Ideal Poultry is selling silkies in blue, self blue, and grey. What exactly is the difference in these colors? I have some of their blue, and it looks like dark grey to me, what should I expect if I order those other colors? Also, I was thinking of ordering Ameracaunas (sp?) from them. Are their Ameracaunas blue, blue-green, olive, or rose egg layers and do their hens come in a variety of colors (besides red brown) I only want to order two, but don't want both to be the same color. I know it could happen even if they have other colors, I'm just wondering if anyone has received an Ameracauna from them that was not red brown. I just lost my only Ameracauna laying hen (nice green-blue egger), she'd just started laying a few weeks ago. The neighbor lady up the road got a dog a few weeks ago and it started going into my yard last week. I kept chasing it off, and yesterday I had my hens out of their pen to enjoy the nice weather and the dog got her. I couldn't catch the dog, and wasn't even sure it was hers until I saw it following her car today, so I drove to her house and told her, she said she'd keep him chained, so hopefully I won't have this problem again. I told her if it kept happening I'd have to protect my livestock, I didn't want to be rude, but I wanted her to understand how serious this is to me. I sure hope I didn't come off as the crazy chicken lady down the street, I tried to be polite even though I was upset : ( Sorry, now I'm rambling, I really liked that hen.
What's the difference between blue, self blue, and grey?
this is a pic of a blue, self blue i think is a light lavender i believe and gray is a mostly light gray usually with salt and pepered look with darker gray/black . if ya look at a partridge it's the same look just differnt colors. replace lighter color on them w/ lighter gray darker brown would be the drk gray/black areas. have never had their americanas so no help to ya there. so sorry to hear of your losses.
silkie
Ideal sells the 'type' of Ameraucana that is actually just Easter Eggers - any chicken that happens to posses the blue egg gene. They can lay blue, blue-green, green, pink, tan or olive eggs. If you don't care that they are not true Ameraucana they are fine and can have any number of color variations. If you want true Ameraucanas here is the breed website:
www.ameraucana.org
I hope this helps.
Megan
So sorry for your loss and you are not a crazy chicken lady I would have called the police and not been nice to her! Try this site for silkies maybe theres someone near you.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SilkieBantamPoultryClassifieds/ you can ask any kind of question about silkies
Any Ameraucana will lay some combination of blue, blue-green, etc. egg. Mine lay mostly blue-green eggs, rarely they will produce one that's closer to khaki.
I have two Ameraucanas from Ideal. They're very nice chickens and if I get any more I will definitely order from Ideal. They're large, about the same size as my Buff Brahma. One has somewhat similar coloring to the Brahma - gold with black. The other is shades of brown and black. I wouldn't call either red brown. Both have muffs and beards. Of course that doesn't mean this is the colors you would get.
If you want to pick the colors, you would probably be better off to pay the price for a purebred Ameraucana. If you want blue eggs, you'd be better off getting a purebred Araucana.
Thanks for the comments. See, the original blue silkie I ordered from Murray seemed to be lighter than the blue I ordered from Ideal, but since I no longer have that chick, I can't be sure? Has anyone seen the difference in Murray McMurray blue vs Ideals blues? Maybe it's all in my head, lol. As far as the Ameracaunas go, the hen doesn't need to be pure, but would sure like to get more of the beautiful blue-green eggs my hen laid. I guess I thought I was being rude to the woman because I didn't introduce myself, lol, that's me-second guessing.
A friend of mine bought 25 Americana chicks last spring from Cree Farms in Washington State. I raised six for her, but mine were all roosters. Kept one, a beautiful blue guy. This breeder has some very nice Americana's. My friend and I are planning to get another order this spring. The stock is supposed to lay deep blue eggs.
Cree Farms website is:
http://creefarm.fateback.com/ameraucana.html
Those sure are pretty chickens on that site, Jimdaz.
Patchouli, I forgot to mention above both of the Ameraucanas I got from Ideal lay huge eggs. They're noticably larger than those from any of my other hens. They have also been laying an egg a day every single day, even throughout the winter when some of the other hens slowed down.
Oooh, that's great Hart! See that's what I want to hear. I guess I'll go ahead and order my Ameracauna (easter eggers) from them then. Jimdaz, they are very nice looking birds on that site, however I don't want to order 25 though (always seems to be the issue) thanks for the help though : )
I checked out the Ameraucanas at the Cree Farm
website. I looked at the eggs pictured, and to me, they
don't look very blue at all. In all of my looking around, I
have not found any great blue egg pics. Know where I
can find some?
