Hi,
My name is Jim Wise and I'm in central Florida. I am brand new to ameraucanas. I purchased some straight run chicks from two different places this summer. Both advertised as BBS. The 10 I purchased from place 1 were all splash except for one blue cockerel.
I purchased 7 more straight run from another source. These were all black or splash except one. He turned out to be a French Blue Copper Maran cockerel so I immediately became suspicious of the others. She claimed that it was just a mixup in her incubator, but that the rest were all good. When I inquired about the parents/lineage of the birds, she finally admitted that they weren't hers but hatched for a friend and only "pet quality".
At this time I only have 2 of those that I kept, a black cockerel and a black pullet. The black cockerel is beautiful but has major silver/gold leakage. All of the advice I have been given regarding him is "do not breed with him".
Unfortunately an owl got my blue cockerel just before dark and that has now wrecked my breeding plans for spring. I've installed netting over my chicken "yard" so that's fixed now.
Long story long, I'd love to get a nice blue cockerel to move forward with. I'm not planning on showing, so if he's someone's 2nd or 3rd choice that's fine with me. I just don't want to start off on a terrible footing with a rooster of suspect lineage.
Thank you for your patience and consideration.