Gemstone Hatchery came about because I wanted to have healthy eggs for our family. I wanted to find a way for the chickens to help pay for the cost of their food and other expenses.  Then came building it into a business and each year it has grown leaps and bounds from where it started. I started with just an idea and thought how do you bring this idea to life. Then began with hours of research about chickens . What I would need to begin and where would I house them. Telling my husband I wanted to add chickens. He thought oh she probably just wants twenty chickens. Nope I tell him. I want to create a hatchery. I want to create generations and watch the chickens evolve.

But little did I know at the time how much learning and trial and error it would really be. After buying any cheap incubator I could find to research humidity and temperature. I quickly found how important each small detail was in developing embryos in the hatching eggs.

Along the way my brother and sister in law saw my countless hours and effort with the small incubators and blessed me with the ability to have a cabinet incubator to use. It was so amazing when I picked up the cabinet incubator it took my fifty eggs to hatch to whole new level. Because it wasn’t just fifty eggs it was the ability to hatch three hundred eggs.  Each year it has grown and evolved and I’m still grateful for my chickens to give me the opportunity to feed our family and provide food for all that I send eggs or chicks too.

Some of our favorite breeds are

Ermine Ameraucana is a project variety of the Ameraucana breed known for its distinctive black and white speckled plumage, often compared to a “Poka -dotted chicken”. It’s a new and relatively rare color pattern, and the genetics of this pattern are still being researched. Ermine Ameraucanas are non-broody and reliable layers of blue or blue-green eggs. 

These beautiful blue layers are friendly and fun to have in your flock. I have several pens of ermine group and the colors from combinations you would receive are white, ermine and black and white when hatching ermine eggs.  

Please check out the color chart for reference of which colors and percentages when placed together.  

The most striking feature is the black and white speckled pattern, with individual feathers being either solid white or solid black. 

Ermine Ameraucanas do not breed true. When Ermine birds are bred together, the offspring can include Ermine, solid black, and solid white birds. 

Anytime you are dealing with genetics so many things factor in.  

A common breeding strategy involves crossing Ermine birds with solid black Ameraucanas to improve quality and consistency in the pattern