If you want blue eggs, get you some Araucanas. I suppose some Ameraucanas have blue eggs but it's my understanding that they all have eggs in some shade of blue/green, green or khaki. Picture shades of Araucana blue with various tints of brown added.
Oh well for thinking I might have been rude. That darn dog was out here last night and this morning I've already had to chase it off ! I can see how much she cares about her dog or peace with the neighbors, I'm really ticked off! ERRRRRRR!
Is there a leash law in your area? How are your local police? They would be my next step.
You warned her once. I would contact her via a certified letter with pictures of him in your yard and the police now. Good luck and if the police don't help there are other ways......
It will have to be the "other ways" because I live in the middle of nowhere and there are no leash laws. I could get the police involved, but that probably will not get me anywhere either.
Several of our neighbors let their dogs roam. I got up one morning and found two dogs after our rabbits. They had completely tipped over two hutches and managed to kill two of our babies, injured one of the adult rabbits.
I went to Tractor Supply and got an electric fence kit and put that around the rabbits. No dog problems since.
BTW, you said this happened when you let your chickens out. I learned the hard way about allowing the chickens to roam around the yard, which is not exactly what free range means. I lost every one of those chickens to a neighborhood dog.
My flock now has a nice, large and secure fenced area. Haven't lost a single chicken to anything.
BTW, I looked up the Virginia law on dogs worrying livestock a while back. It says you can shoot any dog that's worrying your livestock. However, livestock is defined as something you're raising for profit. It doesn't apply to a backyard flock being raised for yourself.
Oh no no shooting. That should be a last resort. I would write that woman a letter, that way you figure out what you want to say and don't forget or regret saying something. I would call and see what your town ordinances are when it comes to loose/stray animals. And document that dog in your yard. And then there is always relocation or maybe someone else has a good suggestion.
On my property I have the right to let my hens out of their pen to enjoy the grass in my yard during the day. I have dogs myself that stay on my property and do not go chasing after other peoples lifestock. The last time I lost anything was my first batch of chicks, and a cat got those (has since been relocated), my hens have the right to enjoy the freedom in my yard. I keep my chickens in their house at night and during the day they are allowed to go out into their run. I know you take a risk letting hens out of their pen, but that risk for me was up until recently limited to wild animals, most of which stay away because of my dogs and the radio I play at night inside the henhouse. This risk is different because it is a pet dog, one that is not afraid of humans, and lives nearby, is not being chained, and will now keep coming back. I can keep them in their run, but he could probably break through chicken wire if he really wanted to, it's at least a 50 pound dog. I don't see why I should have to keep worrying about this if I could just take care of the dog. I know he's just being a dog, but my hen was just being a hen. I warned her, and she said she'd chain him. What I want to know is, what went through her mind when she decided not to chain her dog back up or keep him chained. Do you think she was just like "!#*# it, it's her problem"? Or maybe, "he won't do it again"? I would love to know the thought process involved with her decision to let him roam again. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, but a problem dog like this is still going to be a problem, it might as well be a roaming stray. I don't see where I have time to take this to court and such, that's keeping my hens in danger longer than needed. It's not liked she offered to replace the first hen, I doubt she'd want to fix a pen or replace all of my grown hens. Currently I have lots of money tied up in fixing my well and cannot afford to make my current pen Fort Knox. I'll take the advise and call the cops to see what they say, but I'm pretty sure they'll just be like "we'll we can tell her she needs to keep it on her property, but since there are no leash laws..." I know I sound like negative Nancy, but I don't look forward to shooting a dog neither. Sorry if it sounds like I'm yelling, LOL, or being rude, I'm not, I'm just venting. This situation is just really irritating that's all.
This message was edited Jan 10, 2008 12:59 PM
As angry as it might make you, you can't force your neighbors to chain their dog without a leash law. It's infuriating to have irresponsible neighbors but I guess my attitude is it's a lot simpler to do what I can here to keep them safe. It's certainly a better option for me than to shoot or steal someone else's pet, even if they are being irresponsible owners, or to get into feuds with my neighbors.
What I'm telling you about the law at least in my state is that you can be charged with a crime if you shoot or "relocate" that dog. You could also be sued. I know if at least one local farmer who was sued after he shot neighbors' dogs that were worrying his sheep. He did win the case, he was raising them for profit, but it cost him several thousand dollars in lawyer's fees.
By the way, that's one option you can hold over the neighbor's heads - reminding them that they are liable for damage done by their dogs.
At any rate, it would certainly be a good idea to call someone - local animal control, sheriff's department or prosecutor's office - and find out what your rights are and what you can and can't do legally to protect your chickens. You may find out there is a leash law after all in your county or other options you don't know about.
