Ameraucana lays brown eggs?

[MrsChickenPam]

I bought 2 Ameraucana chicks from a reputable breeder as part of a flock of 6 diverse chickens (wyandotte, cuckoo maran, krainkoppe too). Anyway, when I went to look for eggs yesterday, one of the Ameraucanas was in the laying box - my access is from the back and I startled her, so she stood up. I could see the whole laying box and there was no egg in there. I sat and waited about 10 minutes and then checked again, and she had laid an egg.

A very pale tan egg!

Will this be the color ALWAYS, or will she eventually begin laying bluegreen eggs?

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Mrs. Chicken Pam (dubbed so by the neighbor kids who love to visit my flock). Mom to 2 surly teenagers, 6 laying hens, 1 rooster whose days are numbered, and 2 loveable mutts.

 

[Wisher1000]

A hen's egg color will get lighter or sometimes darker, but I've never heard of one changing from one color to another. Sorry. Sounds like you have an easter egger (EE) laying cream or pink eggs.

 

[Cowgirl71]

If she's laying brown eggs now, she's not gonna start laying blue or green eggs later.

 

[peepblessed]

Yes, my EE's (Easter eggers) were sold to me as ameraucanas. I have a couple that lay pink eggs. They would change color. Sorry!

 

[Wisher1000]

BTW - pure Ameraucanas will lay blue eggs, if the "reputable" breeder said they would lay blue/green eggs, they are not pure. If they are not pure, they could lay any color. Now, not laying blue eggs is no reason to dislike your hen. Try again, I want blue eggs, too and so far, my first Ideal Hatchery Ameraucana (EE) lays a blue-green egg that is really pretty and looks very nice in my egg basket and tastes great! I will try again, maybe the next one will have the sky blue eggs I seek!

 

[peepblessed]

By the way! Welcome to BYC! You'll love the great access to info and the friendly people!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

That's true, Wisher, but color is often in the eye of the beholder. There is a wide range of colors covered under "blue". A look at the ameraucana color chart shows a range from what I would call grey to what I would call teal. They are all technically considered to be blue by ameraucana egg standards.

Now, I'm with you. When I look at ameraucana eggs I want to say "Wow! What a pretty BLUE egg!", but that's not always what you get. To make it even more complicated, given the individual genetics of humans, we don't actually "see" the same colors when we look at stuff. Over years of childhood training we have learned to call certain frequencies of light by the same name. But we most certainly don't "see" the same thing since our brains are all a little different from each other and color is merely an interpretation of electromagnetic frequencies.

I have pure ameraucanas bought from people high in the Ameraucana Breeders Club. There is no doubt that these babies are pure as the driven snow and have long pedigrees. When my hens first started laying I fired off a cranky email to the breeder asking why the heck these PURE ameraucanas were laying GREEN eggs. I was told that most breeders were working on confirmation of the bird and most didn't care about egg color. Thus most eggs would range from green to blue. Sigh. To make it even more fun, I had ordered eggs from the breeder known to have the bluest of the blue eggs. When they got here they weren't near as blue as the photos had shown. I set them anyway, hatched out a couple of hens and started using them in my breeding program. Turns out that the hens did lay a beautiful sky blue eggs, but all of their offspring had red and gold leakage problems in their feathers. I ended up having to sell off an entire season of chickens and start all over again.

I have recently discovered that even pure ameraucanas can potentially not be homogenous for the blue egg gene. Apparently some AMs carry two blue egg genes and some only carry one. Since the blue egg gene is dominant, you wouldn't know unless in your breeding you run across another AM not homogenous for the blue egg gene. ARGGG! The whole deal is fraught with peril. I have recently been told that there are at least 13 genes that control egg color. There is a high chance for chaos.

That being said, an ameraucana has to lay blue eggs to be an ameraucana. If they don't lay some shade of blue or blue-green then they are an easter egger. If they don't fit the accepted color patterns used by the Standard of Perfection, then you have an easter egger. Once you are absolutely sure that it is the "ameraucana" laying the brown egg you should get back in touch with the breeder and question them. Either there is a flaw in their breeding program or they have sold you an easter egger.

Was this breeder a member of the Ameraucana Breeders Club? That doesn't quarantee anything, of course, but it gives you a fighting chance of actually getting a true ameraucana.

 

[MrsChickenPam]

Thanks, everyone, for all the great info and warm welcome! I bought the chicks from Ideal Poultry. I don't MIND that the eggs aren't blue, I am enjoying my girls (and their eggs!) no matter what, but I will give it some more time (in case I am somehow wrong about how laid what egg), and then let Ideal Poultry know. Thanks again!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

If your chicks come from a hatchery (like Ideal) it is almost certain that they are Easter Eggers and not true ameraucanas. About the only way to get a true ameraucana is to go through a breeder. Not a huge deal though. Easter Eggers are awesome! I have several and just love them. They seem to have the best personalities and I love the freaky deaky coloring.

 

[laellis]

I have found that Ameraucana's that lay blue/green eggs have green legs themselves. If their legs are not green they will produce a pink egg. I enjoy my egg layers no matter what the color egg they lay.