Araucana

They are sweet and fun. They don't lay eggs as often as production hens, but they are friendly and can tolerate New England winters. I have two roosters that never fight (I had a 3rd one who did fight, he's gone now) and the roosters are good husbands and fathers.

The turquoise eggs are worth the wait. The hens sometimes go broody, but not enough to be a problem.

When I first started researching chickens, I was fascinated to learn that some breeds lay blue or green eggs. This led me to the breed known as the Araucana. While Easter Eggers are commonly called Araucanas, the true Araucana is a unique and amazing bird. I'd describe them as quirky. I am glad to have the real deal in my flock!

As chicks I found them much more outgoing than some of the other breeds I raised. You can tell who is tufted and rumpless from the first day. The eggs are more difficult to hatch than other breeds, due to the lethality of the tufted gene (25% of chicks die in shell if the parents were both tufted). And they seem to be more delicate in general. But the payoff when you get an incubator full of tufted chicks is well worth it! They are easily socialized and at least for me, are the first to come running when I step outside!

They do a great job at foraging, always actively searching out food if allowed to free range. They're lighter on the feed compared to other breeds. For example, my marans and australorp are pigs, while the large fowl Araucanas literally eat like birds. Yet they regular producers of nice sized eggs despite being more petite than other large fowl chickens.

You can only get them from other breeders, since no hatchery produces true Araucanas. A few sell live chicks, but most sell hatching eggs. So startup can be more difficult than the average breed, but is the challenge is also rewarding.

Note on the tufting gene: the tufting gene is dominant and potentially lethal, all live tufted birds are only heterozygous for the trait. Which means they only have one copy of the gene. It is 100% lethal for those who are homozygous, which is why approximately 25% of chicks die in shell if both parents were tufted. Tufted x Tufted results in approximately 25% cleanfaced birds (no tufting gene at all, cannot pass it on), 50% tufted, and 25% dead in shell. Tufted x Cleanfaced results in 50% tufted and 50% cleanfaced, so no lethal gene action.

Note on rumpless gene: also a dominant gene. This gene is not lethal, but it may reduce fertility since it can interfere with a proper cloacal kiss (which is required for successful insemination). But there is nothing more unique that a bootyless Araucana!

As most I started with Easter Eggers, found out the truth, which honestly made me want true Araucanas even more, so, I ordered myself a big batch of chicks from one of the few people out there who actually offer purebred chicks to order.

Since then I've never given up or turned away from the breed, and now am one of those breeders and promoters of it. Araucanas, being a small to medium sized breed but very fleshy and well-filled out as well as being rumpless, are a GREAT dual purpose breed and excellent free rangers/foragers. Their lack of tail helps them escape predators much easier, they're super fliers, their colors available often allow them to blend in better, and they're smart, fast, and aware birds with good feed conversion as well as some pretty good growth rate. There really isn't much bad to say about them except for some people, most of them are seriously frequently broodies, but when they're not busy incubating something (even nothing) they're very, very dependable layers of beautiful blue eggs ranging from medium to large in size.

I've never met an aggressive or too shy Araucana, however males are a little wild at heart and don't get along with each other or other breed of roosters very well, and, warning - They're skilled fighters. But to people, they can be the greatest pets or just a hoot to watch. Definitely the ladies' man, and definitely love to talk, but are also very alert and protective.

With their big (or little) beautiful tufts, unique body shape, and beautiful duckwing, barred, mottled, columbian, splash, or other neat colors they come in, they're such a beauty to the eye, and surely are a very  useful breed. I breed mine for egg production, meat production, and eventually will show mine too. I'll always have some Araucanas around, as there's few breeds that do better than them in a free ranging or pastured environment.