another americauna/aruacana/ee question

[georgialee]

What is the difference btwn. americaunas and araucanas? Are they different breeds? I picked up 3 chicks today and the guy showed me their eggs and they're sky blue colored - very pretty. He told me they're pure bred americaunas. I saw the 'parents' and they are muffed (not sure on the beards b/c they were up in the rafters of the coop) with tails. I don't really care if they're pure or not b/c I just wanted colored eggs (green would have been fine too, lol).... just wonderin'.

 

[SpringChickens]

It sounds like the person you got your birds from did have purebred Ameraucanas, which is somewhat rare. What most people have are Easter Eggers (EEs), which are a very nice, pretty, useful bird which lay blue, green, pink or brown eggs, typically blue or green.

Ameraucanas and araucanas are, indeed, different breeds, with Ameraucanas having muffs and beards (can't have one without the other), tails and laying blue eggs.

Araucanas are even rarer than ameraucanas, and are tailless birds with tufts - a small group of feathers that sticks straight out of their head. They will also lay blue eggs.

Sounds like you bought your chicks from a knowledgeable individual. Good luck with them!

 

[georgialee]

Thank you for explaining! It's nice to know that they are most likely purebred americaunas since that what he told me. Now I just have to wait 6 mos for the eggs, lol!

 

[klf73]

if you can post pics of all of them we can tell you if they could be pure. A lot of people think they have pure ameraucana because that is what the hatchery sold them when in reality they have EE. There is nothing wrong with EEs, they just aren't ameraucana. There are only 8 recognized colors so if you post a pic we should be able to tell

edited to fix typo

 

[georgialee]

They're just chicks but they look exactly like little chipmunks.

 

[klf73]

if they are chipmunk marked they most likely are EE's
the only color that is accepted that comes in chipmunk is the silver and I have found them not to be very common. However, a LOT of EEs are marked this way.....

 

[georgialee]

ah, well, either way they're really cute and I'll get colored eggs. That's all I care about!

 

[TimG]

Quote:
I have two EE that started out as chipmunks and turned into very different birds. I have pictures on my BYC page if you'd like to see them.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Chipmunk marking has absolutely NOTHING to do with EE!!!!!

It relates to the particular gene-set that a bird carries: the E-allele and/or specific wildtype genes. There are also many variations of chipmunk markings.

 

[Tailfeathers]

I agree with most of the above. I would agree that if they have chipmunk markings they are most likely EE's. I would disagree that Araucanas are more rare than Ameraucanas. I would also tell you that I would imagine a person who sells true Ameraucanas (and btw, it is "Ameraucana" NOT "Americana". "Americana" is a misnomer for "Easter Egger" and I believe intentionally done to mislead the public in many cases.) - a person who sells true Ameraucanas would most likely be able to tell you what an Araucana is too. Someone selling Easter Eggers probably couldn't.

You can do a search on here for "Ameraucana", "Araucana", or "Easter Egger" and probably find a plethora of additional info.
Hope that helps.

God Bless,