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What is this hen?

post #1 of 9
2/15/12 at 1:00pm
Thread Starter 

QDI_Smokyback.jpg

 

The hen on the left came to me as an Easter Egger / Ameracauna / Aracauna mix, the others - like the on on the right, have the classic ear tufts, muffs and beards, this one is shaped more like a bird and less like a hen. She did lay a blue egg yesterday, so there is Aracauna in her lineage, I'm just wondering what else? The photo doesn't do her justice, in the light the black on her feathers is irridescent green/purple and she's a quite striking hen. Willow green legs, Nice Partridge (?) plumage, with a black overtone, calm demeanor.

50 birds and holding... 9 Ameracaunas, 8 black Barred Rocks, 3 Buff & 4 Light Brahmas, 5 Danish Brown Leghorns, 5 Nankins, 3 Gold Sex Links, 3 Black Sex Links, 3 Black Astralorps, 2 Cochin, 3 Cornish Cross, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes...Also Bobwhite Quail....loving fowl keeping.

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50 birds and holding... 9 Ameracaunas, 8 black Barred Rocks, 3 Buff & 4 Light Brahmas, 5 Danish Brown Leghorns, 5 Nankins, 3 Gold Sex Links, 3 Black Sex Links, 3 Black Astralorps, 2 Cochin, 3 Cornish Cross, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes...Also Bobwhite Quail....loving fowl keeping.

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post #2 of 9
2/15/12 at 1:07pm

She could be a beardless EE. Whatever the case, she's very pretty! Congrats on the blue eggs!

Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

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Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

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post #3 of 9
2/15/12 at 1:50pm

I agree with Red, she's a beardless EE.  Hatcheries are very loosey goosey with the genetics of EEs, as they are not a standardized breed.  Ideally (in my mind) they should have willow legs, muffs, pea combs, and lay green or blue eggs.  But, they can be missing any one of those elements and be legitimately still called EE.

"It's easy. You draw a red line on the ground, right? Then you wait for a chicken to come along. When he arrives, he puts his beak right on the line and he's hypnotized!"
Joey Santiago
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"It's easy. You draw a red line on the ground, right? Then you wait for a chicken to come along. When he arrives, he puts his beak right on the line and he's hypnotized!"
Joey Santiago
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post #4 of 9
2/15/12 at 3:14pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks Red! Pele, I agree. The other three conform pretty much to standard—willow legs, muff, pea comb, ear tufts, this one, not so much. She has willow legs, but almost no comb at all, and she looks more like a bird than a typical chicken.

50 birds and holding... 9 Ameracaunas, 8 black Barred Rocks, 3 Buff & 4 Light Brahmas, 5 Danish Brown Leghorns, 5 Nankins, 3 Gold Sex Links, 3 Black Sex Links, 3 Black Astralorps, 2 Cochin, 3 Cornish Cross, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes...Also Bobwhite Quail....loving fowl keeping.

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50 birds and holding... 9 Ameracaunas, 8 black Barred Rocks, 3 Buff & 4 Light Brahmas, 5 Danish Brown Leghorns, 5 Nankins, 3 Gold Sex Links, 3 Black Sex Links, 3 Black Astralorps, 2 Cochin, 3 Cornish Cross, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes...Also Bobwhite Quail....loving fowl keeping.

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post #5 of 9
2/15/12 at 3:31pm

its an ee, ee's since they are mixed breeds they can look like whatever. as long as they have Ameracauna or Aracauna in them its an ee (i think there is a thrird breed but i dont remember its name). ee's dont have a standarded because they are mixed

owner of Itty Bitty Dowden Family Farm: https://www.facebook.com/#!/IttyBittyDowdenFamilyFarm

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owner of Itty Bitty Dowden Family Farm: https://www.facebook.com/#!/IttyBittyDowdenFamilyFarm

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post #6 of 9
2/15/12 at 4:15pm

She is pretty. 

Find us on Facebook for pictures and information about our farm:
http://www.facebook.com/HeavenlyFeatheredFarms
Follow Sebastian the Sebastopol Goose while he recovers from a dog attack:
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Find us on Facebook for pictures and information about our farm:
http://www.facebook.com/HeavenlyFeatheredFarms
Follow Sebastian the Sebastopol Goose while he recovers from a dog attack:
http://www.facebook.com/SebastianTheSebastopolGoose
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post #7 of 9
2/16/12 at 5:10am

Where did you get these birds? Do they have tails? Araucana are quite rare. Neither of your birds have tufts and it is VERY unlikely any of them do. Google it and see - tufts are really unique and VERY VERY rare.

