Arcaunas vs Americanas vs. Easter Eggers

[manorhousechix]

How can you tell the difference? I was told that I was getting an Americana from the little boutique feed store here in Seattle. But I’ve also read about a million different places that most birds from the feed shops are actually Easter Eggers. This particular urban feed store does tend to carry some of the fancier breeds because people here like their lawn ornaments.

Would love to hear everyone’s expertise and opinions. Pics of my sweet Penny chicken mid-preen below.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Araucanas will be clean faced or tufted, rumpless, have pea combs, and lay blue eggs. They generally go for $50 a bird. They are not sold by hatcheries or feed stores.
Ameraucanas have muffs and beards, have tails, a pea comb, and will lay blue eggs. You will not find true Ameraucanas at a feed store. The only hatchery I know of that sells true Ameraucanas is mypetchicken and their day old Ameraucana chicks go for $22.
Easter Eggers have Araucana or Ameraucana ancestry, but they can be clean faced or have muffs and a beard, have any comb type, lay blue, green, pink, or brown eggs, be rumpless or have a tail. They will be sold by feed stores as Americanas or Americaunas. Easter Eggers are inexpensive and most of them have green legs.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Araucanas--it can be a purebred without being rumpless and tufted, but a good-quality bid should be both rumpless and tufted. (Some have tails because taillessness presents fertility problems, and so breeders stick a few in their flocks for breeding purposes. Tufts are lethal if the bird inherits tufts from both parents.) Peacomb, obviously.

Obviously, your bird is not an Araucana.

Ameaucanas--Slate legs, muff/beard, white skin. Your bird has willow or green legs, so not an Ameraucana.

Easter Eggers do normally have green legs, are often muffed/bearded, and can have some pretty interesting color patterns. That's an Easter Egger you have there.

 

[New2Chicks97]

I think the thing to note is the way they spell the name. Americana is almost always code for Easter Egger or at least it seems to be around here. Our local feed store had the chicks we bought labeled as Americana/Easter Egger. I think that most people don't know the difference and so accept that they have what the feed store says they have. Ameraucana and Araucana are most likey only going to come from reputable hatcheries or breeders or at least that is what I have noticed. Also they are going to cost more than the typical feed store chick. The going rate here from breeders is significantly more than the $3 per chick that we paid for our Easter Egger/Americana chicks. The good news is that Easter Eggers are lovely chickens and often do lay the blue or blue-green colored eggs. Our girls are the sweetest of our group and they do love their attention so would make wonderful lawn ornament birds.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Araucanas will be clean faced or tufted, rumpless, have pea combs, and lay blue eggs. They generally go for $50 a bird. They are not sold by hatcheries or feed stores.
Ameraucanas have muffs and beards, have tails, a pea comb, and will lay blue eggs. You will not find true Ameraucanas at a feed store. The only hatchery I know of that sells true Ameraucanas is mypetchicken and their day old Ameraucana chicks go for $22.
Easter Eggers have Araucana or Ameraucana ancestry, but they can be clean faced or have muffs and a beard, have any comb type, lay blue, green, pink, or brown eggs, be rumpless or have a tail. They will be sold by feed stores as Americanas or Americaunas. Easter Eggers are inexpensive and most of them have green legs.

Cackle does sell them as well. In case anyone's interested.

 

[manorhousechix]

So helpful! Thank you!

Araucanas will be clean faced or tufted, rumpless, have pea combs, and lay blue eggs. They generally go for $50 a bird. They are not sold by hatcheries or feed stores.
Ameraucanas have muffs and beards, have tails, a pea comb, and will lay blue eggs. You will not find true Ameraucanas at a feed store. The only hatchery I know of that sells true Ameraucanas is mypetchicken and their day old Ameraucana chicks go for $22.
Easter Eggers have Araucana or Ameraucana ancestry, but they can be clean faced or have muffs and a beard, have any comb type, lay blue, green, pink, or brown eggs, be rumpless or have a tail. They will be sold by feed stores as Americanas or Americaunas. Easter Eggers are inexpensive and most of them have green legs.

 

[manorhousechix]

Thanks so much for this- great info and insight! Super helpful.

Araucanas--it can be a purebred without being rumpless and tufted, but a good-quality bid should be both rumpless and tufted. (Some have tails because taillessness presents fertility problems, and so breeders stick a few in their flocks for breeding purposes. Tufts are lethal if the bird inherits tufts from both parents.) Peacomb, obviously.

