Ameraucana or easter egger

[speckledhen]

I think the issue here is that it was stated, "An Easter Egger is a bird that carries the blue egg gene and therefore lays blue eggs. If it lays any other color egg than blue, it's not an Easter Egger." Green is a different color than blue, regardless of the fact that a green layer has the blue gene. Anybody not familiar with egg color genetics would see the statement, "If it lays any other color egg than blue, it's not an Easter Egger" and think their green layer is not an Easter Egger.

This is partly my point. The APA did not make any standard for an Easter Egger, no matter what they said about them. They are trying to keep folks who have EEs from continually referring to them as Ameraucanas, which is why the statement was even made at all. They did not create a standard for the Easter Egger just by making that statement.

Easter Eggers have no standard. IF you say they must lay this color or look exactly like that, then they have a standard. They do not. They are mutts. They have a general appearance and that's all.There are plenty of other breeds who lay blue eggs that are not EEs, only blue egg layers. It reminds me of that tongue in cheek Easter Egger site that attempted to write a standard and had lots of folks believing they were serious and that it was real.

These word games have become truly ridiculous, in my opinion. I am not an idiot, this isn't my first rodeo. I know very well the Standard for the Ameraucana breed, however, my splash Ameraucana is an Ameraucana, a natural product of breeding blues. If you breed a splash Ameraucana to a splash Ameraucana, it will breed true and it will lay blue eggs and have slate legs and reddish bay eyes and the proper body type. NO one calls a splash Ameraucana an Easter Egger that I know of. They don't magically turn into something else other than an Ameraucana. They just are not showable at this point in time but they may be in the future because splash in other breeds is a showable color variety. I will call them Ameraucanas, which to my mind are more Ameraucanas than the current Lavenders that folks are so interested in now. If those can be called Ameraucanas, then definitely a splash is one!

The original point of this entire thread was if the poster had Ameraucanas or Easter Eggers. Hatcheries sell Easter Eggers and refuse to recognize that there is a difference no matter what the breeders try to get across to them. Stubborn as heck they are. Only one drop shipper I know of recognizes that there is a difference, My Pet Chicken.

Now, can we get back to the original posters intent and apologize for going on a tangent here?

 

[KieksterChicken]

True, I could have clarified that a bit more and probably a bit better. I was assuming that SpeckledHen knew that a bird can't lay a green egg unless it carries the blue egg gene. I forgot that a lot of people who read this are new chicken owners and not familiar with what we were talking about. That is a mistake on my part. So to clarify: If a chicken carries one blue egg gene or 2..it is a blue egg gene carrier because it carries a blue egg gene. A green egg actually is a blue egg with a brown coating which gives the egg a green hue so when it comes to eggs, green egg=blue egg.
EE's are called EE's for the sole purpose of differentiating them from non blue egg laying chickens pure bred or not.

 

[KieksterChicken]

I don't really want to fight about this, but telling a novice chicken fancier a bird is an ameraucana when it doesn't meet the SOP is very misleading. Simply put in name..a bird is an ameraucana if it meets the APA SOP. If a bird doesn't meet the APA SOP it is not an Ameraucana in name but an Easter Egger by virtue of it's blue egg gene.
"The Ameraucana Breeders Club defines an Easter Egg chicken, or Easter Egger, as any chicken that possesses the blue egg gene, but doesn’t fully meet any breed description as defined in the APA standards. Further, even if a bird (that possesses the blue egg gene) meets an APA standard breed description, but doesn’t meet a variety description or breed true at least 50% of the time it is considered an Easter Egg chicken." This is the general consensus of the majority of serious chicken fanciers when it comes to Easter Eggers. Even though this is not a written into law requirement and not an SOP it pretty much is the rule everyone goes by." I still stand by this and I believe I am not the only one. I'm not implying you are an idiot but you are saying a brown egg layer is an easter egger, it's not, splash is SOP, it's not, same goes for lavender, neither are accepted as SOP colors until they are accepted by the APA as such. Until then a lavender or splash is an EE as per the APA SOP.
"The APA did not make any standard for an Easter Egger, no matter what they said about them. They are trying to keep folks who have EEs from continually referring to them as Ameraucanas, " Exactly, but you are doing just that by claiming lavs and splash are Ameraucana.
I'm not saying EE's have to look like anything, I'm saying an EE has to lay a blue egg or it's not an EE. It's pretty much the general consensus!
"The original point of this entire thread was if the poster had Ameraucanas or Easter Eggers." and by telling the poster that an off SOP Ameraucana is still considered an Ameraucana and not an EE is ludicrous! Not helpful at all! It goes against the point of even having an SOP. By telling the poster an EE can lay any color egg other than blue and still be an EE is ridiculous! It's misleading and spreads false information and encourages less than fair business practices! So you are telling me that that guy who drove 2 hours for Amers that he payed extra for but got off SOP worthless culls..well too bad for him?! Seriously? So you harp against hatcheries that sell EE's as Amers or Arau's but say it's okay to call an off SOP Amer an Amer? So you are saying it's okay to misrepresent a breed but it's okay at the same time? Come on!! Really?!

 

[JtownCickenCoop]

I like chickens

 

[JtownCickenCoop]

This is my new Ameraucana

he's been known to lay a green egg or two

 

[KieksterChicken]

ROFL.. @ JTown... I could say something so wrong right now about that pic and statement but am not. Don't want to fan any more flames as that is not my intention in this thread. As to going on a tangent in this thread..I really don't see how trying to truthfully answer a question about Ameraucana vs EE qualifies as a tangent. I also don't see that anything that I said needs to be apologized for except this very post here because now I am going on a very short tangent. Lol!

 

[JtownCickenCoop]

Lol don't pick on Otis