Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Christie Rhae]

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Or if someone had cuckoo marans and insisted on calling them Barred rocks. Yes they are both chickens....there is a difference. lol

A couple months ago an acquaintance told me that a feed store was selling aracauna chicks. I told her I just did not believe it. So I called the feed store and asked if they were really Araucana chicks...where did they come from etc. The girl assured me they were but did not know where they came from. I called back to ask about them again and she said they were Americana this time.
So the next time I was in town I went by the feed store. Easter eggers of course. With a very official looking printed sign saying the were Araucana/Americana chicks. My husband even nearly got sucked in by the formally printed and laminated sign that was posted about the little chipmunk easter eggers. I assured him I had done my research and feed stores were notorious for selling Easter Eggers and they could not even get the word Ameraucana spelled right.
Then I asked if they had any BOSS. Black Oil Sunflower Seeds......... the lady just stared at me like I was speaking french. This is the biggest feed store we have on this island. sigh... thank god for the internet.

 

[ChicksterJo]

When my boyfriend and I went to pick up more chicks (actually, the main reason was that we were supposed to pick up feed

), he asked the guy at the counter what kinds of chicks they had. The clerk showed him a binder with some pictures of the types of chickens they had available, and he said, "We have Araucanas." I rolled my eyes because I knew right then and there that they wouldn't be, but my boyfriend said, "OK, let's see these chicks." So we bought a couple (both of us fully knowing by now that they were EEs) but then the other guy who rang us up told me "Everyone likes these Ameraucanas." I was going to burst out laughing. I'm so glad BYC has educated me on topics such as this.

 

[wbruder17]

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www.ameraucana.org

So, I looked at this site and it really doesn't specify how the EEs are so different froman EE.

 

[wbruder17]

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I don't know how many times I've told people they have EE's not Ameraucana or Araucana! I usually end up giving up...
That's kinda childish that she defriended you when you are telling her what they actually are...

It was as though she thought I was saying her birds weren't "good enough" which wasn't the case at all. They're beautiful. In fact, aside from Gloria

one of my EEs, they're some of the most attractive EEs I've seen.

I asked her if she knew someone who had a Border Collie but was calling it a bulldog wouldn't she want to inform them that they had a Border Collie.

Thats when I was called names and give the boot......

Some people's children!

If someone had a bulldog that they were calling a border collie, I would feel fine calling them out. But if someone had a german shepherd that they were claiming was a belgian malinois, then I would be more understanding.

The same thing is true with EE and Ameraucanas. They are SO similar that I think getting on peoples case for making that mistake is a little pretentious and snobby.

 

[jeremy]

Well I'm a pretentious snob then.

Nothing irks me more than people still being ignorant towards something when they've repeatedly been educated on the subject.

That said, it has taken YEARS and YEARS of hard work, dedication and perserverance of committed breeders to bring Ameraucanas to the standard that they are at now. When someone simply ignores that and still proceeds to call their mutts Ameraucana, we'll to me that's like taking all of those years of work, throwing them on the ground and rubbing them into the mud with your foot.

It shows a major lack of respect towards those who originated the breed.

*steps down off his soap box*

 

[jeremy]

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www.ameraucana.org

So, I looked at this site and it really doesn't specify how the EEs are so different froman EE.

The Ameraucana Breeders Club lists the 8 accepted varieties of Ameraucana- Black, Blue, White, Buff, Wheaten, Blue Wheaten, Silver and Brown Red. These varieties have a specific standard of perfection, written by the American Poultry Association. If your birds do not conform to one of the listed varieties and it's standard, then they are EEs.

 

[wbruder17]

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If you are a breeder or planning to show, then I suppose the differentiation would be important, but if a backyard chicken owner wants to call their EE an Ameraucana, then what's the real harm? Nobody is saying anything about the hard work involved in preserving a breed standard, I just think that "Ameraucana people" are being a little harsh and uppity about their chickens.
And purebred dogs never look like mutts, whereas it is very difficult to differentiate between "true" Ameraucanas and EEs, so I just think ya'll need to relax about it a bit.

I got my throuat chewed out on this thread for making the dire mistake of calling my EE an Ameraucana and its just a low
thing to do to fellow chicken lovers, regardless of the perfection of their breed of chicken.

I guess I'm glad that you can recognise that you are being snobby, I just think maybe you could be a little more understanding and accepting of fellow chicken people. Being humble, accepting and understanding are priceless personality traits, especially with strangers.

 

[ChicksterJo]

I was lucky to buy my first EE's from people who actually called them Easter Eggers and not Ameraucanas or Araucanas. So when I came to this thread and started reading about the differences I wasn't so offended. After all, I can see the type of work that these breeders have done to differentiate between the two. With EE's you are not sure if you will get a blue egg layer. It really depends on what you want, but I think most people here don't mean to sound snobbish. They just want to teach others that there is a difference.
I would not take it personally because I see it happen a lot on here. People will call their chickens Ameraucanas but someone points out that they are Easter Eggers. If you do not take it as an offense or affront to you, then it can just be a learning opportunity. At least that is what I have done

 

[jeremy]

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It's not difficult to differentiate between the two though.

Ameraucanas have specific color varieties and a written standard of perfection. EEs do not. As long as you have enough understanding to read the standards than you should easily be able to tell the birds apart.

As far as the snob thing goes, I was joking. That should have been clear, too.

 

[Jferlisi]

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It's not difficult to differentiate between the two though.

Ameraucanas have specific color varieties and a written standard of perfection. EEs do not. As long as you have enough understanding to read the standards than you should easily be able to tell the birds apart.

As far as the snob thing goes, I was joking. That should have been clear, too.

I agree with this and i got the im joking part of it note the *steps off the soap box* loved that btw. Also if you are telling your friend oh i have ameraucanas here that are really EE's then they think i really want some of them and there is one more person to remind that there EE's are not ameraucana that they are infact EE's. I have both and i dont refer to them both as Amercaunas i say who is who. If you dont have the colors that go with the standers of an AM then its an EE simple pimple.