Americauna?

[Heather94]

Is this an americauna chick? I didnt think my americauna was laying yet, she's deff old enough tho. He/she is 3 days old.

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[Lady of McCamley]

Hi Heather, Welcome to BYC.

You've got a cute chick there with a wild type pattern that fits a lot of different breeds, but from what I am reading, is a mix breed. Many mix breed chicks are "chipmunk."

However, as you will soon be corrected, there is no such thing as an Americana.

There is an Ameraucana breed, but what is sold in the feed stores (and unfortunately a lot of backyard breeders) is a mixture of Ameraucana blood (somewhere back) and any other breed of chicken. This is because the Ameraucana is harder to find (in its true form), and it must meet very strict appearance and genetic rules to be classified as a pure breed Ameraucana. (Feed stores generally do not sell them).

Because Ameraucana is rarer, people mix the Ameraucana blood to get Easter Eggers which is a hybrid of Ameraucana blood over any other breed. This hybrid is often erroneously sold at feed stores as an Americana.

If the Ameraucana blood is close enough back, which should be a parent, usually the chicks will have willow green legs, beard/muff, and a pea comb.

As the Ameraucana blood draws further away (with breeding of Easter Eggers together or an Easter Egger over another breed), the chicks can look like almost anything and are known as simply being utility mix breeds....or a backyard bird.

Why do we care? Because Ameraucana blood is highly desired as it is a blue shell laying chicken. But in order to guarantee that blue shell gene, a pure Ameraucana has to be one of the parents. Any other breed can be the other parent. This produces an Easter Egger that will carry 1 of the 2 blue shell genes creating layers of blue or green eggs (sometimes pink or brown if the Ameraucana genetics were too far back).

If one of the parents is an Easter Egger and the other any other breed, the genetics are reduced to 50% likelihood of carrying the desirable blue shell gene and this is where you get "Easter Eggers" that lay brown, pink, blue or green. Continue breeding Easter Eggers and you can either refine back to 100% blue gene with careful selection or remove the blue gene completely if you don't select carefully.

That's why people care if you've got Easter Egger vs. a true Ameraucana and if the chick is an Easter Egger or Ameraucana.

For the average backyard chicken owner, it doesn't matter if all you want is an attractive bird that lays eggs and don't care about what color. Sort of like a box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get but generally you like the candy anyway.

It does matter if you give away or sell any chicks to someone who is expecting the characteristics of the Ameraucana...beard/muff, pea comb, slate/willow legs, and most importantly the ability to lay and breed forward blue shell genes. As stated, in order to do that reliably you need an Ameraucana as one of the parents as an Easter Egger mix will breed out that ability quickly.

So back to your little one. It has no characteristics in the photo that indicate Ameraucana blood in its background. That doesn't mean it doesn't have some somewhere, but the likelihood that it carries the blue shell gene and the characteristic markers of an Easter Egger are much slimmer.

Chickens are not like horses or dogs. You don't keep a pedigree and prove back to a particular sire or dam. You follow a breed standard within your lines. Any bird, no matter what the genetics, that doesn't follow the breed standard is immediately utility quality, especially so with Ameraucanas.

Just so you know.

Enjoy your flock and cute chicks.
LofMc

 

[drumstick diva]

mixed breed

 

[junebuggena]

So what does that mean? Is that why my little baby looks like a chipmunk? Since i posted this, another chipmunk chick has hatched.

It means that she may not lay the blue eggs that you may be expecting her to lay. Easter Eggers are more of a 'type' than a breed. With an Ameraucana, you know exactly what you are getting in terms of production, rate of development, coloring, and egg color. With an Easter Egger, there are no such guarantees.

 

[junebuggena]

Oh ok. Well if these chicks are hers, then she is not laying blue eggs. They have both hatched from light brown/pinkish eggs.





I also got this hen from the same woman i got the easter egger from. She said she is a cochin. Do you know if she is? As far as i know, she isnt laying yet. They were 6months when i bought them, ive had them about 2 months now.

