Chicken health and colors

[Caprice Dowsland]

I will look later at some topics on here later that may answer this. But.... I got two questions:
1. Is it normal for roos to be super buff looking and girls looking so streamlined I worry they're starved or sick? seriously my blue hen has me worried about her health she is so thin around the Keelbone(that is the pointy bone at chest,right?) anywho if i wasn't feeding her right like I fear I would think all my birds would look anorexic like her, but no my lavender roo and my Maran and Rhode I.R. are super buff and heavy giants (wieght-wise). So hope someone can help end my stress?!
2. Do blue not breed true? wondering how I get a black Am. from a blue and lavender pair.

[Scott Lepak]

Hi, Being a new member myself and only having experience with ameraucanas (and other chickens) for a few years now, I certainly would not consider myself an expert, but I will take a stab at answering your questions.

  The second question is fairly easy to answer.  'Blue' in chickens does not, in fact, breed true, it is the result of a black bird having one blue diluting gene (I'm not sure what the technical terms of the genes are), while two diluting genes result in what's known as a 'splash'.  When breeding black, blue, and splash. different pairings give you different results,
   Black+Black=100%Black
   Black+Blue=50%Black and 50%Blue
   Black+Splash=100%Blue
   Blue+Blue=25%Black, 50%Blue, and 25%Splash
   Blue+Splash=50%Blue and 50%Splash
   Splash+Splash=100%Splash (With the possibility of a 'Ghost Splash', a bird that's genetically splash but is lacking in 'splashes' and is nearly white in appearance).
Lavender on the other hand, is caused by a different, recessive diluting gene so it needs two copies to express.  What is commonly thought of as 'lavender' is usually a dilution of black, so when breeding a blue with a lavender, the result is the same as breeding blue to black, giving you blue and black offspring, however these will also all be carrying one copy of the recessive lavender gene (It is also generally not recommended to mix blue and lavender as subsequent generations can result in 'lavender blues' and 'lavender splashes' and there is already enough confusion between blues and lavenders because of the 'self blue' naming issue).

  The first question is a little more difficult.  It is certainly true that roosters tend to be significantly larger and somewhat stockier than their female counterparts, but a healthy hen should still be well fleshed out.  That being said, on a healthy bird the keel bone is usually felt fairly easily, but it should not be extremely prominent.  If she really seems abnormally thin, there could certainly be something wrong, either stress, illness, parasites, or a combination of these.  Try treating her for worms and other parasites, and I would also suggest maybe separating her and feeding a her a diet higher in protein and fat to see if she starts putting on weight.

  That's all I can really think of at the moment.  I hope it helps.  Maybe some more experienced members will have more advice to add.

[Russ Blair]

1. First I would do is treat them all for internal and external parasites. Hens should'nt be extremely thin, remember Ameraucana are dual purpose birds.
2. I would not breed blue and lavender, you are asking for trouble. Mainly because the lavender gene is recessive and can be a challenge breeding out. Scott Lepak nailed the reasons why black chicks are produced in blue mating 

[Caprice Dowsland]

Thank You guys! and now am really curious about what a lavender blue is. I did fear she might have worms but then I thought maybe all would be under weight if that was so but they aren't. She has muscle tone everywhere else except keel, so maybe i'm overly worried but if it won't hurt to worm to be safe then I'll do that judging from your advice. Thanks a bunch! I've been trying to give her extra protien but her weight stays the same. what do ya think of that muscle building vitamin's at Twin City? I'm thinking trying that.

[Russ Blair]

If you treated her for parasites and she still hasn’t gained wait I would think it’s genetics. Could possibly of been stunted during development due to parasites, overcrowding or just being low on the pecking order possibly? If I had better birds I wouldn’t use her for breeding just Incase it is genetic. Now if it’s all you have I guess there’s one way to find out, hatch some of her offspring and see how they develop.

[Caprice Dowsland]

I haven't checked for worm or wormed her yet. But I don't plan to breed her. Tho she is bonded to her lavender Roo to much to seperate them I will take the eggs right away and either eat or compost, she don't wanna be a mom anyway. But her lavender kid I hatched in incubator seems fine and her black kid I hatched in incubator seems fine tho slim sorta like mom but not as much. But when her Roo arrived (mind you they were shipped together from same breeder only Blue hen was day old and her lav. Roo was older, not sure by how much) He had Mycoplasm which another breeder suggested stuff from Twin City Supply that seems to have cleared that up (I only know or call it Mycoplasm because this guy told me it was that). And it has been like "ok I knock that out and now I got this? ugh!" I been a wreck and if I didn't love them so darn much I'd give up and have my breeder friend Chris save them. But I've just tried coccidiostat, the mycoplasm stuff (forget what it was called at the moment), this vitemin/electrolyte stuff ya mix with water, and trying to give more feed. but giving them more brings up that old addage: "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink" naw they just kick the extra amount they don't want everywhere(literally). and my birds are being finicky about the crumble and just want the scratch and Peck stuff as it is. Like human kids saying and or screaming "No I don't want that, bleh,etc."