often made not on water, but on milk whey.

Advantages and disadvantages

The American breed, like other representatives of poultry, has advantages and disadvantages when breeding, they should be taken into account.

Advantages of the Ameraukan chicken breed:

• amazing and unique eggs of different colors;
• juicy and tender meat;
• undemanding care;
• the possibility of keeping in the northern regions;
• unpretentiousness in nutrition.

Disadvantages of the breed of chickens Ameraukan:

• lack of incubation instinct;
• too pugnacious.

Character

Representatives of this breed cannot be called peaceful and friendly. Especially when it comes to males. Roosters are often very aggressive. They can attack not only other poultry or animals, but also their owner. They often attack their own chickens. For this reason, roosters are usually kept separate from chickens. Aggression is not the only disadvantage of this breed of cockerels. They are also very active and incredibly inquisitive, which makes them unable to sit still.

Conditions of maintenance and care

The Ameraucana poultry breed is popular with poultry farmers due to its frost resistance. Birds quickly get used to cold weather, they do not need additional heating of the chicken coop. Birds tolerate freezing temperatures and cold without any problems.

In the video below, see an overview of the Ameraucana chicken breed with a description of their eggs:

Poultry house

Do not forget that individuals of this breed are very active and curious. Despite their small body size, Ameraucana chickens need a large room.

Algorithm for preparing a chicken coop before moving in chickens:

1. Treat the chicken coop and all equipment with special disinfectants.
2. Make a clay flooring and place hay or straw on top. If the covering material is already in the room, then replace it.
3. Insulate and whitewash the ceiling and walls. Whitewashing will help get rid of harmful bacteria and slightly improve the microflora in the room.
4. Build an area to rest, eat, and walk.
5. Set up separate containers for food and water. Wash and clean them regularly.
6. Set the temperature in the chicken coop from +18 to +28 degrees Celsius. Keep humidity at around 60-70%.
7. Set up perches, they can be placed high - the birds can take off on them.
8. Layers need nests, build them from boxes, at the bottom of which you put straw or hay.
9. Ventilate the chicken coop, as chicken droppings contain a small proportion of ammonia, which damages their respiratory system.

The breed of chickens Ameraukana loves fresh air, so it is necessary to build a walking yard for them. He will not only create a place for the birds to entertain, but also protect the birds from birds of prey and animals.

Fence the enclosure for walking with a net so that the birds cannot fly over it, otherwise they will get to your garden and vegetable garden. Build a canopy over your outdoor patio to protect the birds from heavy rain and bright sunlight.

Summer meals are supplemented with street food, which includes fresh herbs and worms. So that representatives of the Ameraukan breed of chickens can get to him, the walking yard is installed on open soil, into which greens are sown.

It is better to build a chicken coop on a hill so that melt and rainwater does not flood it.

Although caring for the Ameraucanian birds is not difficult, some problems may arise. The main danger is the male, he scares the hens and does not allow them to live normally. The rooster is transplanted into a separate cage. The reason for his fierce aggression is the incorrect resettlement of the livestock. Poultry farmers recommend populating no more than 8 heads per 1 sq. m.

Eating and drinking

Chickens of the Ameraucana breed are no more demanding on the diet than other poultry. They have no special nutritional requirements. But it is necessary to follow simple rules for feeding adult birds, and they will be able to amaze the breeder with their productivity.

Rules for building the correct diet for birds:

1. Layers and roosters are not prone to obesity, so feed them enough without worrying about it. Birds are very active, so everything that they managed to eat in a day is very quickly digested. If laying hens eat only 2 times a day, then make sure that the food is high in calories, and the birds have enough energy for a long time.
2. In summer, reduce the amount of food intake by up to 2 times, since the birds walk in the fresh air during the day, eating street food. In winter, increase the number of meals up to 3 or 4 times.
3. If the birds do not have access to juicy grasses in the summer, then bring them greens daily. For the winter period, dry or granulate the grass so that the birds eat food rich in minerals and healthy components every day.
4. Don't be afraid to feed them high-fat grains. Perfectly fill the diet: corn, sunflower meal, sunflower seeds, wheat, oats and barley.
5. Place containers with clean and fresh water in the chicken coop and in the outdoor yard. Change it daily. Always wash the dishes and do not leave food leftovers in them; in the summer, carry out these procedures as often as possible.

Molt and lay break

Molting is a standard and normal occurrence in every chicken breed. It happens every year in the fall. It lasts about 2 months, sometimes it takes up to 3 months. The peculiarity of moulting in Ameraukan is that they which have shed rather soon resume and begin to lay eggs already in winter.

Egg-laying in birds stops during molting.

