Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[csr326]

Some in the U.S.A. try to pass off EEs as "Araucana" which in the U.K is correct because they label their equivalent USA Ameraucanas as "Araucanas". The fact that the Brits call their Ameraucanas as "Araucanas" confused me for the longest time until I realized the difference was just in the name. Actual USA Araucanas are different from what the U.K. labels as Araucana. USA Araucana is another breed (tail-less and have tufts instead of beard/muff).

In the UK and Australia Araucanas can have tails and muffs. e.g. USA Ameraucanas.

Some in the U.S.A. try to pass off EEs as "Araucana" which in the U.K is correct because they label their equivalent USA Ameraucanas as "Araucanas". The fact that the Brits call their Ameraucanas as "Araucanas" confused me for the longest time until I realized the difference was just in the name. Actual USA Araucanas are different from what the U.K. labels as Araucana. USA Araucana is another breed (tail-less and have tufts instead of beard/muff).

USA Ameraucana are similar to the UK Araucana. Only difference being some color varities and UK birds having a slight crest on top of their head.

 

[dstokely]

Try whatever methods you can think of for breaking her. We collect our eggs the moment we hear the egg songs from our hens - their coop is about 10 steps from the kitchen sliding door so we always keep it open a bit even during winter so we can hear the songs. We immediately collect the freshly layed egg to not tempt them to eat their eggs. (We only have 5 hens). If you use a rolling tray be sure it has the fine grate in front so the eggs don't get pecked by curious beaks. Chickens test everything curiously with their beaks and if the pecking breaks the egg shell they get a taste of the egg and you'll usually have a very difficult time breaking them of the habit. Our BW Amer is a klutzy girl and we've found the ends of her eggs sometimes cracked when they hit the nestbox floor. Once we saw her step on and crack her own egg getting out of the nestbox - Amers are such kooky spooky klutzy jittery (but sweet) birds and she's no exception. She's cracked her shells on accident stepping on them or dropping on the hard nestbox bottom but she's never eaten them. We add a lot of straw in the nestboxes but the chickens love to scratch to the hard bottom of the box before dropping their layed egg - go figure chickens! If your EE continues this bad habit she'll destroy all flockmates' layed eggs and you may have no choice but to isolate (not fair to her) or rehome her. She won't be worth keeping as a pet or for eggs because chickens are flock birds and she won't do well isolated and she won't be worth keeping for eggs since she eats them. But before this drastic step try everything you can think of to protect/collect eggs before she gets to them.

It's interesting that it was your EE that's the egg eater because my friend also had an EE egg eater - maybe an EE characteristic? or not enough protein? We feed our BW Amer shrimp and fish to add extra protein to her diet and we've never had issues of egg eating.

We have an older Silkie that will lay soft shell eggs toward the end of her laying cycle and once the soft shell broke and she enjoyed her own egg! But it only happened once. In fact that was the reason we began removing eggs the moment we knew they're layed in case of a soft shell or a cracked leaking shell so the chickens aren't tempted to explore, peck, or taste them.

Don't know how old your grandson is but he may have a lesson to learn in life here. How worth it is it to you to eventually lose all your eggs to one egg eater who will teach the others to do the same when they see her doing it. GL!

I did put her up in a cage for about 6 hrs during laying time yesterday and the day before. I had one egg today that was eaten, and I did not catch her up today. That is better than it usually is. Yes, I have oyster shell out, I feed them 16% protein laying pellets along with a little scratch to get them back inside after they have had about 3 hours free range. I try not let them go out longer because of hawks. Unfortunately, one of my new hens that I got as a started pullet which is in a totally separate pen from my EE has started the egg eating as well. She is with my BBS AMs, so my next plan of action is to get new nests that the egg will roll out. Expensive but should solve the problem. Thanks to all that have given me ideas.

 

[dstokely]

Help

Pullet or cockerel? December chick....

I know what I think, but I just can't tell with these lavenders!

Looks pullet-y to me!

 

[dstokely]

what if it turns out she likes mustard? then she'll be expecting them fixed that way all the time, you know how kids are........

Deviled eggs!

 

[Sylvester017]

That is incorrect actually. The USA version of Araucanas are very different to the English Araucana. The USA as you said has tufts and are tailless but the English version is tuftless and has a tail like the photo below. For the same reasons Ameraucanas are not the equivalent of Araucanas as Araucanas do not have muffs so the difference is not just the name and they definitely can not be passed of as EEs as EEs have green legs and Araucanas have slate.

