[lucylou]

hi there!

here are sme piccies of on of my araucanas, Selma. I have had her abou 2 months and think she is great, although my OH says she looks like a bird of prey! (i know where he is coming from but wont admit it!) Anyway, does anyone have aclue to how old she is as she was meant to be POL when i got her and of course there is no sign of anything remotely resembling an egg yet!  Im alsomst too scared to ask - but do you think she could be an old lady hen? it crossed my mind, as she is the biggest and most mature looking of all my 6 hens (all banties). love to know your opinions, thankyou in avance, Lucylou

[lucylou]

sorry about this - heres the next photo!

[nzdunn]

havnt got a clue but just wanted to say shes gorgeous   nickyx

[dizzylizzie]

WOW, she is beautiful, she really does look like a bird of prey tho! i cant help with the age thing sorry, i just wanted to tell you she is beautiful x

[lucylou]

nzdunn and dizzylizzy - thankyou for the compliments! i'll pass them on to her in the morning!
Lucylou

[lucylou]

i was hoping archiesgems would cast his eyes over the piccies as i know he is especially experienced  with araucanas! hint hint 

[archiesgems]

Hi Lucylou

Very handsome girlie you have there, now as for age, just from a piccie its a hard one so, has she got a comb? and if so what colour is it? her legs look good and closed scales which put her more to the pullet upto yearling age, is she laying? sorry about the questions hun

[lucylou]

thanks for replying archiesgems - she's not laying or squatting at all. Got no comb but her face is a little bit red on the fleshy parts that show - you can just about see that in the second photo, sh'e got an enourmous pair of fluffy bloomers and is stocky (well built! for a bantam) she looks exactly the same as she did 2 months ago when i got her - she had all her grown up feathers already - Lucylou

[archiesgems]

Arau's are normally fully grown (height wise) at 22 weeks but they will start laying about this age to well between 20 and 26 weeks, feel her pelvic bone and see just how much it has seperated, i gather that she was a young pullet when you bought her. so at a wild guess i would say that she would be about 26 weeks. but please don't quote me on it as i'm only going by the pic ( got a rep to keep hehe)

as i say shes a lovly bird though would make good breeding stock with her colouring

[lucylou]

 i got 2 at the same time. My other one i posted a photo of some time ago and you kindly reassured me that she was a girl as i had  my doubts. This one ,Selma has always been a lot bigger and i really dont know how old she was when i got her as the breeder had 2 for me to collect, but i noticed that one didnt look healthy,  and i didnt want to take her so he nipped out into one of his paddocks and picked up(well - not exactly - quite a bit of fuss on her part!)  Selma from a group of fully grown mixed poultry  - she looked in good condition and he was a very confident and helpful breeder - but i cant remember if he actually said how old she was!! or wether i was just assuming she was POL

[archiesgems]

has she or is she in moult?

[lucylou]

a couple of weeks ago a few of her tail feathers came out and a few smaller ones too, i thought she was starting to moult but no, i dont think so now

[archiesgems]

if thats the case then she will def be a 2009 bird, and should be about ready to lay. let me know when you get your first bluie 

[lucylou]

thankyou for all  your help archiesgems, i will certainly let you know when she lays! - evryday i look in the box - just incase, but really knowing that there wont be a little egg nestled there! i will be so excited the day it actually happens  thanks again, lucylou