calling all Ameraucana, Araucana, and EE experts

[scrapmom5]

OK just to clear (or make more unclear...whatever the case may be) an EE is just an Ameraucana or Araucana that does not meet the "standard"? I had a purebred yorkshire terrier, if she had a "defect" that didn't meet the standard what would she be? I thought she just wasn't show quality but was indeed still a purebred yorkie.

I have read soooo many post on ameraucanas (because I have 6 of them) and I have no idea what they are. It doesn't matter what breed they are except I want to know. I don't like telling people that either I don't know what it is or it is just a mutt. Some of my girls have fluff around their face some don't. Some are white, blue and a beautiful brown pheasant color and one that seems to be changing. I have had many people say they were Ameraucanas and a few say EE.

I guess my question is this. Who is this person who determines what is or isn't so that I may ask them?

Maybe then I would know.

Is this the only breed where there is such confusion? I sure hopeso. Just when I think I get some info I get much more confused. I really hope I am not alone here.

Is there a way to make this sooooo simple? I fear my girls are have an identity crisis.

 

[priszilla]

good question!!! hope you get an answer-becay=use I have 3 lovely girls I bought from a breeder as amerecaunas but they are not standard colors,but are growing muffs.I just am hoping for lovely blue eggs.

 

[Shaffer]

scrapmom5,
Depends where you have gotton your stock. You really need to go to Ameraucana Club site, ABC Sharing Place and the Araucana.net site they have pictures,ect. This question keeps coming up and up and up and up on BYC. Most people have hatchery chickens and they are the Easter-Eggers although I believe one or two do supply pure Ameraucanas but their price is reflected as such. You get what you pay for. Even Easter-Eggers are fun and a lot of the serious breeders have had them at one time or another. I got what was suppose to be pure bred Araucanas from one University that was doing research and they were really just the mongrel Easter-Eggers so they were also taken when they thought they had real birds. It is not a person that determines what you have it is the written standard that is in the American Poultry Association Standards which determines what actually you have and they need to breed true also. You can order that Standard on their site. HS

 

[sara]

Quote:
This is not really true, and EE is not just an Ameraucana or Araucana that doesn't meet the standard. An easter egger is any chicken with the blue egg gene. It can be a cross of a blue egger and another egg color egg layer. That is why they can lay so many different colored eggs.



Quote:
You can either look at the breed club pages or read the APA Standard of Perfection to find out what does and does not fit into the standard.

I don't know if any of that helps you or not..

 

[Guitartists]

It is confusing.

The chicken folks who set the standard and get it accepted get to decide

As they do with all breeds. Just like with any other animals... there are accepted, written standards that let us know what a particular breed should look like.

You can go here to read about Ameraucanas.... http://www.ameraucana.org/standard.html

Even if your chicken is a full-blooded Ameraucana... technically, unless it meets the standard, it is also referred to as an EE. This is the only part I have problems with..because, I too understand what you are saying about dogs. But... as with a Marans chicken.... if the eggs do not meet a certain darkness, it is not considered a Marans either.

So, I think it works a bit differently with chickens than it does dogs.

 

[scrapmom5]

I have checked out the different sites...and after zoning in and out of awareness (some are quite particular about what is the standard) I am only ever so slightly better off.

I am pleased to know that I am not the only one with some confusion about this.

My dk's just call our girls that are of this variety the Ameraucana Easter Eggers. Perhaps I will go with that.

 

[sara]

Quote:
To make it really simple, it's not an ameraucana unless it is one of the 8 recogized colors; Black, Blue, Blue Wheaten, Brown Red, Buff, Silver, Wheaten & White.

There are some exceptions, one being breeding true at least 50% of the time, but to keep it simple just go with the basic accepted colors.

 

[scrapmom5]

I have blue, two white, 2 that I think could be wheaten and one that is dark gray at the tail that fades to white on the head. (looks alot like the egyptian fairsomething). Does it matter if it has a fluffly face?

 

[Anne]

Quote:
Yes and no. Before Araucanas and Ameraucanas were added to the American Standard of Perfection, "Easter Egger" was a nickname for ALL blue- and green-egg-laying chickens.

Now that Araucanas and Ameraucanas have been standardized, "Easter Egger" usually refers to the mixed-heritage colored-egg-laying birds sold by hatcheries. Essentially, they are mixed breeds crossed with mixed breeds crossed with mixed breeds for many, many generations. Since they have so much genetic variability, their appearance varies from bird to bird. Most retain some Ameraucana-like traits, such as beards/muffs, pea combs, and colored eggs, but that's where the likeness ends. It is extremely, extremely rare to get a bird from a hatchery that could actually qualify as an Ameraucana.

Quote:
The American Standard of Perfection determines what is or isn't so. It specifies all breed standards. Both Ameraucanas and Araucanas must adhere to the standards for their breed and the color varieties within their breed. The Standard specifies EVERYTHING, including plumage color, comb type, body type, leg color, skin color, eye color, body weight, and egg color!

Now, I raise Araucanas. These birds do not "breed true" so not all of them conform to the Standard for their breed. If a bird has a few faults, do I still call it an Araucana? Absolutely. I know that it is an Araucana, because I can verify its heritage, and it still has most of the traits of an Araucana.

Occasionally, I hatch a bird that has had the misfortune to inherit very few Araucana traits, and would not be distinguishable from a flock of Easter Eggers or mixed breeds. But it had purebred parents, so do I still call it an Araucana? Personally, I say no. If I sell it, I sell it as an Easter Egger.

There are a few other breeds around which some confusion exists, but none to the extent of the Araucana/Ameraucana/Easter Egger mix-up! Mostly the confusion is due to hatcheries mis-labeling their birds.

In short: Let's spare your girls an identity crisis -- they are Easter Eggers!

 

[Kev]

It is one big mess. Even the ones more informed on this topic still make some mistakes, like I see on this thread even.

To use the Yorkie analogy for you.. Yorkies have a standard that call for a specific color(it's black and tan for them right?) and a long coat plus a general look.

To continue the analogy:

The Yorkies as you know it are analogous to Arauacana and Ameraucana. Those two are breeds with their own standards. Maybe the analogy would be these are Yorkie and Silky Terrier.

Easter Egger has a very wide analogy example here. They can be literally anything from a Yorkie cross, Yorkie mixes, mixed Yorkie "line" that can look like a Yorkie however they can be bigger, or smaller or have way too long legs etc. This particular analogy for the EE can be no beards, tan/brown eggs(that would be like a short or smooth coat on a Yorkie mix), obvious Chihuahua/Pom/another breed features in a particular "Yorkie".

Here's where I think where it gets really confusing for a lot of people: it so happens a lot of EE are analogous to a dog that looks more or less like a proper Yorkie.. except it's solid black. Or white. Or brindled..

It appears a lot of EE stock are heavily Ameraucana stock based, either freely bred to color or are crosses with or are repeated crosses with so they "look" Ameraucana but are not in any of the accepted colors or may have wrong leg color. It'd be same with a mix that was bred back to a pure Yorkie but in all sorts of different colors so a lot of them look distinctly Yorkie.. but in "the wrong color".

The hatcheries tend to sell the wrong colored Yorkies or obvious Yorkie mixes AS the Breed itself.

I think the problem is that people(in general) know of "Araucana" and want THAT bird.. but the true Araucana has traits that don't make it a good candidate for mass breeding to meet the demand. Ameraucana and EE are far better for mass production... but people demand the NAME.. it's not that different from people insisting on "label" clothing and products.