Araucana

I have a black araucana. she is sooo CUTE!! They are very interested in things and dont squirm when you hold them. try to get a black one, their feathers shine in the sun green and purple! Wicked

I have 3 of these hens. They are a very unique breed of chicken, rump-less, and have very large tufts. These chickens can have some hatching problems, due mostly to the fact that it is possible for the tufts to grow inside the chick, and the chick dies. My hens are good layers, giving me 3 or 4 sky-blue eggs a day. I love the fact that these chickens are rump-less, which makes watching them dust bathe hilarious!

A challenging breed for the newcomer and even challenging for the advanced breeder when breeding towards the SOP but they more than make up for all of their difficulties by providing so much enjoyment and use. Breeding for the trademark tufts is not for everyone, especially those with tender hearts. The gene responsible for the tufts (which are not the same as muffs/beard in other breeds) is lethal when the chick get a gene from each parent (also called homozygous) and will die in the shell before hatching. There is, obviously, no way to tell which chicks will die in the shell as they generally continue to develop until just before hatching so there is no way to candle and cull those eggs early on in incubation and can result in less chicks hatched than most breeders would like to see. Breeding clean faced to tufted is practiced by many breeders to limit the losses. Some breeders breed tufted to tufted and accept losses and some breeders breed a tufted rooster to hens that are both clean faced and tufted. Rumpless and tufts are both unique to this breed and only the South American breeds that the Araucana was founded on have these traits. The rumpless trait is fairly easy to breed for and is one of the first things that people notice about this unique breed. It should be noted that the European Araucana breed is tailed and has the beard and muffs.

In general, they are excellent for the farm. They are a dual purpose breed so the excess cockerels, and we all know there are always excess cockerels, can be butchered for the home for fresh, clean meat for the table or sold for meat birds. Second, they not only are good layers in both hot and cold climates, their eggs are a lovely blue to blue/green color and can bring a little more money just because people love something different. Thirdly, these blue egg layers are often used to cross with the "chocolate" colored egg layers to produce the "Olive Eggers". So, marketability can be very good for the farmer. They are excellent foragers and not often as subject to predators as some of the quieter, slower breeds. They can be broody and are good mothers so those who want to raise a few and don't want to bother with incubation or raising the chicks can let mother nature take the reins.

Backyard hen keepers in town generally have just a few hens and having a unique, rumpless and tufted or simply rumpless hen is a sight to behold and will have your neighbors asking about your unique hens and pretty blue eggs. If you're only going to keep 4 to 6 hens, why not have the prettiest on the block??

As far as breeders, as I mentioned above they can be a challenge on many levels. However, this breed has found a new following and the result is more breeders every year. This breed has been listed on the ALBC (American Livestock Breeds Conservancy) list as "watched" for years. They are not critically endangered yet the smaller numbers make it more difficult to keep the gene pool strong and healthy so the past few years of increasing interest has benefited the breed immeasurably. I have witnessed giant leaps in the numbers of breeders who are working to bring their flocks to perfection. Those lines that are being developed are bringing a lot of improvement to the breed on the whole and will provide future breeders a good number of separate lines to cross and further the breeds health (which is already good) and productivity. I feel that many breeders will continue to use the clean faced as well as some tailed individuals and I don't think that will ever end. There will "always" be a few tailed and a few clean faced simply because of the genetics of this breed but I personally feel these non SOP individuals have something to contribute. The use of non SOP individuals such as the clean faced and tailed or partial tailed is another thing that sets this breed apart from others from a "breeders" standpoint. Many breeders consider "faults" in breeders as unacceptable, however these are not necessarily "faults" in some breeders eyes but a part of a breed that is simply a little more complicated to work with and to me, that makes getting great hatches with lots of tufts and rumpless chicks, even more sweet.

Not knocking any breed, but I enjoy challenges that make me think and set goals. To work with a breed that has everything set with culls rare is not as interesting to me. There are those who feel the Araucana is a mutt because it is not a cookie cutter breed. That sort of evens things out a bit and part of the reason there are SO many breeds of poultry. They all have a place and a following. When choosing your breed, there are so many things to take into account. I hope my review is helpful to those interested in the Araucana. If there is anything I can help you with, please send me a PM.

I have two British black and red tailed pullets last year. They came with 3 Orpingtons, which was the reason I was there, who they did not know each other to start with. I didn't really want them to start with and the Orpingtons were my favourites. After introducing the two breeds to each other and putting them into a new home together, they got on well despite my initial worries that the Araucanas being vicious and attacking them.

How wrong was I?! Unfortunately, due to the complete change of environment and accidental smothering by the Rooster at night, only he survived. However, the two Araucanas were absolutely fine and I really started to bond with them. After getting another Orpington pullet, I realised I got things mixed up. The Orpingtons were nice but weak and not they confident and playful. The Araucanas, have the most beautiful feathering, and their streamlined appearance screams hardiness! They are a bit pecky, but just curious. They always run up to me and sit next to me. They even attacked and protected me from a rogue rooster that broke in one day from my other coop and starting going for me.

In late-autumn, one started laying, I quite impressed! The eggs are not big but the colour kept me staring at them for days. I started selling them on my shop and they have slowly gained popularity. Once the second hen quickly realised what was going on, she joined in laying too. They lay nearly every day and early in the morning. They took to the nesting box in another coop well and I still love 'em to bits!

Looking forward to expanding and I'm planning on hatching out a Buff Araucana or Silkie Araucana cross this Spring!

