Ameraucana / Araucana / Easter Egger ..The Blue Egg Layers

[Lazy Farmer]

I found an awesome article last night. It cleared up a lot of misconception on my behalf. Thought I would share the link.
http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2013/12/ameraucana-vs-araucana-vs-easter-egger.html
Usually I read late night to help me fall asleep but had to stop reading this time because it was so interesting. Finished the article early this morning after chores.
I have found I have Mongrels as well as some pure breed.
Enjoy!
Looking forward to replies to this topic.
FC

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes. A very good report and useful to help explain the differences to many who are misinformed.

The Ameraucana Club has a good history of the Ameraucana here:
http://ameraucanaalliance.org/DnLd/Early History by Richard Orr.pdf

It is interesting to note that Ameraucana is a derivative of America and Araucana due to the disagreements between breeders as to what the standards for Araucana should be. The Ameraucana line developed so that those who had been breeding muffed and tailed Araucana had a place to show their lines.

The pathways to final APA approval is long and convoluted for both the Ameraucana and Araucana with the Easter Egger always a misdirect, usually by unscrupulous breeders attempting to cash in on the blue egg fame without providing the original lines.

Currently, Araucana in America means tufted and rumpless while Ameraucana means muffed and tailed. The specifics for standard are as given in your linked article.

Why do we care if it is Araucana, Ameraucana or Easter Egger?

It is the blue egg shell genes. The original blue laying birds were brought over from the Chilean lines from the Araucana region in Chile (which were already mixed with European lines). Some were bearded and tailed while others were tufted and rumpless. But both lines were purified for blue shells.

However mix those lines and you get Easter Eggers that are not pure for blue shells. (Enter in your unscrupulous breeders back then who wanted to cash in on the blue fad without outlaying the money for the expensive Chilean breeds).

It has to do with the fact that the blue shell is carried by 2 genes. Offspring inherit one gene from each parent. In pure lines, parents have 2 blue genes each, so offspring are assured of getting 2 blue genes, thereby ensuring that all offspring can receive 2 blue genes generation to generation. (A purebred line).

But create a mongrel, a hybrid, then one parent offers 1 blue shell gene and the other parent offers a non-blue or white shell. Blue is dominant, so that offspring will lay with blue shells.... and you only had to use one expensive bird and one cheap bird. However, that offspring has 1 blue shell gene and 1 non-blue shell gene to pass along to their offspring. It is a 50/50 chance of which gene they pass along, so you can see how you can breed out the blue shell gene very quickly with hybrids.

The hatcheries caught on that Easter Eggers were marketable and thus sold them as Rainbow Layers since they couldn't guarantee what offspring had received what genes. It is a great disservice to their customers when they are erroneously labeled Ameraucana or Araucana or Americana (as stated a non-breed).

Green enters in through the 13 genes or so that create the brown wash over the base shell. Egg shells are either white (non-blue) or blue (bile product thrown into the calcium). If the genes are present for brown wash (a product of hemoglobin) to be applied later down in the egg duct, you get brown over white (brown toned eggs) or brown over blue (green toned eggs).

How deep a brown or green depends upon the genetic coding for how much brown wash is applied.

Breed a dark brown layer, such as a Welsummer or Barnevelder or Marans to a blue layer such as an Ameraucana or Araucana, you get 100% olive egger offspring. Take that another generation, and you can get darker olive, but you drop down to 50/50 for olive again depending upon the parentage of your next breeding.

So for those interested in blue shells, it is imperative their breeding stock be pure for the blue genes.

Interestingly, R. C. Punnett, of the Punnet Square, developed a lot of his genetic math from developing the Cream Legbar to produce an auto sexing breed. He added in the Chilean blue line to add interest to his experiment. He came out with the crested Cream Legbar that lays green to sky blue eggs and is pure for blue shells.

Obviously I too find this fascinating as I develop my own line of olive eggers.

I have chosen to use Cream Legbars at this time, as sexable chicks makes things more apparent, but I am working to finding true Ameraucana in my area. Araucana, with the fertility problems caused by rumplessness (the roosters don't have a tail to stabilize themselves during mating) and that breed's lethal tufting gene make Araucanas too temperamental for me to want to breed from.

The Easter Egger has definitely muddied the waters in trying to find good Ameraucana stock as so many breeders think they have Ameraucana when in actuality they have Easter Eggers.

Good article. Good thread. Thank you for sharing.
LofMc