Obviously, your bird is not an Araucana.

Ameaucanas--Slate legs, muff/beard, white skin. Your bird has willow or green legs, so not an Ameraucana.

Easter Eggers do normally have green legs, are often muffed/bearded, and can have some pretty interesting color patterns. That's an Easter Egger you have there.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2013/12/ameraucana-vs-araucana-vs-easter-egger.html

AMERAUCANAS


Ameraucanas are a pure breed that has been recognized by the APA (American Poultry Association) since 1984. They were most likely originally bred from South American blue egg laying breeds but were developed and standardized in the United States. They come in eight distinct colors including, Blue, Black, White and Wheaten, which all share these distinct Ameraucana traits:

Peacomb

Muffs and beard

Red earlobes

Tail

Blue legs

White foot bottoms

Always lay blue eggs


ARAUCANAS

Araucanas are more rare than Amerauacanas and harder to find. They are also a pure breed and have been recognized by the APA since 1976. They originated in Chile most likely and come in five colors including black, white, duckwing silver and golden. Araucanas all share these distinct Araucana traits:

Peacomb

Ear tufts (this gene is lethal to developing chicks if inherited by both parents)

Red earlobes

Rumpless (no tail)

Green or willow-colored legs (Yellow on white birds)

Yellow foot bottoms

Always lay blue eggs


EASTER EGGERS

Easter Eggers are not a recognized breed. They are mongrels or mutts - mixed breed chickens that do possess the blue egg gene, but don't fully meet the breed specifications of either Araucanas or Ameraucanas. They can come in any color or combination of colors and share these traits:

Any kind of comb

Muffs/beard/ear tufts or none

Any color earlobes

Tail or tail-less

Any color legs

Any color foot bottoms

Can lay blue but also sometimes lay green, tan, pink or even yellow

So if you want to be guaranteed blue egg layers, you will want to raise some Araucanas or Ameraucanas; otherwise Easter Eggers are always fun because you never know what color egg each will lay until she starts laying, and even identical-looking hens often lay varying shades of bluish or greenish eggs.

 

[WhiteWyan]

Hey just FYI Cackle Hatchery has straight run Ameraucanas. $10-$14 per chick. They have BBS, white, buff, and lavender. I've never ordered from them so I can't speak on the quality, but my neighbor swears by them and I plan on ordering from them in the spring.
They also have Easter Eggers and olive eggers.

 

[FowlStuff]

Aren't Ameraucana, Araucana and Easter Egg chickens the same?

No. Ameraucana (often misspelled "Americana") and Araucana chickens are both relatively new breeds and both lay blue eggs. They are different breeds with different characteristics that are defined in the APA and ABA standards. Easter Egg Chickens or Easter Eggers are not a "Standard" breed (they really aren’t even a “breed” of chicken). They are mixed breeds (aka mutts or mongrels) that happen to possess the gene for blue eggs. Just like a mixed breed dog may make a great pet but be disqualified if entered into an AKC sanctioned dog show, mixed breed poultry may be great for the backyard/barnyard but they are not “Standard” bred for exhibition and would be disqualified if entered in an APA sanctioned poultry show. Only standard breeds are meant for exhibition.

§ Wyandotte, Ameraucana, Plymouth Rock, Chantecler, Leghorn & Cornish are just a few examples of (standard) breeds of chickens. There are also some breeds, such as Braggs Mountain Buff, that are not recognized by the APA but because they breed true they are a breed of chicken by definition.

§ Red Star, ISA Brown, Cornish-Rock cross & Golden Comet are a few examples of hybrid or crossbred chickens. They are the result of crossing two breeds to produce offspring that are meant to be either superior layers or meat birds. These are not breeds (as the parent birds were) and they do not breed true. Breeding a hybrid to a hybrid does not produce a hybrid or as an example, a Golden Comet cock bred to a Golden Comet hen will not produce Golden Comet chicks.

§ Easter Eggers & many “Heinz 57” variety barnyard chickens are examples of mixed-breed chickens. These are not breeds since they don’t breed true or meet the standard (APA) requirements and they are not hybrids (crossbred) because they are usually not the product of a cross between two standard breeds.

Join the Ameraucana Alliance to learn more. Dues start at just $10 and new, 1st time members, receive an Ameraucana Handbook! Come join us as we celebrate our 40th anniversary.