Before you buy "Ameraucanas"....

[enola]

Re: back yard EE.  I wouldn't hesitate to get my EE from a BY flock IF the rooster and the hen were both EE.  Blue is a dominant egg color, so if 2 EE are being bred, the egg color will be what ever the parents carry.  The green comes from a brown wash applied to the egg shell as it's traveling through the reproductive system.  Debid, I wonder if perhaps you meant that the eggs bred from an EE hen and an other breed of rooster would not produce a blue egg?  I'm guessing that that cross would yield more of a darker green/olive color, depending on the egg color of the breed in question.  The bigger question regarding bringing in chicks from an other back yard flock is: are you also bringing in disease?  NPIP can only test for so much.  No matter where your stock comes from, there's always a disease risk.  Buyer beware, and take reasonable precautions, but don't let fear keep you from enjoying having a poultry flock.

P.S.  I love my EE, and from the reading I've done, feel that they are a better layer than an Ameraucana.  The true Araucana is rumpless, and carries a lethal gene, which means that a fairly high percentage of chicks die before hatch.  Not a breed I care to deal with!

If you breed Araucanas that don't have tufts you do not have to worry about the lethal gene. The lethal gene is only involved in breeding two tufted birds and hatching their eggs.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Purebred Ameraucanas are hard to find locally! When asking about them in the feedstore the sales lady didn't seem to know the difference between a purebred or an EE. I did not argue with her & I ended up buying some EE chicks. I have to say they were more robust then the other heritage purebreds I bought. My goal is to pick up a purebred rooster from a local breeder to breed with my EE hens? This should produce some healthy blue laying hens (however mixed breed), right?

There will be blue egg genes mixed in with the offspring--some would lay blue eggs, some not. I have been breeding my Easter Eggers just because they're such healthy, productive birds. If only 1/4th of the chicks end up laying blue eggs, I'll still be happy, because they're just such good performers. Besides, a rainbow basket is a delight to behold!

 

[txladybugz]

I completely agree PrairieChickens! I am still fairly new to all of this & I fell in love with the EE chickens. Eventually I would like to get some purebred ameraucanas, but I am completely okay with getting eggs of many shades from healthy hens. It would just be fun though to hatch out the blue & green eggs.

 

[PrairieChickens]

And I'm sure someday you shall. I just got my very first purebred Ameraucanas this year, and I plan on using them to produce my own olive eggers and EE's, as well as more purebred Ameraucanas. I also ordered black copper marans, which should arrive around April 22nd.

 

[enola]

I crossed my EE hens with a leghorn rooster and got pullets that layed colored eggs and they lay even better than the moma chickens do. If you try this cross use a colored leghorn rooster. If you use a white leghorn rooster all of your chicks will be white.