I bought a dozen Araucana eggs online last year, hatched three, the fattest healthiest looking chick died suddenly at 7 days. First time that has ever happened for me! So now I have two adult birds, who, by the graces of the poultry gods, are male and female. They seem to be more or less tail-less, though no signs of facial tufts, and no discernible color pattern. But that is the least of my concerns... I can't let them out!
I guess it's the lack of a tail, which apparently adds the illusion of size to regular chickens, but they seem quite small. To my eye, and i'm very far-sighted, just like a hawk...they are just the size that gets picked off by said predator in my experience. I had two sweet leghorn hens that i acquired fall-before-last, tiny things that laid huge eggs...they both were taken the first month after i let them out in spring.
So if i want to keep Araucanas, they have to be totally enclosed? maybe I'll rethink this...the hen lays the exact same green eggs as my Ameraucanas, BTW. So much for blue eggs!
I guess it's the lack of a tail, which apparently adds the illusion of size to regular chickens, but they seem quite small. To my eye, and i'm very far-sighted, just like a hawk...they are just the size that gets picked off by said predator in my experience. I had two sweet leghorn hens that i acquired fall-before-last, tiny things that laid huge eggs...they both were taken the first month after i let them out in spring.
So if i want to keep Araucanas, they have to be totally enclosed? maybe I'll rethink this...the hen lays the exact same green eggs as my Ameraucanas, BTW. So much for blue eggs!
