Auracauna/Amerecauna/EE? I'm Confused.

[Cowgrl4life]

I am sure this has been gone over many times, but nevertheless I am CONFUSED! Before joining backyard chickens, I had heard of Auracaunas (rumpless and with muffs) and Amerecaunas ( with rumps and muffs) I was told both laid blue to greenish eggs and This was the extent of my knowledge. Then I got on BYC and heard of an "EE" and got really confused. So for you who know the difference, please please please enlighten me

 

[HathawayHens]

The short story is that Araucanas and Ameracaunas are rare pure bred birds with certain standards. EE's are basically mixed breed birds that carry the dominant blue egg gene, but usually it is expressed more as a green or tinted color since they are not pure. Their legs and feathers can be almost any color. Hatcheries only sell EE's... if you want the actual breeds, you have to find a breeder that is in a breed club. That is the short version. If you type the three types of birds into the search engine at the top right of this page, you will find many more threads with more details.

 

[evonne]

another side note.... aracaunas have tufts, ameracaunas have muffs....

they are different....

i got EE's from the feed store that were labeled aracaunas, i grabbed them cause i wanted blue or green eggs... i got them home and researched more and learned the difference between them....

the tufts are actual feathers that grow up towards the tops of their heads.... but the tuft gene is lethal if the bird gets 2... there are also smooth faced aracauanas.... you want a smooth with a tufted for good hatch rates...

the muffs look more like fuzzy cheeks...
this is my EE hen lucy... she has marvelous muffs.. lol...

aracaunas and ameracaunas both have very particular breed standards, and even if both parents are pure, but the offspring doesn't fit standards it will be called an EE...

i love my EE girls... and my ee roo is ssoo pretty, although i'm thinking of re-homing him since he's getting too big for his britches...
if you want to breed show birds, i would say go VERY well known breeder... if you want fun eggs and a colorful flock, go EE... they're much cheaper than pure birds of either species...

and when i said VERY well known breeder, feed stores and hatcheries sell EE's as pure and then the people who buy them don't research and don't know better so sell their offspring as pure and it's a whole long train of misconceptions....
at the local county fair, there were about 15 aracaunas shown.... not a single real PURE aracauna in the bunch.... me and a good friend had a good laugh about that and i decided that next year i can definatley compete at our county fair, but winning would really be nothing to brag about... lol...

these 3 breeds, and Marans people get very finicky about... sometimes it's funny to sit back and watch....
research ALOT, from multiple websites.... and visit the breeds associations and club sites to get more information on specifics....

 

[Cowgrl4life]

That is REALLY helpful. I get it now

Thank you so much