Splash Cochin, very pretty.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

So what does that mean? Is that why my little baby looks like a chipmunk? Since i posted this, another chipmunk chick has hatched.

The "chipmunk" pattern is simply known as the "wild type" pattern. Many breeds and most mixes have that coloring as chicks. It is what usually defaults on chick down when you get mixed genetics unless one parent has a dominant color such as white or black. (@junebuggena is an excellent resource for feather genetics but you can play feather genetics with this generator http://www.breedbook.org/?action=geneticscalculator&tab=CHICKEN.)

Your photo of the mother shows an Easter Egger...how do we know? She does not meet the strict requirements of a purebred, standard of perfection, Ameraucana (see this page for those standards http://ameraucanabreedersclub.org/gallery.html).

Yet, your hen shows signs of Ameraucana heritage (the tell tale beard/muff with pea comb). That doesn't mean there couldn't be something else in her background, but in the US, if you have a large fowl bird with those characteristics, chances are it has Ameraucana or EE blood to produce the beard/muff with pea comb....plus the breeder said she was an Olive Egger.

Olive Eggers are not a breed but a mix between an Ameraucana parent (ideally to ensure 1 blue gene to the offspring) and a dark brown layer parent (usually a Marans or Welsummer or Barnevelder or Penedesenca) which hopefully provides the nice dark wash to its offspring (much more complicated covering about 13 gene patterns) that coats brown over the egg shell base. If that base is white, you have a dark brown egg. If that base is blue (from a blue gene), you get green shells. The darker the brown wash over blue shell the darker the green.

You state your Olive Egger lays brown/pink eggs. That means an Ameraucana wasn't one of the parents. That means she had Easter Egger as a parent (or even an Olive Egger) with its 50/50 proposition of passing the blue gene, and a dark layer (such as a Welsummer or Marans or Barnevelder or Penedesenca ideally) as the other parent. With an assured blue gene from an Ameraucana over a good line of dark layers, you will get Olive Eggers every time. However, if you use an EE or OE as one or both parents, it is a crap shoot as to what you get then.

You got unlucky and didn't get the blue gene so all you are getting is brown/pink eggs...and not particularly dark at that.

My dark layers vary a lot in their line as to how dark they lay. I was sorely disappointed that a coveted hen I purchased from a line of 7 (nicely dark) Marans (at a nice price I might add) is only producing at best a 4 to 5 scale, barely within the dark layer range of 5 to 9 (darkest chocolate). But that's the curse of genetics, especially with the dark brown layers as the genetics for that coveted dark brown wash is complicated. You can see the scale here http://www.themaransclub.co.uk/eggs-and-egg-colour-chart/4541995077.

This all doesn't matter a whit if you are happy with your very pretty barnyard hen who lays nice brown/pink eggs, and you are happy with healthy little barnyard mix chicks that will grow up into happy healthy barnyard mix chickens with hens that lay nice brownish eggs.

It does matter if you had hopes of building a flock that will breed forward certain egg colors for personal use or sale and/or wanted to tell your customers that you have Ameraucanas for sale and/or your chicks will grow into hens that lay olive colored eggs. For that you have to choose your breeding stock carefully and knowingly.

Lofmc

 

[Ravynscroft]

My neighbor had this bird in his yard. He asked me to take it in. Is this an Americauna or something else? I have 4 golden comets and don't know to introduce them. "She" is in an old coop alone right now. He said she's. even roaming for about 4 days. Sheis quiet but was very calm when we picked her up. Thanks.

That's a cockerel, not a hen...

 

[henny1129]

That's a cockerel, not a hen...

X2. :/ May be an Ameraucana, but I can't tell for sure from the picture.

 

[BantamLover21]

X2.

May be an Ameraucana, but I can't tell for sure from the picture.

Agreed

 

[summerb123]

I also agree!