You really might want to check out the electric fence too. It worked like a charm. The clerk at Tractor Supply who helped me said she uses them to protect her chickens from neighborhood dogs. She said the first thing a dog will do is stick their nose to the wire to check it out and they get zapped. After that they stay away. I haven't had any problems at all since I put up the kit I got.
Thanks for the electric fence tip too Hart, now that would probably be something relatively inexpensive that I could to in the meantime, whilst I get the law involved. Sometimes you can't just be civil and polite with people ya know. It's embarrasing for me to have to call the cops on another neighbor. When we had that really cold spell I had to call them on the guy down the hill from me near my wellhouse. He had his lab chained up near the wellhouse and it actually chewed the bottom wood panel off and tore out all the insulation, leaving the pipes exposed. They froze, and when defrosted they had cracked and flooded the wellhouse. It was a nightmare! He tried to say it was another dog! His dog's chew toys were all around the wellhouse! I just got the electric bill for that month , and my heater cost $50 to run for one month in that small wellhouse because it was opened to the elements! Anyways, I had to call the police just to get him to move his dog! He actually argued with the cop at first, til the policeman offered to remove him, lol! My neighbor's are not very 'neighborly' lol.
This message was edited Jan 10, 2008 1:56 PM
This message was edited Jan 10, 2008 1:59 PM
The kit I got at Tractor Supply is here:
http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_50858_______14345%7C14359%7C14362%7C14363%7C50858?listingPage=true
I wanted to be sure to get one that was battery operated because I don't have any kind of electrical outlet that would be handy to use. The ones you plug in are much cheaper. It came with a lot of wire and you can add on more if you like.
The kit comes with everything you need except batteries. It uses four d-cell batteries that have to be changed every 2-3 months. For the others, you have to buy wire and posts and insulators.
It comes with pretty short posts. I put in the wire about a foot off the ground. The dogs could very easily step over it but they haven't.
Like you, I live way out in the country. Our neighbors seem nice enough and we haven't had any problems other than the wandering dogs. I take that back - I got up one morning and my neighbor across the road was driving, yes, driving a truck, around in my back yard. My yard is about 2 acres but it's not a driving track. LOL I ran out and it turned out a bear had chased their horse out of their field and they were desperately looking for the horse. Still don't know why that required driving in my yard but I didn't say anything. They were trying to get to the top of the hill to see into the field behind me.
The poor things, they even ended up hiring a helicopter trying to find that horse. They found his body months later.
http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/statestatutes/stusmoset.htm
heres something
OMG! Jeez, that's horrible! Um, maybe they were just frazzled and weren't thinking, who knows? I don't have a Tractor Supply, but I do have an Orscheln's store which is probably similar. The battery operated would certainly make more sense for my set up as I currently have an extension cord running out to the pen right now. Right now I have one foot tall metal panels around the bottom of the pen to keep the hens out of site for passerbys. I wonder if the electric wire should be at the panel level or higher?
You can order from that website I think. I was thinking more of stringing it around your yard or around the section of the yard where you let the chickens roam if you want to let the chickens out and keep the dogs out.
I guess if the dogs are real aggressive they could try to get into your chicken fence but the two that got after the rabbits here made no attempt to get into my chicken fence. My fence is made of 2x4s with chicken wire and they were huge dogs. Probably 100 lbs plus because they were at least twice the size of my two 50 lb dogs.
Your dogs might get stung when you first put it up but my cats, dogs and chickens have all learned to stay away from the fence fast. Make sure you put the warning signs on it for people.
Lora, unless you're looking at your actual state or local codes online, I wouldn't go by what any website says. Laws are amended all the time. That website isn't opening for me but I'd rather go directly to the code than assume that a website has kept up with any amendments. Or call local officials because they would know what the current laws would be at both the state and local level. It's probably easiest to call someone because then you don't have to worry about being able to interpret exactly what a law means. Not all of them are written in terms that a layman would understand. And how many people would know, for example, to check not only the dog law but the beginning of that section for term definitions such as livestock.
Oh okay, I see what you're saying. They typically stay around 30 ft or so around the pen if I let them out, so I could try and run the wire around there, high enough for them to run under, but low enough for the dog to get zapped. I was always told that out here I had a right to shoot dogs that were attacking livestock. If I eat my chickens eggs, and plan on selling them is that not livestock? It is definately wiser to check for any new laws on that. According to the website I would have the right, but it wouldn't let me go to the specific link about an individual law.
www.animallaw.info it has state by state laws, cases etc. The site is set up by the Michigan state U of law, it was to give her an idea of the statutes and laws in HER state. I wasn't giving her information about other states or legal advice. I would think that a site run by them for animals only would pretty up to date. I am sure she's going to ask locals and go over everything carefully before making a decision.
