Ameraucanas and Murray McMurray Hatchery

[Bean1028]

We purchased some "Ameraucanas" from Murray McMurray Hatchery & recieved them 11 weeks ago tomorrow. In hindsight, yes, it was obvious we didn't order true Ameraucanas, even though their website says we did. My husband placed the order and honestly had no clue that they didn't sell real Ameraucanas as the chickens weren't really his thing. We have contacted McMurrays about receiving 7 Easter Eggers instead of 6 Ameraucanas (+1 mystery chick that we opted not to recieve). We are still waiting for their response, but based on the Google reviews it looks bleak. Anyhow, my husband wanted me to post the video for review & to bring attention to this & recieve some feedback as the only thing we have asked McMurray to do to rectify the situation is to change the breed name from Ameraucana to Easter Eggers. Thank you!

 

[LRH97]

These are indeed Easter Eggers. Many feed stores and some hatcheries will sell EEs as Ameraucana, the improper AmerIcana, or sometimes even Araucana. I've seen feed stores have them labelled as both: i.e. Easter Egger/Ameraucana. At least in most of these situations, the misinformation stops at the mislabelling.

I just read through the description on McMurray's site and it's really tipping the ship toward misleading. The first half of their description describes true Ameraucana, including the year they were recognized by APA. The second half is where they start shooting themselves in the foot. They start saying things like "come in a wonderful combination of colors and color patterns..." and "Baby chicks come in all colors, just like adults." This is not true for Ameraucanas. The APA recognizes wheaten, blue wheaten, blue, black, white, brown red, buff, silver and self blue for large fowl. They also state their flock is a mixed flock, with no specific coloring available. Big red flags here. You will also find they offer Blue Ameraucana for double the price of these supposed "Ameraucana." Plus, if you read customer reviews, you will find several customers disappointed that their McMurray "Ameraucanas" were actually EEs. This is also evident in the pictures supplied on their page.

There are plenty of hints here to see through their misinformation, but I certainly think they take it too far with putting information about a true-breeding, APA recognized breed next to their EEs, which could be a combination of anything. That shows they know the difference between an actual Ameraucana and an Easter Egger, which demonstrates the willful spread of misinformation. I would've requested the same thing. Change the dang description and call the birds what they are.

 

[nuthatched]

I believe that the name Easter Egger is trademarked by Cackle hatchery.
However they could use the name Americauna.

 

[FrostRanger]

I believe that the name Easter Egger is trademarked by Cackle hatchery.
However they could use the name Americauna.

I don't think so, pretty much every hatchery has some kind of bird labelled as easter eggers

 

[Bean1028]

Oh, believe me as soon as my husband told me where he ordered from I looked at their website & listing for the Ameraucanas & read every review on their site, Google, BBB you name it. I was prepared to recieve SOME Easter Eggers...but all 7?!?! I mean, at first I was just super grateful they all arrived not only alive, but healthy & thriving! We also thought based on their coloring there were only 3 EEs, and 4 Ameraucanas...okay, fine. Once they feathered out we were a little floored there is not a single REAL Ameraucana in this flock. My husband thought that where they described not being able to select a specific color that we would still get SOP colors...so we thought we had 1 white, 1 black, 1 brown red & 1 silver...they even looked identical to the chicks on the Ameraucana Breeders Club website. So yeah...lesson learned. Like I said, in hindsight it's obvious, but this was ridiculous...

 

[Bean1028]

Lesson learned btw. This time we ordered from a breeder a couple hours away who is listed in the Ameraucana Breeders Club directory. God willing it will only be a few weeks before we pick up our new batch!!!

 

[labelo]

I'm sorry you were misled by their site. I think the only major American hatcheries that offer true Ameraucanas are Cackle and Meyer, but someone correct me if I'm mistaken. I've noticed that true Ameraucanas are often listed by color (ie: Wheaten Ameraucana, Lavender Ameraucana, Black/Blue/Splash Ameraucana), though this isn't a slam dunk.

I don't think so, pretty much every hatchery has some kind of bird labelled as easter eggers

Cackle has indeed tried to trademark "Easter Egger," though I don't know if their claim has been recognized (last I read it was pending or something). I wonder if that's part of why you see so many named blue/green laying hybrids popping up--Prairie Bluebells, Sapphire Jewels, Green Queens, etc.

 

[LRH97]

Cackle does have "TM" behind Easter Eggers, although several other hatcheries use the term as well. Cackle does a good job of explaining the difference between EE, Ameraucana, and Araucana and makes no attempt to market their EEs as the pure breeds. McMurray should read Cackle's description and follow their example.

I will say I've ordered EEs from Cackle several times and the color variations they send are awesome. You may end up with anything from bright speckled multi-color to solid blue, not just the partridge-looking color that is fairly common.

 

[Tervuren]

Not saying I agree with this, but this is what McMurray’s logic is. They have had that line of ‘Ameracauna’ since before the breed was standardized into different colors and accepted by the APA. The stock they have is the same stock as what was used to develop the Ameracauna breed. Their argument is that they called them Ameracaunas since before they were an accepted breed, and the birds they have haven’t changed, so they’re going to keep calling them Ameracaunas. In my opinion their birds are a proto-Ameracauna of sorts.

 

[labelo]

Not saying I agree with this, but this is what McMurray’s logic is. They have had that line of ‘Ameracauna’ since before the breed was standardized into different colors and accepted by the APA. The stock they have is the same stock as what was used to develop the Ameracauna breed. Their argument is that they called them Ameracaunas since before they were an accepted breed, and the birds they have haven’t changed, so they’re going to keep calling them Ameracaunas. In my opinion their birds are a proto-Ameracauna of sorts.

That's interesting to hear. If I squint I could sort of see where they're coming from, but if they want to keep calling them Ameraucanas, they should start selecting for and breeding towards the SoP, otherwise it's just misleading to the customer.