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Ameraucana

The Ameraucana was developed in the 70's by a few people who were trying to standardize the...

General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Pea
Broodiness
Average
Climate Tolerance
All Climates
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Medium
Egg Color
Blue/Green
Breed Temperament
Friendly, Flighty, Easily handled, Calm, Bears confinement well, Quiet, Docile
Breed Colors/Varieties
Black, Blue, Blue Wheaten, Brown Red, Buff, Silver, Wheaten, and White. Colors being worked on include Lavender, Splash, Splash Wheaten, Mottled, Salmon, Red Pyle and Black Gold.
Breed Size
Large Fowl
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The Ameraucana is an American breed of chicken developed in the USA in the 1970s. It was derived from chickens brought from South America (Chile) that carried the blue egg gene and was bred to maintain the blue egg colour gene of that breed. There is also an Ameraucana bantam variety and both the LF and bantam variety were added to the APA Standard of Perfection (SOP) in 1984. Recognised varieties are: Black, Blue, Blue Wheaten, Brown Red, Buff, Silver, Wheaten, White.

The Ameraucana is one of the few chicken breeds to lay blue eggs, another being the Cream Legbar, which also have an Araucana influence. The Ameraucana breed shows many similarities to the Araucana breed, such as pea combs and of course the blue egg gene. The Araucana however has earmuffs and is rumpless, whereas the Ameraucana has a tail and is muffed and bearded. Their earlobes are small and round, wattles small or absent, earlobes, comb and wattles are all red. Their shanks are slate-blue, (tending to black in the Black variety). In Australia and UK both Ameraucana and Araucana breeds are viewed as varieties of the Araucana - tailed and rumpless.

Less rare than Araucanas, Ameraucana are still considered quite rare. They are often confused with Easter Eggers (EE's are often advertised and sold as Ameraucanas), which can lay blue AND green eggs.

See here: Differences Between EEs, Ameraucanas, and Araucanas

eggs.jpg
Ameraucana eggs

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Ameraucana chicks

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Ameraucana pullet

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Ameraucana rooster

For more info on Ameraucanas and their owners' and breeders' experiences, see our breed discussion here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/975512/chicken-breed-focus-ameraucana/0_30

Latest reviews

The perfect mid chickens
Pros: Docile
Good for both eggs and meat
Love the cheek fluffs
Cons: Not large eggs
Not a lot of eggs (Still good for eggs though)
I love americaunas, and they are definitely a good breed to get for eggs and meat. Very sweet when trained.
Lots of colors and once more, we love the cheek fluffs.
Great review, love it! Good job.
Love my Ameraucanas
Pros: Beautiful, friendly, adorable, gorgeous eggs, funny, curious, nice size.
Cons: Can be towards the top of the pecking order

Often confused with Easter Eggers.

Feedstores sell EEs as Ameraucanas.
Ameraucanas have always been my favorite breed. I have raised several blue wheatens, and currently have white and lavender. Have had both male and female, never had one I didn’t adore.
Purchase Price
$10, $19.95.
Purchase Date
March 2020, February 2021.
A True Favorite!
Pros: So adorable, super personable when raised from hatch, beautiful to look at and wonderful blue eggs to mystify your non-chicken friends with. A very intelligent chicken compared to many others.
Cons: None
I found a beautiful Easter Egger and dove into the history of the Ameraucana after. It amazed me that they were so sought after that shops used phony names! What is the wonder of this breed? I saved my pennies and shipped a few purebreds across the country and I am smitten. Beautiful funny intelligent birds who have become family overnight!

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Comments

very pretty and so nice to have the Blue ones are the ones I like best. The splash will go with any color. Love the colored eggs
 
The eggs are one of my favorite parts! I've become accustomed to getting a very light green eggs, my Ameraucana doesn't lay blue eggs. :(
 
I personally wouldn't have one on a bet but I have been around them enough to realize this review is pretty harsh, IMHO.
 
I am looking forward to getting some this year. I love the thought of getting colored eggs and believe my grandkids will be very excited about them. I have seven girls now. 2 black sex link, 1 golden wyandotte, 1 silver wyandotte and 3 reds. All good layers of beautiful brown eggs but some variety will be nice. Do these hens tame easily or are they skittish?
 
They are a bit skittish, but I've found the more you handle them as chicks the nicer they are later.......
 
I don't really fancy this breed but I think they lay blue eggs.

There is entirely too much false information being put up on these reviews. Lots of folks are depending on them for factual information about breeds in order to make informed selections and it's a travesty for people to 'REVIEW' a breed they actually aren't familiar with. JMHO
 
I got a male chick Ameraucana and he comes to my hand. Didn't use food. To me he is adorable.
 
Ocala RIR...I've been around several of this breed (as adults) and they seemed especially tractable, so long as I didn't try to pick them up. In many cases, their owners could easily reach down and scoop them right up, with the birds seemingly quite content with that situation.

There might be flighty representatives of this breed, in fact, I'm practically certain of it but those would be the odd few...JMHO
 
Can't wait for the chicks to grow. Six of the 18 chicks I purchased were Ameraucana's. The grand kids will be surprised when they start laying. Good time to tease...."what did you do to turn them green???"
 
white leghorn, her neighbors are probably a--holes so she enjoys the subtle annoyance. most humans are not good neighbors, which is why we live in the country. we prefer the coyotes who are more honorable and respectful than most humans.
 
Sounds like your birds were 'survivors'. I would have raised them up and given them a chance to mellow with maturity...but that's just me.
 
the chicken in that picture doesn't have any beard.......wondering if that's the one you're talking about because it doesn't really look like an ameraucana to me
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
pips&peeps
Views
217,134
Watchers
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Comments
343
Reviews
262
Last update
Rating
4.24 star(s) 270 ratings

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