Breed and gender? Easter egger?

junebuggena said:

I'll give you a run-down of the basics of Easter Eggers/Araucana/Ameraucana. In the early 1900s, birds that were called Araucana were imported from South America. Some laid brown eggs, some laid blue eggs, and some laid green. They were commonly called the 'Easter Egger' breed, even though they weren't really a breed, but an unrefined, landrace 'type.' A few breeders got together and started selectively breeding for the traits seen in the Araucana breed. Once they got their Araucanas recognized under that name, the birds that didn't meet that standard became known as Ameraucana. Again, a group of breeders began selectively breeding and got their birds recognized as the breed we know as Ameraucana. Hatcheries and some breeders, however, never bothered to update their birds' labels to reflect the changes. This is why they still insist on calling their birds Ameraucana, because that's what they were - 30 years ago.
You see, the Easter Eggers came first. The birds you buy as Ameraucana from hatcheries are descended for those original imports. The Araucana and Ameraucana came from Easter Eggers.
With the rise of backyard chicken keeping, people have now expanded the "Easter Egger" definition to include any bird that lays a blue/green egg, leading to even more confusion.

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Chicken Girl1 said:

So to be an Easter Egger they have to have green legs, pea comb, and lay a blue or green egg? Thank you for posting this info!

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junebuggena said:

I'll give you a run-down of the basics of Easter Eggers/Araucana/Ameraucana. In the early 1900s, birds that were called Araucana were imported from South America. Some laid brown eggs, some laid blue eggs, and some laid green. They were commonly called the 'Easter Egger' breed, even though they weren't really a breed, but an unrefined, landrace 'type.' A few breeders got together and started selectively breeding for the traits seen in the Araucana breed. Once they got their Araucanas recognized under that name, the birds that didn't meet that standard became known as Ameraucana. Again, a group of breeders began selectively breeding and got their birds recognized as the breed we know as Ameraucana. Hatcheries and some breeders, however, never bothered to update their birds' labels to reflect the changes. This is why they still insist on calling their birds Ameraucana, because that's what they were - 30 years ago.
You see, the Easter Eggers came first. The birds you buy as Ameraucana from hatcheries are descended for those original imports. The Araucana and Ameraucana came from Easter Eggers.
With the rise of backyard chicken keeping, people have now expanded the "Easter Egger" definition to include any bird that lays a blue/green egg, leading to even more confusion.

Click to expand...

junebuggena said:

It's a really basic summary of the breed histories, but you're welcome.
For a more detailed breed history check out http://ameraucana.org/history.html It's the history as per one of the breed clubs.

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