Araucanas before the APA?

[NYREDS]

Quote:
Excellent question! Wish I knew the answer. Seems like things must be going pretty smoothly in you life if you have the energy to get upset about what someone calls their chickens. I have some friends who call thir hatchery Easter Eggers Araucanas. Doesn't bother me a bit.

 

[CityChicker]

You know really- and I don't mean to offend anyone here- I find a lot of the discussion about Easter Eggers/ Ameraucanas/ Araucanas to be silly and sometimes downright insulting.

When I was a little girl, they were called ARAUCANAS period. They were not rare, every hatchery had them (circa 70's-80's). How dare we tell people that kept these birds before the APA standard what *they* should call their birds. How can we "educate" someone that probably knows the history of the bird better than us and kept them FAR earlier than most of us? It just wreaks of arrogance to me.

I say- nicely tell them that now we know them as three different breeds and be *thrilled* to know someone that kept them so many years ago.

LOL- The other thing that really gets my goat is referring to any breed, whether standard or not, as "mutts". Hello? All chickens are mutts. How did most of the different breeds we know today come to be?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I am aware the breed was accepted to the APA in the mid 1980's

Araucanas were recognised in 1976; ameraucanas in 1980 by the ABA & a few years later by the APA.​

 

[GardeNerd]

I am not upset by any means, sorry if it came off that way. I am a newbie and I just do a lot of reading about chickens when I have free time, so I can be prepared in advance for any health or predator issues.

The reason I started thinking about it is because I run across so many posts around here where people get corrected about what they thought was an Araucana or Ameraucana is really an Easter Egger. When I placed a group order in Jan. with Welp hatchery I mentioned to the other folks, they were Easter Eggers we were ordering, not Ameraucanas or Araucanas, because of that.

I guess it boils down to I feel my neighbor is right. Back when he had them, all colored egg layers were lumped under the name Araucanas. I think my hen will just be an Araucana whenever he visits. It will be an Easter Egger with anyone else.

 

[CityChicker]

"I think my hen will just be an Araucana whenever he visits."

LOL, I think that is a good plan.

 

[GardeNerd]

Quote:
I agree. Thanks for putting it so well.

 

[amazondoc]

Wellllll.........

It *does* make a difference what you call things. For instance, this forum is called the Backyard Chickens Forum. If somebody selling chickens decided to set up their own web site and called IT the Backyard Chickens Forum, the owners of the original BYC would have every reason to be upset. Identity matters.

In the case of the whole Araucana/Ameraucana/EE thing, I think it's very unfortunate that the two breed clubs picked such similar names. It just adds to the confusion. But it's still worthwhile to let people know about the differences between the birds, because they ARE different. A rumpless, tufted bird is NOT the same thing as a tailed, bearded, muffed bird. If we *call* them the same things, then they are robbed of their individual identities.

In my mind, EEs are more or less equivalent to production Reds. EEs are sort of the production version of Ameraucanas. So I don't waste much energy correcting people there. And I would certainly not be rude to the neighbor with the birds, but in the course of talking to him I might say something about how much things have changed with these breeds over the years, and that we now have them separated into Araucanas and Ameraucanas -- and then explain the recognized differences. It could be a good learning experience for both of you!

 

[CityChicker]

To me the difference in your example is obvious. LOL, if someone called their website BYC now, they would be doing so AFTER someone else had done it. By your logic then, those people that kept "Araucanas" years ago should be offended by us, correct? Not the reverse?

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
Hmmm. I see your point, but I don't think it ruins *my* point.

Let's try another example.

There's a breed of dogs called Whippets. There's another breed called Greyhounds. Whippets were probably developed from greyhounds. These days, though, it is inaccurate to call a whippet a greyhound, even though they were originally the same breed. Similarly, some greyhounds are AKC greyhounds, while some are racing greyhounds. It's easy to confuse these two, but they are also two separate groups of dogs.

So we have whippets, AKC greyhounds, and racing greyhounds. All of these originally came from the general group called "greyhound", but it is no longer proper to call all of them the same name.

I hope you like that example better!

 

[CityChicker]

LOL,

Yes, that is a better example and I *totally* agree with you. I think it is wonderful that the breeds have been standardized. That said, I would never in a million years think to go to someone that has been raising "Greyhounds" for 40 years and tell them what they have to call them or that their dogs are mutts, not Greyhounds. LOL... to me, it is just a matter of respect.