Amerauacana/Araucana V.S. Easter Egger V 2

[PoultryQueen101]

if you are having troubles determining whether the seller of your bird correctly stated the breed, please ask. Dont be afraid, because you arent the only one to confuse Easter Egger and Ameraucana, and believe me, when we first got our Luna, I didnt know the difference either. And anybody who wants to barge in and help when I dont respond, go right ahead.

A little background...

THE AMERAUCANA

The modern Ameraucana was developed in the 1970s. Ameraucanas Were first admitted to the APA in 1984. They are a relatively hardy breed with a friendly personality. They have a medium pea, broad head, and large eyes with a stocky build and muffs. They should only have slate blue legs, though the black variety can have a shade of black.
So far, there are 8 colors admitted to the APA, with many being worked with to be standard, including the lavendar variation below.
The admitted colors include
Blue
Black
Blue Wheaton
Brown Red
Buff
Silver
Wheaton
White
Though there are a few varieties not yet recognized, so those variations can be claimed either way.
--information from Storeys Guide to Raising Poultry.

Some of the varieties in the works include ; Lavendar, Birchen, Chocolate, ... more to come maybe

★THE EASTER EGGER★
I have no book that tells much about Easter Eggers, so here is from my experience. If you have more to add, then post it.
An Easter Egger is a mutt that most hatcheries claim to sell as purebreds. They most commonly call them Americana and sometimes the rare Araucana. Most of the time, they have green legs, but some have yellow or white. Most EE have muffs and a beard, but some are clean faced.
Just know that if you go the feed store or order chicks from a hatchery, if it is chipmunk patterned with muffs, it is most likely not pure.

☆Araucana☆
The Araucana is very rare and not cheap. They have no tail head and also have a pea comb like the Ameraucana. But what distinguishes the breed is their ear tufts in the place of muffs.
-Apa standard and better info to come.


This is Version 2 of my original topic. It got pretty old and I decided to start anew with better information. Im gonna update with info from the SoP later on.
Also, please excuse the lack of Info on the Araucana, Im in the process of gathering info for it.
Pictures can be applied if people need examples.

 

[Ridgerunner]

PQ101, you might enjoy reading these. There is a nice chart in the first one explaining the differences.

EE/Ameraucana/Araucana comparison
http://apa-abayouthpoultryclub.org/Edu_Material/Easter Eggers vs.pdf

Ameraucana History
http://www.ameraucana.org/history.html

I really enjoy that history. It explains a lot about how a breed becomes recognized by the APA and how breeds are developed. It also explains that the Araucana and Ameraucana were developed rom EE’s, not the other way around.

If you pay attention to the dates, Cackle had their colored egg laying flock from before the Ameraucana existing. It’s hard to hold them to a standard when the standard did not yet exist. There is a whole lot of fascinating information about the colored egg layers out there, and a whole lot of misconceptions.

Different countries have different standards too. An Araucana in Australia, who use the British standard, will look different than an Araucana in the US.

I don’t agree that most EE’s necessarily have any special appearance. My EE’s have either black or white legs, none have muffs or tuffs, and one doesn’t have a pea comb. There are no standards for EE’s since they are not a breed. There is no clear accepted definition, we all have our own. Mine is that they should have the blue egg gene, but to some people even that is not necessary, just that a parent was an EE is enough for them.

Hope you find something in this useful and interesting.

 

[PoultryQueen101]

Thanks! I was just trying to state dome info to generally help people who didnt know the difference. That is interesting, nits always nice to learn more about something you love. Yeah, I am aware that the breeds developed from the EE. Thank you. I hope to better update this when im on my computer.
I hope to someday get myself a bantie Ameraucana. Maybe thats something I can add. I just wanted a place that people could get their opinions on whether they got a purebred or a fun backyard bird.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Mine are pure backyard birds. The blue egg gene came from someone developing a new unrecognized color/pattern of Ameraucana, but other breeds have been mixed in.