 

Basically you have easter eggers that may be closer to Arau/Amer lineage than most, but they are still blue/green egger mutts and therefore EEs. Unless they are bred back to standard, they should not be labeled otherwise.

 

The pattern on both is duckwing, and this darker one is heavily melanized (overlaid with black). Not sure what you mean by "looks like a bird" - chickens are birds!!! wink.png

 

A side or top view picture would really help.

~Meg~
The remaining 6 of my original 7 barred rocks are 3yrs old and happily divided between a friend and my mom.
Laying: 2 Partridge Rocks, 1 Columbian Wyandotte and 2 Black Australorps. 14 weeks: 3 bantam Araucana.
Cowed to chicken math and sharing my bedroom with 8 BBS Ameraucana mixes.

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~Meg~
The remaining 6 of my original 7 barred rocks are 3yrs old and happily divided between a friend and my mom.
Laying: 2 Partridge Rocks, 1 Columbian Wyandotte and 2 Black Australorps. 14 weeks: 3 bantam Araucana.
Cowed to chicken math and sharing my bedroom with 8 BBS Ameraucana mixes.

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post #8 of 9
2/16/12 at 6:40am

She's pretty! It's almost impossible to say what else is in her lineage. So many different breeds can carry so many different coloring genes, and it looks like she has a lot of different coloring genes mixed in there! 2 of my hatchery EE's have what I think are cushion combs. They are definitely not pea combs, at least they don't look anything like the "real" pea combs I've seen in pictures or in person. They look like squashed red marshmallows, just a rounded rectangular blob, with a few creases, no bumps or points at all, and very flat to their heads. My 3rd EE has a really foldy accordian comb that is obviously a single comb crossed with something else, probably that same cushion type comb her "sister" have. I call them the 3 stooges. They're a hoot! I love them! My floppy combed girl is the only one that lays a blue egg, the other 2 lay green. They are laying every day this week, nice large sized eggs. I got some real Ameraucanas in the fall, but now I'm thinking I might just stick with the EEs since they are more prolific layers and their eggs are bigger. ;)

Wendy, chemist, mama to 4 human children, a crazy Husky/Australian Shepherd cross dog, a cat, several fish, bunnies, 17 goats,and our ever growing flock of chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese.

My oldest son is breeding BBS Orps! Looking for breeding stock!

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Wendy, chemist, mama to 4 human children, a crazy Husky/Australian Shepherd cross dog, a cat, several fish, bunnies, 17 goats,and our ever growing flock of chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese.

My oldest son is breeding BBS Orps! Looking for breeding stock!

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post #9 of 9
2/16/12 at 1:23pm
Thread Starter 

QDI_Duckwing_EE.jpgQDI_DuckwingPatterning.jpg

 

Thanks I think she's pretty also! BlazeJester here are few more photos I took this morning. No she's not even close to form for an Aracauna, and even farther than the other Easter Eggers I have. She is very likely a mutt but I wondered what else she might have in her. She does have an oil sheen of melanized black over her feathers which lead my 7 year old niece to naming her Smokyback. I'd never heard of duckwing coloring, thanks for that. The patterning on the bird on the left immediately above is quite elegant and elaborate, I think of it as men's suiting material. I got the birds from a neighbor who picked them up at a local feed store. All four of them are very nicely marked. I only mentioned that she had Aracauna in her lineage as her eggs are blue (see below).

QDI_1stWeekEggs.JPG

 

50 birds and holding... 9 Ameracaunas, 8 black Barred Rocks, 3 Buff & 4 Light Brahmas, 5 Danish Brown Leghorns, 5 Nankins, 3 Gold Sex Links, 3 Black Sex Links, 3 Black Astralorps, 2 Cochin, 3 Cornish Cross, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes...Also Bobwhite Quail....loving fowl keeping.

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50 birds and holding... 9 Ameracaunas, 8 black Barred Rocks, 3 Buff & 4 Light Brahmas, 5 Danish Brown Leghorns, 5 Nankins, 3 Gold Sex Links, 3 Black Sex Links, 3 Black Astralorps, 2 Cochin, 3 Cornish Cross, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes...Also Bobwhite Quail....loving fowl keeping.

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