Hope that clarifies it.

Well, a little more clarification if we're getting exact - Smiles. I was not comparing USA Araucanas but rather the USA Ameraucanas to the U.K. Araucanas. In the USA the Araucanas are a rumpless tail-less separate breed from the U.K. Araucanas and U.S. Ameraucanas. Just a little discrepancy but it will be confusing to a lot of people until you and I keep specifying the differences lol!

I believe there are crests on U.K. Araucanas where the similar U.S. Ameraucanas don't have crests. All are lovely birds although I've had some feedback that the rumpless/tail-less U.S. ARAUCANAS can sometimes be quite nasty in temperament. Can't say anything to that since I've only had the sweet U.S. Ameraucanas.

I find it interesting that the U.K./Aussie Araucanas and also U.K. Silkies seem to be Beardless varieties where in the U.S. both Beards or Beardless are accepted in the Silkies. The U.S. Ameraucanas MUST however have beards/muffs. Just a bunch of little differences that seem to add to the confusion of people ordering from U.S. hatcheries where Easter Eggers are labeled and sold as Americanas, Ameraucanas, Araucanas or some other wierd spelling to further confuse unaware U.S. buyers who think they are purchasing APA birds.

The only way I ultimately figured the differences in names and standards for U.K. or U.S. breeds was to go to the official breed websites to read the SOPs and actually compare gallery photos to see the subtleties in the breeds. I never expected such a discussion would spring up but I think it's great to get more people aware that despite similarities there are subtle to bold differences in U.K. Araucanas, U.S. Ameraucanas, U.S. Araucanas, and U.S. Easter Eggers. Some people's hackles will go up when EEs are not classified as a breed - they say EEs are a breed that are just not accepted in the APA yet - whatever! I just love my APA Ameraucanas with their beards/muffs/sky blue eggs and no crests and my friends love their EEs with or without beards/muffs and greenish or pinkish eggs instead of sky blue eggs. All these differences will probably go on being discussed for a few more decades. The U.S. Ameraucanas were accepted by the APA in the 1980's yet here we are a couple decades later still trying to explain the confusions. To further the confusion U.K. Araucanas are not U.S. Araucanas and also different from the U.S. Ameraucanas.

Great discussion and input!

 

[Sylvester017]

I did put her up in a cage for about 6 hrs during laying time yesterday and the day before. I had one egg today that was eaten, and I did not catch her up today. That is better than it usually is. Yes, I have oyster shell out, I feed them 16% protein laying pellets along with a little scratch to get them back inside after they have had about 3 hours free range. I try not let them go out longer because of hawks. Unfortunately, one of my new hens that I got as a started pullet which is in a totally separate pen from my EE has started the egg eating as well. She is with my BBS AMs, so my next plan of action is to get new nests that the egg will roll out. Expensive but should solve the problem. Thanks to all that have given me ideas.

16% protein sounds a little low for EEs/Ameraucanas. We supplement protein with boiled eggs, shrimp, salmon, sardines in olive oil, and we switched from organic pellets/crumbles to organic seed mix layer feed where we add Bee Pollen, Brewers Yeast powder, Rooster Booster for more vitamins. Sometimes I'll boil a side of turkey breast ligihtly Kosher salted in water, and cut it into pieces as afternoon treats. It doesn't need to be a lot of protein but we don't have feather-picking or egg-eating which is a signal of not enough protein. Chickens have favourite foods over other breeds and we strangely found the country of origin a clue to what our breeds like. i.e. we had a Leghorn that was the only one that liked a Mediterranean diet of tomatoes where no other breed touched them. Our Silkies love Asian dishes of brown, long grain, or white rices mixed with their layer seed and lots of cucumbers and cantaloupe. Our Ameraucanas love Turmeric sprinkled into their feed w/ sweet potatoes (not yams), dried cranberry raisins, seafood, and grains/seeds like oats, sunflower, corn, wheat, quinoa, etc. Their breed origin seems to dictate their favourite foods. Our chickens eat everything we set out but they clearly have nutritional favourites and we can't help noticing the coincidental favourite country foods where these breeds were originally created.

I think the egg rolling tray with fine grate so the chickens' beaks can't peck through is a great fix for your situation. And nothing is expensive but necessary where chickeneering is concerned. Those egg tray nests look cleaner and well-built to last compared to traditional wood boxes.

