Araucanas/Americanas...which one has a Muff??

[mom'sfolly]

Speckled, your June looks almost exactly like my Yoga. I love the buff with the blue undertones, but that blue ameracuana is gorgeous...gotta get me some blue birds. I just love the color.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Some of you may have seen this before. I'm starting to sound like a broken record. For expediency sake I've cut & pasted the below:

See wwwameraucana.org for the approved variations of Ameraucanas. You pullet/hen looks similiar to the Silver hen but the black beard could be a DQ.

Where, or should I say "Who", did you get your "real" blue egg to hatch from? You don't need to post that here but if you like you can email me privately. You can also look at the "Breeders Directory" on the ABC website and see if they're listed.

Prior to buying your hatching eggs, did you talk to the person and find out what they would be sending you? Were you asking for hatching eggs from a particular variety?

I hate to say this but because of the "novelty" aspect of the blue egg and so much misinformation out there, there is just a high degree of probability that you've been taken. Here's just one example of the misinformation that's out there and taken from McMurray Hatchery's website:

"The "Easter Egg Chicken", This unusual breed gets its name from the Indian tribe of Chile where they were first discovered. Araucanas lay beautiful colored eggs of blue-green shades from turquoise to deep olive. These natural Easter Eggs will amaze your friends and make a great "show and tell" project for school. Adults are of medium size with pea combs and our breeding stock is selected for their ability to produce colored eggs. They exhibit a wonderful combination of colors and color patterns and 10 or 20 of these birds make an absolutely beautiful laying flock that is extremely hardy and will be the talk of the town. Baby chicks come in all colors, plain and fancy, just like the adults. This is a unique breed and great fun to have when the colored eggs start coming. Our Araucanas are recommended for egg laying color and ability and not for exhibition."

Anyone who wants to take just 10 minutes can do a Google Search and find out that "Easter Eggers" are NOT Ameraucanas nor Araucanas. They will also soon find out that Ameraucanas and Araucanas are two TOTALLY different breeds.

An “Easter Egger (EE)” or “Easter Egg Layer (EEL)” is the common name used by Feather Fanciers who know what a true Ameraucana or Araucana is. The EE is the progeny of either a true Ameraucana or Araucana and something else. These can me a hybrid of any number of things but have some Ameraucana or Araucana blood in them. Now, there is nothing at all wrong with having EE’s – just as long as you know what you are getting or have. In fact, I have both. Pure SQ Ameraucanas and EE’s. One of my EE’s lays a rather pastel pinkish/purple or purplish/pink egg sometimes. The true Ameraucana will lay a blue egg except for very rare occasions where a modifier gene (that hasn’t been eliminated yet) turns up and causes a green-tinted egg. The EE can lay eggs that could be any variation of blue, green, yellow, and purplish-pink or pinkish-purple.

For more info on true Ameraucanas see: “Myths & Facts” at http://groups.msn.com/ABCShareingPlace , “History” at www.ameraucana.org/ and “Ameraucanas” at http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/2/2-3/John_W_Blehm.html

Those will be very helpful and anything else I would say is likely redundant. As for “Araucanas”, they are a totally different recognized breed and I’ll leave it up to you to research them if you’re interested. Steve Waters in Marysville is a very well-known breeder of Araucanas and could help you as well.

God Bless,