Picking Ameracauna chick colors

I am getting 2 ameracaunas next week. I am going to pick them up from a feed store. I would LOVE blue ones. Does anyone know what they would look like as chicks? I can pick from all of the ameracaunas......

Easter Eggers come in so many colors, love them! Look at feathersite for pictures of blue chicks, or here, if you try "blue chicks" on the search line. Good luck, Mary

I ended up with a patterned blue this time. Chick started as silvery gray chipmunk with almost all black where it would normally be brown. The dark one here:

So I am not getting EE's, but Ameracaunas. Does that mean they will lay only blue eggs as opposed to blue, green, or pink?

Feed stores carry EEs but frequently mislabel them Ameraucanas (as do the hatcheries they buy from). If you want Ameraucanas, you need to look for a breeder selling black/blue/splash.

jallen062 said:

So I am not getting EE's, but Ameracaunas.

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Feed stores will not have true Ameraucanas. They are often mislabeled by hatcheries.

A couple of hatcheries do have true Ameraucana but they are a lot more expensive. EEs are $3-4 per chick. Ameraucanas run around $25 per chick.

keesmom said:

Feed stores will not have true Ameraucanas. They are often mislabeled by hatcheries.

A couple of hatcheries do have true Ameraucana but they are a lot more expensive. EEs are $3-4 per chick. Ameraucanas run around $25 per chick.

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Generally true, but there is a feed store a mile from me that has purebred, high quality Ameraucanas in Black, Silver and Lavender. I know they are pure because I supply them to the store. But you are correct that, as a rule, if a feed store calls it an Ameraucana it is really an Easter Egger. Nothing wrong with Easter Eggers if you are ok with a variety of egg colors, but if you want true blue eggs, buy from a breeder or a store that purchases from local breeders and not the big hatcheries. I know of one hatchery (Meyers in OH) that has 2 colors of pure Ameraucanas, but they are expensive and very constrained on supply.

I encourage any breeders of high quality birds to approach the locally owned feed stores and offer to sell them chicks on consignment. There is some risk for both of you, but not a lot, and both parties will be offering a great service to local people who long to buy nice stock but can't easily find sources. I hope to educate chick buyers in my area, they are (in my opinion) missing out on so many great breeds because the stores don't carry the nice stuff.

BTW, business gets much better right after the end of chick days at TSC, when some people realize they waited too long and start scrambling to find chicks that they promised the kids. Preparing for that right now is a great way to get started.

They are true ameracaunas, not EE's. She's going to try to pick me out some light ones. These do not come from Meyer Hatchery, she uses two I've never heard of before and guarantees they are ameracaunas.

jallen062 said:

They are true ameracaunas, not EE's. She's going to try to pick me out some light ones. These do not come from Meyer Hatchery, she uses two I've never heard of before and guarantees they are ameracaunas.

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From the way you are describing the chicks, with variations in down color, I can pretty much guarantee they are not purebred Ameraucanas. I always recommend that "buyers beware" when buying chicks for high prices. Nothing wrong with getting mixed breed or EE's for cheap, but paying purebred prices for what turn out to be EE's is frustrating (I know, I've done it).
Check out the Ameraucana club's websites (there are 2 clubs, both have very informative websites).
http://ameraucanaalliance.org
http://ameraucanabreedersclub.org

Both of these sites have pictures of every recognized color and even pics of the chicks for each color. If what your seeing doesn't look like these, don't pay more than $5 per chick. A bit of time spent on these sites will make you a very informed customer. It also could turn you into an Ameraucana addict, these are amazingly beautiful and well mannered birds.

If it's a bin of BBS, then choosing blues is as simple as picking out the medium-toned ones. If the store says they're assorted colors and you see a bunch of brown chipmunks with green legs, they're EEs no matter what the seller claims. If you're lucky enough to have found a store selling breeder-sourced chicks, that would be a rare find, indeed.