 

[jerryse]

dstokely Try free ranging or changing pens . Egg eating is sometimes caused by boredom . I recently had a problem and switched them to a pen that was idle for a while . They dug and scratched the dirt until it looked like a rototiller had been in there . They found all kinds of worms and bugs . The egg eating stopped immediately .

 

[dstokely]

dstokely Try free ranging or changing pens . Egg eating is sometimes caused by boredom . I recently had a problem and switched them to a pen that was idle for a while . They dug and scratched the dirt until it looked like a rototiller had been in there . They found all kinds of worms and bugs . The egg eating stopped immediately .

They do free range every day, but only for 2-3 hours, simply because of hawks. My chicken house is down the mountain and around the curve from my house. Not too far, but I can't do hawk watch from my house. Out of 29 adult chckens, I have two(in different pens and different varieties) that I have an issue with. One my EE, and the second came as a started pullet. The second one, the day after she came, I made the mistake of setting my egg basket on the floor as I was looking at the hens and she jumped on it and started pecking an egg and broke the shell. I have only found evidence of one other time in her pen. They get to free range as well, but after I have gotten the other group in. I think the only practical solution for me is to get the egg nests where the eggs roll out. I guess I am lucky it is not my AMs as I will soon start hatching and I treasure every egg. I probably need to rethink my chicken house(houses) so that I have more options available to me.

 

[jerryse]

They do free range every day, but only for 2-3 hours, simply because of hawks. My chicken house is down the mountain and around the curve from my house. Not too far, but I can't do hawk watch from my house. Out of 29 adult chckens, I have two(in different pens and different varieties) that I have an issue with. One my EE, and the second came as a started pullet. The second one, the day after she came, I made the mistake of setting my egg basket on the floor as I was looking at the hens and she jumped on it and started pecking an egg and broke the shell. I have only found evidence of one other time in her pen. They get to free range as well, but after I have gotten the other group in. I think the only practical solution for me is to get the egg nests where the eggs roll out. I guess I am lucky it is not my AMs as I will soon start hatching and I treasure every egg. I probably need to rethink my chicken house(houses) so that I have more options available to me.

Well there is another cure that works . This may seem harsh or cruel to some but better than the ax . Trim the beak to the point of it bleeding . A dog toenail trimmer works . Have blood stop powder handy or be ready to cauterize the wound with a hot knife blade or soldering iron . Most of us do not have a debeaking machine like commercial operations . The idea is to make the beak sore so they stop pecking on hard things .By the time it heals they have forgot about breaking eggs . It is best to do all birds in the pen . Otherwise another bird may break the eggs and the habit continues .

 

[dstokely]

16% protein sounds a little low for EEs/Ameraucanas. We supplement protein with boiled eggs, shrimp, salmon, sardines in olive oil, and we switched from organic pellets/crumbles to organic seed mix layer feed where we add Bee Pollen, Brewers Yeast powder, Rooster Booster for more vitamins. Sometimes I'll boil a side of turkey breast ligihtly Kosher salted in water, and cut it into pieces as afternoon treats. It doesn't need to be a lot of protein but we don't have feather-picking or egg-eating which is a signal of not enough protein. Chickens have favourite foods over other breeds and we strangely found the country of origin a clue to what our breeds like. i.e. we had a Leghorn that was the only one that liked a Mediterranean diet of tomatoes where no other breed touched them. Our Silkies love Asian dishes of brown, long grain, or white rices mixed with their layer seed and lots of cucumbers and cantaloupe. Our Ameraucanas love Turmeric sprinkled into their feed w/ sweet potatoes (not yams), dried cranberry raisins, seafood, and grains/seeds like oats, sunflower, corn, wheat, quinoa, etc. Their breed origin seems to dictate their favourite foods. Our chickens eat everything we set out but they clearly have nutritional favourites and we can't help noticing the coincidental favourite country foods where these breeds were originally created.

I think the egg rolling tray with fine grate so the chickens' beaks can't peck through is a great fix for your situation. And nothing is expensive but necessary where chickeneering is concerned. Those egg tray nests look cleaner and well-built to last compared to traditional wood boxes.

I should be so lucky to be one of your chickens. I appreciate your approach, but I have dogs, cats, horses and cattle(70) along with my chickens, vegetable & flower gardens. My husband and I, both retired, are the caretakers. Most of my horses, dogs & kitties are rescue and while they are well provided for, there are no chef prepared meals. Not for my husband either, unless he does the cooking.