Are they all easter eggers?

[Lucy4]

I understand the difference between Ameraucanas and Aracaunas. EE is really just a designation for a chicken that lays blue/green eggs, yes? So does that mean Ameraucanas and Aracaunas are considered EE's?

Both of my girls look like Ameraucanas. But since they come from a hatchery without the designation, do I just say they're EE's?

Here's a couple photos. (the second one includes one of my BO's, sorry).

Bella (not a great photo of her, but she's shy)

Alice

 

[Emzyyy]

All of them look like EE's to me.

Gorgeous birds by the way.

 

[usschicago1]

agree 9;

 

[hcammack]

They are both EE's but they are unusually and beautifully colored I love the 1st girl

 

[joedie]

No, EE's are mutts...a cross between an Americauna or Aracauna and any other breed. As I understand it, Americauna or Aracauna lay blue eggs. The EE's can lay blue, green, pink, brown or white. I have 3 EE's that lay brown.

 

[SteveH]

In order to " look like " an Ameraucana they would have to be of one the recognised colors and they are not ; but they are both very beautiful EEs . Both Ameraucana and Araucana chickens originated from the mongrel blue egg layers now known as EE

 

[Ariel301]

The second one looks just like an EE pullet I have. Very pretty girls you have there!

 

[joedie]

Quote:
I think it's the other way around. I think the EE's originated from the Ameraucana/Araucanas

The current world wide Araucana Standard (except North America) indicates a medium to large sized chicken with a tail that lays bluish-green eggs. Specific features are feather ear tufts, muffs and beards, with a very much reduced comb, a small feather crest and a complete absence of wattles. The current North American standard calls for a chicken that is rumpless (missing their last vertebrae and lacking a tail), possesses ear-tufts (feathers that grow out from near the birds' ears), and lays blue eggs. In the United States and Canada, muffs, beards, and tails are all disqualifications.

Araucanas are often confused with two other types of colored-egg-laying chickens: Ameraucanas and Easter Eggers.

The Ameraucana should also lay blue eggs, but unlike the Araucana it has a tail and possesses muffs and a beard, which are quite different from the tufts of the Araucana, and no feather crest. Muffs and beards provide insulation against the cold. They are downy filoplumes that grow on the face below the eyes, extending to beyond the ears as well as the throat. Earrings or "Tufts" as they are known in Western countries are actual feathers that grow from fleshy lobes called peduncles on either side of the birds' face.

The Easter Egg Chicken is not an actual breed; the term refers to any bird that lays colored eggs. The vast majority of birds sold as "Araucanas" or "Ameraucanas" are actually neither. Instead, they are mixed breeds with no APA (American Poultry Association) Standard that lay colored eggs, ranging from bluish and greenish to pinkish-brown, and sometimes even tan, gray or white.

 

[SteveH]

You are quite right joedie . Both the Ameraucana and Araucana breeds can be and are used to cross on other breeds to produce EEs . On the other hand both those names { with various spellings } were used to describe chickens that layed blue eggs BEFORE either of the breeds were accepted into the APA { according to articles I've found , dating before the breeds were accepted by the APA } . These blue egg laying chickens were originally of mixed descent but called Chilliean or Araucana [ from South American areas or tribes they supposedly came from ] and at least one person called them Americana here in the U.S. . There's no wonder for the confusion as both breeds came from chickens that were mongrel blue egg layers but now want those mongrels called something other than the name they chose . While I suspicion the commercial hatcheries may be trying to profit off the popularity of the two breeds , you would be hard pressed to win a fraud case in court as they are using names to describe what they are selling which are older than the breeds , usually with a disclaimer warning they are not show quality and may not lay blue eggs .

 

[PaintedPony]

To answer your question, you can call them EEs to be "proper" instead of calling them Ameraucanas. That is what I call my green egg layers that came from the hatchery. I have two that look very much like your top photo. Mutts or not they are beautiful hens and they lay well.