Birds seem pitiful and unhappy in the fall, but this is actually not the case, chickens do not experience much discomfort or pain. During this period, the breed should be well fed so that they do not start pecking at each other.

Frequent illnesses

The work of experienced American breeders has already made the breed such that at birth it develops strong immunity to many diseases. There are no special diseases in the world that attack this particular type of poultry.

Laying hens of the Ameraucan breed suffer not so much from diseases of viral or infectious origin as from attacks of various parasites. Therefore, the main preventive measures should be aimed at disinfecting the chicken coop and the entire livestock.

The main symptoms of a sick bird are poor or no appetite, discoloration of droppings, poor egg production, excessive irritability or apathy.

Description

Origin

America remains the birthplace of chickens Ameraukan It was there that breeders crossed two breeds of birds with each other. Work began in 1967 in North America. It is still not known where the Araucan chickens were brought from, but only after 3 years they were crossed with local American birds.The result was the Ameraucana breed that many farmers around the world immediately fell in love with. Due to the unusual color of the eggs, they are often called Easter eggs.

Appearance

If you look at the chickens of Ameraukan, the first thing that catches your eye is the interesting tanks and beard. They cover their heads almost completely. Above them is a red pea-shaped ridge. It originates from the beak itself and looks like small beads. Earrings are also red in color, but only in chickens they are small, but in roosters they are quite pronounced. The tail is slanted towards the back at 45 degrees, very voluminous and gracefully bent into an arc.

Ameraucana and her egg

The plumage can be of different colors - black (like the Australorp hen breed), white, red with brown, blue, wheat, dark yellow. Chickens with lavender plumage are in particular demand, since this color is considered rare. It will also be interesting to know if a hen can lay eggs without a rooster.

The birds of Ameraucan are distinguished by their expressive look. They have large brown eyes. The beak is curved and large. The body is strong, slightly elevated and carried on widely spaced limbs. Their color can be blue or gray.

The wings of birds are well developed, so that they fly well. But the most valuable quality of this breed remains blue eggs. Moreover, they can be either pure blue or with a green tint. You can also find pink, turquoise and bright blue eggs. As a rule, the color of the shell is determined by the shade of the feathers. Although even one hen can produce eggs of different colors. Ameraukan's dwarf chickens are no different in appearance from their counterparts.

How to determine the age of a laying hen, and what signs indicate its age, this video will help to understand.

But what the Zagorskaya salmon chickens look like, and what are the features of its breeding, is described in great detail here in the article.

Productivity

Chickens Ameraukana are representatives of the meat orientation. They have an average egg production. One layer per year is capable of producing 200-250 eggs (more than Amrox hens). Chickens begin to lay eggs at the age of 5-6 years.

One egg weighs 60 g. But dwarf representatives give eggs weighing 40 g. The shell is quite dense and colorful. But such high productivity is observed only in the first year. In the second and subsequent years, it is already falling.

In addition to eggs, Ameraukan chickens are also valued for meat. Adult males gain weight up to 3-3.5 kg, and females - 2.5 kg (as well as Barnevelder chickens). Dwarf representatives, respectively, 950 g and 800 g. Poultry meat tastes very similar to quail. It is very tender and juicy. But how the structure of a nest for laying hens looks like, you can understand by watching this video.

Breeding

As soon as the adult herd is 1 year old, it is time to think about breeding a new generation. The poultry farmer should be aware that the maximum productive period lasts from 1 to 2 years, then the egg-laying becomes less active, and the quality of meat deteriorates significantly.

Rules for choosing eggs for an incubator

If you decide to start breeding Ameraukan in your area, then you should understand and correctly select eggs for the incubator. Buying a suitable purebred egg will cost you 200 rubles apiece. Stop the choice on those copies that are larger.

The main points of choosing eggs for an incubator:

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1. The age of the eggs is from 2 to 7 days after laying.
2. The egg should have a standard oval shape.
3. It is almost impossible to illuminate it well, so check for cracks under good lighting conditions.
4. Before being placed in the incubator, the embryo in the egg is already developing. Be extremely careful with it so that it does not fall or break.
5. The embryo dies at temperatures from +5 to +8 degrees Celsius. If eggs have been exposed to this temperature, then they cannot be used for an incubator.

Read the article about the features of incubating chicken eggs at home.

Chick care

Raising chickens of the Ameraukan breed is much easier than other varieties of chickens. Youngsters are already born with plumage, they have a warm down, which protects babies from hypothermia and drafts. Chickens are very active, they have an excellent appetite, so they grow quickly and develop well.

