Araucana...Easter Egger Leg Color question

[Crickett B]

I bought these three peeps today....of course the feed store states "Araucana lays blue eggs"..... (cough cough...they really need an eye roll smiley)

Any how... curious as to when they get the slate colored legs? These guys all look like they have pinkish white legs......but then they are also 2 or 3 days old. Do they get them as they get older? My other 3 EE's have slate legs, but one is about 9 months, and the other two are about a month and a half now. And when I bought those two, I think they had slate legs then.

Taking bets in advance that this one is a boy.....

You know how my luck runs... Just because the sign also said GIRLS ONLY...doesn't mean diddly squat, when I am picking out chickens.

Thank you in advance for all that ya'll are teaching me

Crickett

 

[dsqard]

There is an eye roll smiley!

Very adorable chicks! Remember that EEs are mixed so their leg color could be anything just like the color egg that they lay.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Quote:
Yep.

The f1 gen EE's I've hatched from my birds (Sire is pure Ameraucana, mothers are other breeds) there were a few - yellow chicks with black spots - that were born with orange/yellow legs. I couldn't figure it out! But the next day, the tops of their feet/legs were dark. Strange, and I still don't understand it. Don't know how old these chicks are....

 

[Wendy'sChicksRock]

they are SOOOO cute... I love FLUFFY chicks... awwww i want to squeeze them..

 

[Chic-Zebo Girl]

NICE pics... ever think about going professional? Love the terry cloth backdrop.

 

[Illia]

Umm, why do we need an eyeroll smiley? Araucanas do lay only blue eggs. The eyeroll would be that those aren't Araucanas. . . Or maybe I read it wrong?

Also, how come you're expecting slate legs? EE's normally have yellow or green legs in most cases, and those legs look yellow.


btw the light colored one with the eyeliner is likely a boy.

 

[Crickett B]

Quote:
I just picked a camera back up after 30 years.... they have more buttons and gadgets on them now, than what I remember.
Thank you for the compliment

 

[Crickett B]

Quote:
The eye roll was for that they weren't Araucanas

but the feed store advertised them as such.
I think I was expecting them, because my other three have them....that EE's have slate/ greenish legs in general and that was of the ways you were able to tell that they were EE's and not the other two breeds.
I have been slowly reading up on all three... and the only thing I see (as a new "chicken" person) or thought I saw that was different, was the leg color and the curved rear ends.
So the Araucana is the hardest one to find, due to the curved rump? But how does one then tell the difference between the EE and the Ameraucana? I thought I figured it out with the slate legs....lol... Now I am as lost as I am NOT picking out roos!

 

[cashdl]

The araucana also has tufts like these:

and these:

and these:

The EE's and Ameraucanas don't have those.

Lanae

 

[Illia]

They're harder to find because of the rumplessness (causes less fertility/successful mating) the tufts (can be lethal if you breed two tufted birds) and because they're just not so popular, I guess. They're smaller, frequent broodies, and very hardy. . . I think people just don't like them because they're different with the tufts and lack of tail (which in all reality is safe for free ranging owners)

As for Ameraucanas vs EE's - The two biggest things to tell are if they come from a hatchery/feedstore/random neighbor or craigslist "breeder," they're not Ameraucanas.

The next things would be, besides slate legs, recognized plumage, and of course the pea comb and muffs/beard.

Recognized colors include Silver, Buff, Brown-Red, Blue, Black, Blue Wheaten, Wheaten, and White. If the bird is not any of those colors or Lavender or Splash (two other non-accepted colors, but still Ameraucana colors) then it is an Easter Egger.


Buff is a SOLID golden color, no white or black or any other color on it.

Brown-Red is solid black with a red head on females, solid black with red sections on a male.

Silver is, on a female, hard to describe, and on a male is black with white sections. NO gold, brown, or red.