Yes, I could see by the full url what it was. Sites like this can be a great resource but I wouldn't depend on them for any practical purpose. It takes a lot of manpower to keep up with amendments in 50 state legislatures. If it's well updated, that probably means once a year if that often. Meanwhile, the law in whatever state you're researching could have had substantial amendments enacted.
That's why if you want to research a particular law, you're better off to go directly to the actual code, if you know how. Most states have their codes available online. But it's a lot simpler to just call someone locally who would be notified of any changes such as animal control officers, law enforcement agencies or prosecutor's offices.
Patchouli, please don't rely on what any website says. Just call someone. They can tell you exactly what the law says. They can also tell you what local laws would apply.
Just remember with the chickens running loose, the temptation could be such that the dogs may run straight through the wire. I'd make it a much larger area than you need and put it up well before any chickens are there for temptation. Be sure you leave it on all the time too.
The law I posted about above is in my state. The one in yours may not be similar at all. But under the law here, I'd say, no, having chickens for your own use would definitely not apply and selling a few eggs here and there probably wouldn't either.
Here's the law in your state, as of October.
Dogs may be killed, when.
273.030. If any person shall discover any dog or dogs in the act of killing, wounding or chasing sheep in any portion of this state, or shall discover any dog or dogs under such circumstances as to satisfactorily show that such dog or dogs has or have been recently engaged in killing or chasing sheep or other domestic animal or animals, such person is authorized to immediately pursue and kill such dog or dogs; provided, however, that such dog or dogs shall not be killed in any enclosure belonging to or being in lawful possession of the owner of such dog or dogs.
http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/c200-299/2730000030.htm
It might not hurt to give your neighbors a copy of this. I sure wouldn't want to depend on my own interpretation to go out and shoot any dogs though if I were you.
Yeah, thanks guys. I'll be sure to make sure I'm within my legal rights before I absolutely do anything like that. I'll heed your advise about the fence. Just putting up this electric fence is not going to be enough with this dog though, he has already killed a hen, I don't see electric fence stopping him.
patchouli, have your camera with you always, and take pics of the dog loose and on your property. not having a leash law is not the same as a stray animal law and also not the same as the law quoted above. this dog IS loose, and HAS killed one chicken, so therfore it is "have been recently engaged in killing or chasing sheep or other domestic animal ". this doesn't sound like you have to kill it on your property, but i would limit it to that.
i recently had neighbors who i went to after a month of me suspecting their adult dog killing my guineas started bring their small house dogs and new puppy over to check out my flock. she said she would lock them up, she didn't. the next time they killed. again she promised. the next day they killed again and i video taped it [via security camera at the gate of the coop]. after they saw they tape, she and her husband said ABSOLUTELY and apologized profusely... the next morning the dogs were back again.
this continued until they moved. if they ever move back, they better not bring thos edogs with them. my husband will be ready and waiting, he is a better shot than I am.
good luck with your flock!
tf
The question on blue(I'm guessing you mean feathers)
a blue is a slate blue with dark almost black lacing
a self blue is a solid color blue(slatey)...no lacing
grey is grey
Thank you very much : )
i got a self blue form Arkansas that colored out very nicely. another from welp that is looking more splash. i don't want to breed these with my blue wheatens. should i cross them? they didn't gro up in the same pen and want nothing to do with each other...
Hart,
You seem to know or have access to sstate laws and I note that you are in Virginia. I recently began raising chickens and have trouble with cats getting to and killing them. Do you have any idea of my rights in dealing with this problem?
"Blue" is the result of a single copy of the andalusian blue gene, (Bl,bl); splash is two copies of the blue gene (Bl,Bl). The body is a lighter blue, the head, hackles and saddle are darker blue. In the US, the standard calls for the feathers to be laced with dark blue. Overall, the shade of blue can vary quite a lot from nearly black to a light slaty blue.
"Self-blue" is also called lavender (named for the gene). It is genetically unrelated to blue. Blue is incompletely dominant; lavender is recessive, so a lavender bird is (lav,lav). Self-blue is a uniform light bluish grey--no part of the body is darker or lighter than any other part, unlike andalusian blue.
Blue and self-blue are not mutually exclusive; a bird can be both.
Grey is also called silver partridge. It is a partridge bird with silver replacing gold. On a female, all the feathers should be penciled; on a male, different parts of the body are different colours.
thanks, Suze. i won't have that dilmena, the rats got Bob... i had even considered crossing him to the blue wheatens we had. [they are all OEG]. Peter got a pigeon for a repolacement, but she just isn't as lovable...