Many poultry farmers believe that productivity in the future depends on caring for the young in the first two months after birth. At this time, the chicks fully develop the skeleton and muscle mass. After 2.5 months, the bird will begin to gain weight twice as fast as before. After 3 months after birth, they will consume a lot of food.

During this period, it is necessary to monitor each bird so that no one is offended, each laying hen gets food and water, they should gain weight in about the same way.

Industrial breeding of chickens of the Ameraukana breed provides for the artificial division of young animals into large and small individuals. Sorting birds into such groups will help the breeder to achieve full and even development of the herd.

Without this activity, some birds will remain hungry and will not grow up as they would like. Some individuals will become overly aggressive and lively, in large groups leaders will begin to appear who will eat food faster than weak chickens. All this will negatively affect the total weight of the livestock. After 5 months, the chickens begin to lay eggs.

Poultry farmers prove that the larger the hen, the faster it begins to lay eggs, and the larger they turn out.

Top tips for caring for chicks:

• Leave the lights on for the first two days to stimulate the development of the young, then alternate between 2 am and 4 pm.
• Build a chicken coop for chicks spacious and ventilated. To save time on cleaning it, keep the young in cages. Place drinkers and feeders in them. How to make a feeder yourself is written here.

Making a drinker with your own hands is described in this article.

Young cattle diet

Ameraucan's chicken menu is standard. The diet is based on feeds with a high protein and calcium content. In the early days, babies are fed with a boiled egg mixed with semolina, then herbs and special vitamins are added.

By the age of 1.5 months, food is supplemented with boiled vegetables. The presence of a good appetite and stable development lies not only in food, but also in its regime. From the first day, young animals are fed every two hours. About 18 days after birth - 5-6 times a day, after that they switch to 3-4 meals a day.

An obligatory component is clean and fresh water, the more youngsters drink it, the better. Adult chickens and babies are very sensitive to the quality of the water, so it should be boiled and chilled.

The young are very strong, but until a certain age the babies are kept warm. The first 7 days the temperature is up to +32 degrees Celsius, the next - up to +30 degrees, thus it is necessary to reduce the indicator to +26 degrees.

How is the colored shell formed?

Breeders these days do not get tired of surprising with their discoveries, one of the most interesting and unusual results of their many years of painstaking work was the breeding of chicken breeds that lay eggs of green and blue shades. Some farmers have willingly taken up the breeding of such birds.

We all have long been accustomed to the fact that the shell of chicken eggs can be either white or colored in one of the shades of brown. The fact is that the shell is 95-98% composed of calcium carbonate, therefore it initially has a whitish color.

It can acquire brownish shades as the egg moves through the bird's oviduct. - its inner surface is dotted with papillae, which, when laying eggs, secrete a special pigment protoporphyrin. Its saturation largely depends on the breed of chickens and the speed of movement of the egg: the slower it moves, the more pigment it receives, respectively, the darker it will be at the output.

It should be noted that protoporphyrin covers only the outer shell, the inner side of the shell always remains white.

Scientists have found that the appearance of such an unusual coloring directly depends on the presence of special enzymes in the chicken's body and the nature of their interaction with each other. For example, the genome of a retrovirus, embedded in the structure of DNA, stimulates the production of biliverdin (which is a derivative of bile), and depending on its amount, eggs can be colored in blue, purple and gray shades. If, in addition to biliverdin, protoporphyrin is present in the body of females, then an olive-colored shell is obtained.

Reviews of farmers about chickens of the Ameraukan breed

★★★★★
Alexandra, 66 years old, agronomist, Krasnodar. I love poultry, whom I just don't have and geese, and ducks, and chickens. Grandchildren gave 20 eggs of Ameraukana breed chickens for their birthday. Of these, 12 were born - 3 cockerels and 9 layers. The males immediately began to show their temperament, bullying each other, offended the girls. Hooligans, in a word. Now these beauties are growing up, I'll see what happens next. They gain weight quickly, eat a lot.
★★★★★
Gleb, 35 years old, programmer, Arkhangelsk. My wife loves farming, and I decided to give her a gift. I bought 10 chickens of Ameraukan at the poultry farm. The delight of the beloved knew no bounds. Oviposition began at 5 months, only the female was delayed with sexual development and was able to lay eggs only at 7 months. 2 cockerels are very pugnacious, they had to be seated in different cages, they did not allow even other breeds of chickens to exist normally. Our daughter is simply delighted with the multi-colored eggs, the only drawback of the breed is excessive aggressiveness.
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Chickens of the Ameraucana breed are unique poultry, they are distinguished by their wayward temperament and pugnaciousness, but they bring beautiful, unusual colored eggs.

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