Confusion with Easter Egger chicken
The Ameraucana Breeders Club defines an Easter Egg chicken, or Easter Egger, as any chicken that possesses the blue egg gene, but doesn’t fully meet any breed description as defined in the APA standards. Further, even if a bird (that possesses the blue egg gene) meets an APA standard breed description, but doesn’t meet a variety description or breed true at least 50% of the time it is considered an Easter Egg chicken.
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The American Poultry Association's American Standard of Perfection contains breed and variety descriptions of all recognized standard breed poultry in North America. This means if your bird does not meet a color requirement, it is in Easter Egger. However, it is highly unlikely to see an Easter Egger which meets all APA standards yet doesn't have the correct color. They are almost always mutt birds, or those descended from the Quechua.
While many hatcheries claim to sell "Ameraucanas", "Americanas", or "Araucanas", nearly none of them do. Most sell mutt Easter Eggers.
[edit]History
Ameraucanas were bred from Easter Eggers, a mixed non-standard breed derived from breeding the native South American Araucana with Old World varieties. The APA officially accepted Ameraucana as standard breeds in 1984.
The characteristic muff and beard of the Ameraucana are present in U.K. Araucana as these traits are present in the Mapuche and Quechua de Artes founder stock imported into Europe from the Falkland Islands. The fully feathered faces of the founder stock are of vital importance as they insulate the birds against the frigid cold of southern coastal South America. Winds from Antarctica bring the temperatures to below zero for months at a time. Blue egg laying chickens brought to the Falklands by Argentinians, traded from Mapuche and Quechua speaking Indians, were later exported from the Falkland Islands by British guano and fishing fleets. The Ameraucana is descended of U.K. Araucanas brought into North America during the World Fair in Montreal's 1967 Expo. Molecular data retrieved from specimens of known provenance in the Falklands, U.K., Shetland Isles and Canada, proved to be closely related. Consequently, the Ameraucana is probably closer genetically to the South American founders than the North American Araucana. In about 1976 a group of people imported some Chilean Araucanas. At least one of these people kept his flock breeding only among themselves. Chicks from their blue eggs looked similar to the British tailed Araucanas and the Ameraucanas, however most do not meet the standards of those breeds. They resemble Falkland island birds, and are descendants of the founder birds of Chile (Quechua).
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Nor Cal Mama of 3 incredible kids & wife of an incredible tattoo artist: We are cusodians of 2 honey bee hives, a bluenose pit, a chow/shepard mix, and 39 feathered friends... I homestead on the hill... nothing I'd rather do. (Besides play soccer!)
Nor Cal Mama of 3 incredible kids & wife of an incredible tattoo artist: We are cusodians of 2 honey bee hives, a bluenose pit, a chow/shepard mix, and 39 feathered friends... I homestead on the hill... nothing I'd rather do. (Besides play soccer!)
