Araucana or EE? **check my genetics**

[bibliophile birds]

i bought 3 pullets at an Amish sale the other day that were marked Araucana (2 months old). i feel incline to trust the Amish, but i know this is a contentious/confusing issue so i want some opinions. i thought one was rumpless but now i think their tails have just been pecked. they do seem to have the beginnings of tufts.

so, what do you think? Araucana or EE? i'm more concerned about egg color than fitting into exact breed standards (i know the US and UK breed standards differ on rumplessness)- i bought these specifically in the hope that they'd lay blue eggs since i already have EEs.

someone in another post said they thought they might be Araucana X EE. i know that eggs are either white or blue based and that the brown is an extra layer of color. so, if they were EE x Araucana, then there would be a chance at getting blue eggs still, right? if my genetics are right, i should be able to expect 1/2 green and 1/2 blue layers from an EE x Aruacana cross, so long as the EE has only one copy of the gene for brown eggs... right? if the EE has 2 copies of the gene for brown eggs, then all of them should lay green, i think.

 

[KellyHM]

Those are EEs. Very cute though! All of my EEs lay blue eggs, so it just depends on where they came from and their genetics. They look more like Ameraucana crosses than Araucana (I think I see muffs), but you'll just have to wait and see what they lay. They're most likely the result of an EE x EE cross and not EE x purebred, so only time will tell.

 

[houndit]

Quote:
That is correct.

 

[klf73]

yep, they are EE's

 

[cashdl]

Could you post pics of the faces. One of the girls looks like she has tufts. If it is not tufts, she has a huge beard. LOL. Araucana's often do have some tails even from rumpless parents. Also you can tell if they are going to lay blue eggs by looking at their combs. If they have a pea comb they will lay blue or blue green eggs. Any other comb type will not. A pea comb almost has what looks like 3 side by side combs or ridges with the middle one being slightly larger. Kind of hard to describe.

Lanae

 

[cashdl]

I have some araucana that look like their color. At that age a clean faced tailed araucana will look very much like the top photo of the bird closest to the camera. The one against the fence appears to have muffs though. If your concerned about egg color just look for birds with the right combs and don't worry about the names.

Lanae

 

[klf73]

the pea comb rule is more of a guideline, I have had single comb project birds that laid blue and green

there is supposed to be some sort of link but it isn't 100% indicitive of laying color

 

[cashdl]

you are correct it is a guidline that is why I mentioned it. I didn't want to get too confusing by listing all the variables. In my limited experience with the araucana and EE's if they have a pea comb they lay a blue to blue/green egg. The ones that have laid brown or pink eggs have had different combs.

Also there is a cream legbar that has a straight comb and lays blue eggs, just to muck things up.

But if you are looking for blue eggs look for the indicators also while looking for the breed to help with your selection process especially when buying EE's because they can lay so many different colors.

Another indicator is a bare ridge bone that is a link to the pea comb if the pea comb is hard to see on chicks.

 

[bibliophile birds]

thanks everyone! the two EEs that i already had both lay greenish blue (heavier on green) eggs, so i'm really hoping these will lay blue, but i'll love them either way!

it definitely looks to me like 2 of them are starting to get tufts, but i've never seen tufts in person so i'm still unsure. i'll try to get some closer, face-forward pics of them.

 

[klf73]

tufts

this is just a chick(that is my 10yo son holding him, for size reference)...so older birds would definitely be visible