A very fascinating breed. When you live in the city and and can only have a few, why not make it an interesting breed like the araucana. Very friendly breed that lays a medium egg with a beautiful blue color. Very good foragers and light on feed consumption. I highly recommend them

I bought my Araucanas as day old chicks. They were slow to mature, 10 months before attempting to lay. 2 of my hens egg bound attempting to lay their first egg and after 2 days I culled them. I am still waiting for my 3rd hen to lay. I am concerned she will not be able lay either, and I will end up having to cull her as well. I believe my problems with my hens is a line/breeder problem. Possibly too much inbreeding.
I LOVE Araucana and will again have more...they are WONDERFUL birds and pets! Absolutely facinating! My advice to anyone seeking to own Araucana...be VERY careful WHO you purchase them from. Get them from someone here on BYC who knows what they are doing! There is an Araucana thread that is full of info and breeders of Araucana. Araucana Anyone?

2 Gifted/adopted from a friend.

The best uran chicken for us!
Nice blue eggs every day. Great mum.
My girls are so sweet. Carm and friendly.
We just love them sooooo much!

Good chickens

I got a lavender araucana chick, and "she" has been very friendly, and pretty, but i have had problems with "her" feathering out VERY slowly.

Never have to paint your easter eggs.

We just purchased four chicks and are looking forward to the 'easter eggs'. One of the chicks was marked just like a chipmunk... very cute.

According to the store these are the birds I purchased, but looking at the pictures here I am wondering since my chicks don't look too much like the ones pictured. Wondering if they have varying looks as chicks. My chicks do have the little tufts of feathers at the cheeks, so maybe?

Upon further investigation I found a thread that posted pictures of araucana's as chicks and it seems that I have silver duckwing and golden duckwing araucana chicks.

We got these birds as chicks and raised them in a cold mountain environment. They take the cold well, but their molting period is a little longer than desired (up to 2 months). They are beautiful, colorful birds that give us large blue-green eggs. However, we usually have to go to the coop several times a day (usually every couple of hours) because they love to eat the eggs!
This has been a difficult obstacle for a family that works most days, so our next round will be a different breed.

They are sweet and fun. They don't lay eggs as often as production hens, but they are friendly and can tolerate New England winters. I have two roosters that never fight (I had a 3rd one who did fight, he's gone now) and the roosters are good husbands and fathers.
The turquoise eggs are worth the wait. The hens sometimes go broody, but not enough to be a problem.

When I first started researching chickens, I was fascinated to learn that some breeds lay blue or green eggs. This led me to the breed known as the Araucana. While Easter Eggers are commonly called Araucanas, the true Araucana is a unique and amazing bird. I'd describe them as quirky. I am glad to have the real deal in my flock!

As chicks I found them much more outgoing than some of the other breeds I raised. You can tell who is tufted and rumpless from the first day. The eggs are more difficult to hatch than other breeds, due to the lethality of the tufted gene (25% of chicks die in shell if the parents were both tufted). And they seem to be more delicate in general. But the payoff when you get an incubator full of tufted chicks is well worth it! They are easily socialized and at least for me, are the first to come running when I step outside!

They do a great job at foraging, always actively searching out food if allowed to free range. They're lighter on the feed compared to other breeds. For example, my marans and australorp are pigs, while the large fowl Araucanas literally eat like birds. Yet they regular producers of nice sized eggs despite being more petite than other large fowl chickens.

You can only get them from other breeders, since no hatchery produces true Araucanas. A few sell live chicks, but most sell hatching eggs. So startup can be more difficult than the average breed, but is the challenge is also rewarding.

Note on the tufting gene: the tufting gene is dominant and potentially lethal, all live tufted birds are only heterozygous for the trait. Which means they only have one copy of the gene. It is 100% lethal for those who are homozygous, which is why approximately 25% of chicks die in shell if both parents were tufted. Tufted x Tufted results in approximately 25% cleanfaced birds (no tufting gene at all, cannot pass it on), 50% tufted, and 25% dead in shell. Tufted x Cleanfaced results in 50% tufted and 50% cleanfaced, so no lethal gene action.

Note on rumpless gene: also a dominant gene. This gene is not lethal, but it may reduce fertility since it can interfere with a proper cloacal kiss (which is required for successful insemination). But there is nothing more unique that a bootyless Araucana!

As most I started with Easter Eggers, found out the truth, which honestly made me want true Araucanas even more, so, I ordered myself a big batch of chicks from one of the few people out there who actually offer purebred chicks to order.

Since then I've never given up or turned away from the breed, and now am one of those breeders and promoters of it. Araucanas, being a small to medium sized breed but very fleshy and well-filled out as well as being rumpless, are a GREAT dual purpose breed and excellent free rangers/foragers. Their lack of tail helps them escape predators much easier, they're super fliers, their colors available often allow them to blend in better, and they're smart, fast, and aware birds with good feed conversion as well as some pretty good growth rate. There really isn't much bad to say about them except for some people, most of them are seriously frequently broodies, but when they're not busy incubating something (even nothing) they're very, very dependable layers of beautiful blue eggs ranging from medium to large in size.

I've never met an aggressive or too shy Araucana, however males are a little wild at heart and don't get along with each other or other breed of roosters very well, and, warning - They're skilled fighters. But to people, they can be the greatest pets or just a hoot to watch. Definitely the ladies' man, and definitely love to talk, but are also very alert and protective.

With their big (or little) beautiful tufts, unique body shape, and beautiful duckwing, barred, mottled, columbian, splash, or other neat colors they come in, they're such a beauty to the eye, and surely are a very useful breed. I breed mine for egg production, meat production, and eventually will show mine too. I'll always have some Araucanas around, as there's few breeds that do better than them in a free ranging or pastured environment.