It's the age old question...Ameracauna, Aracauna or EE?

[Pazkez710]

Hi. I am hoping someone can help me identify my chicks. They were sold as Aracaunas at our neighborhood family owned feed store. They use two hatcheries, Townline and McMurray. This batch came from Townline. I know they aren't Aracaunas because they have tail feathers and no ear tufts. They look like they have ear muffs though. We got one last year with more brownish grey feathers but similar marking, she only lays blue eggs. So if someone could help me, i would really appreciate it! I need to know 1) What breed they actually are and what color group and 2) Is one a roo? So here we go...

Thank you for any input you can give me!! There are only three, just in case you were wondering. ..

 

[Blackberry18]

Aracaunas have ear tuffs and no tail, Ameraucanas have muffs and a beard (with a tail), and then Easter Eggers are hybrids that still have the blue egg gene. Also, Aracaunas and Ameraucanas always lay blue to bluish green eggs, while Easter Eggers can lay an assortment of colors. I'd say yours are all Easter Eggers, since the varieties of Amercauna and Aracauna are very specific.

 

[donrae]

Easter Egger, a pullet and a Cockerel.

 

[Michael OShay]

Those are definitely Easter Eggers. The one in the bottom three pics is a cockerel.

 

[Pazkez710]

So if they only lay blue eggs can it still be an Easter Eggers? Just wondering because our other bird who came from the same place last year and only lays blue eggs.Also, how can you tell that the bottom one is a cockrel? Just curious...We suspected because it started picking on the others a little, the comb and the cocka doodle doo kind of gave it away! Lol Thank you all for your time.

 

[rides2far]

You can tell by the red coloring on his wings & the bright red comb.

 

[Blackberry18]

So if they only lay blue eggs can it still be an Easter Eggers? Just wondering because our other bird who came from the same place last year and only lays blue eggs.Also, how can you tell that the bottom one is a cockrel? Just curious...We suspected because it started picking on the others a little, the comb and the cocka doodle doo kind of gave it away! Lol Thank you all for your time.

Easter Eggers can lay blue eggs. They still possess a blue egg gene, which, if mixed with other breeds, can produce pink, tan, or even yellow eggs.

You can tell by the red coloring on his wings & the bright red comb.

I agree.

 

[Michael OShay]

You can tell by the red coloring on his wings & the bright red comb.

Easter Eggers can lay blue eggs. They still possess a blue egg gene, which, if mixed with other breeds, can produce pink, tan, or even yellow eggs.

X2 on both of the above posts; plus the comb has three rows of peas in it which is indicative of a male.

 

[Pazkez710]

Oh thanks!

 

[manychitlens]

So if they only lay blue eggs can it still be an Easter Eggers? Just wondering because our other bird who came from the same place last year and only lays blue eggs.Also, how can you tell that the bottom one is a cockrel? Just curious...We suspected because it started picking on the others a little, the comb and the cocka doodle doo kind of gave it away! Lol Thank you all for your time.

If it came from a hatchery, 99.99% of the time it is actually an Easter Egger, not an Ameraucana. The one exception that I know of is Meyer hatchery, which has blue Ameraucanas. They sell them for something like $22 per bird. So if you got it from a feed store/hatchery, and paid something like $4, it is an EE. They usually (intentionally) mislabel them and call them Ameraucanas but change the spelling to something like Americana or something like that. Nothing wrong with a cute EE!