Ameraucana Eggs - Difference in Color

[greenfamilyfarms]

What accounts for the difference in egg color in true blue-egg-layer Ameraucanas? I have noticed that sellers will take a picture and the eggs looks really blue, but to the naked eye and in person they appear green both indoors and outside. They are still a color that can be found on the ABC egg color chart, but is there a preference in egg shell color?

Egg shell color with flash appears BLUE

Egg shell color without flash and to the eye appears GREEN

ABC Egg Color Chart for Reference:

 

[FowlStuff]

What is proper spelling...Americana or Americuana or Ameraucana???

From my FAQ page...
If they are advertised as Americana, Americauna, or Easter Egg chickens, you can be sure they are NOT really Ameraucanas. If they can't get the name right, they don't know what they have. Also beware of the fine print that says their chickens "are recommended for egg laying color and ability and not for exhibition" or “Our flock is multi-colored with a wide variety of colors and feather patterns” or “** Breeds marked this way are production strains and Should Not be used for 4-H”. Those disclaimers and similar ones mean they are selling mongrel chickens (mixed breeds), not Ameraucanas...

 

[Happy Chooks]

I've found it really difficult to photograph blue eggs. Here's one I took of my first Ameraucana egg. It looks more aqua in the picture than it was in my hand. It's taken under my under cabinet lighting without a flash. It's the closest I could come to the actual color of the egg. I've also had difficulty taking pictures of Marans eggs.

ETA: The light brahma egg in the lower left looks white in the picture, instead of pinkish brown.

 

[desertskynm]

This might be slightly off topic... But do true blue eggers also have a laying cycle like marans? They start off true-er blue but later in the season they are lighter or greener?

Thanks for letting me jump in...

DesertSkyNM

edited for better grammar

 

[Mahonri]

Yes, my eggs get lighter during the laying cycle.

For some of my girls, that means more blue.

My older girls have all just gone through a molt *feathers all over the back yard to prove it*... and so an new laying cycle has begun.

I'm going to need to start incubating some of these beauties.

I think that this pic was without a flash

This one may have had a flash... I don't remember

 

[Fyremare]

Anyone????

There are a few blue egg laying breeds. The Auracana, the Ameraucana (purebred), Cream Legbar and a couple of other really rare breeds from tropical places. Sometimes with a cross, especially to a white egg layer, you will also get a nice blue egg. Blue eggs vary in shades. If you would like more information on the Ameraucana they have a website. www.ameraucana.org
There is lots of info there, I am still learning more every day! They also address Auracana and Easter Eggers. And Americana spelled with an i will most likely never be a purebred. All the crosses seem to be great birds, that's what the hatcheries count on when they sell Easter Eggers by other names.

I hope this helps you?!

 

[speckledhen]

I think the best way to photograph an egg is in natural light outside, no sun glare on it, on a white towel or cloth. It's really hard to get pics of the shades of blue sometimes.

 

[sgtmom52]

I have found that the most true color shows outside in natural sun light.

Ameraucana in filtered sunlight...

Ameraucana eggs with brown & green egg for contrast...

Mixed basket with blue, green & brown eggs...

This is an olive egger egg (cuckoo marans/Ameraucana) in the sun...

 

[cashdl]

This pic was taken inside without a flash. It is fairly accurate to what the eggs look like in person.

They are all Araucana eggs just from different hens.

Lanae

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
Olive eggers are a cross breed- at least the first generation are. They are made by crossing a dark egg layer (like marans, welsummer, penedesenca...) and a blue egg layer like ameraucana or araucana. Sometimes EEs will work too if they have good egg color.