My purebred Ameraucana hen laid a tan egg!!! D=

[PtldChick]

A friend of mine hatched three 'true' Americaunas...two lavender/blue, one black. Two lay beautiful true blue eggs. One of them lays an olive-colored egg, we think it's the black one. Fault? Throwback? Something jumped the fence? Who knows...but it happens.

I agree with Speckled Hen, I wouldn't include that hen in a breeding program. If she were mine, I'd probably call her an EE due to egg color.

If I were the OP, I'd be suspicious some other bird got in there, although from the picture, the hen looks true to sop - and quite pretty, I'd be happy to have her in my flock.

Coming from the dog world, I also think using the term 'pure-bred' for chicken breeds is somewhat confusing/misleading. SOP judging is all about appearance, not pedigree. Even Americaunas only need breed true 50+% of the time to be considered true. There's no stud book or closed gene pool in chickens.

 

[woodmort]

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Exactly--the problem is that some people seem to think there is a closed gene pool. If you read the history of most chicken "breeds" you'll see there was a constant back crossing to get some kind of quality--egg size and production, quick growth, comb size, hardiness, etc.--and it is never surprising that one would get throwbacks. I would imagine if one were interested in doing it, they could, through careful selection and breeding, create a Ameraucana from a flock of EE's.
BTW, calling an animal a "mutt" isn't a bad thing. Mutts tend to be hardier, less susceptible to disease/birth defects and easier to care for. Truth is most of us are mutts to some degree.

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

Quote:
Exactly--the problem is that some people seem to think there is a closed gene pool. If you read the history of most chicken "breeds" you'll see there was a constant back crossing to get some kind of quality--egg size and production, quick growth, comb size, hardiness, etc.--and it is never surprising that one would get throwbacks. I would imagine if one were interested in doing it, they could, through careful selection and breeding, create a Ameraucana from a flock of EE's.
BTW, calling an animal a "mutt" isn't a bad thing. Mutts tend to be hardier, less susceptible to disease/birth defects and easier to care for. Truth is most of us are mutts to some degree.

Very true.

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

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Yes, we are excluding her from our breeding program and we will either give to a man who raises but doesn't show that lives near us, or keep her for eggs.

 

[EMaker]

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Actually, not so with chickens. If an Ameraucana is the wrong color, it is not an Ameraucana. It is an EE. (I agree, that's odd---if you breed a purple Throughbred horse, it's still a Thoroughbred, just one of an unusual color). Chickens go by SOP, so really, no Ameraucanas should be considered purebred.

 

[EMaker]

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I have solid white EEs, with green legs, beards and muffs. The hens lay blue eggs. I breed the hens, and have for four generations, to my solid white bearded, muffed EE roo, and I get solid white, bearded, muffed, green legged, blue egg laying hens from the female progeny. Are they still mutts, or do I now have purebreds? Come on. Ameraucanas are indeed mutts, as are my solid white EEs. But the point is, SO WHAT?! And p.s., if some Ameraucanas lay egg colors other than blue, they are not in fact breeding true! So, mutts.

At this time, even tho your chickens are breeding true, there is no breed in the SOP that a solid white bearded muffed green legged blue egg laying hen would be described as. Now if they had slate legs, then you would have white Ameraucanas as per the SOP, since they would fit that description. No, they arent mutts (I totally despise that term for chickens, they are crosses, not mutts), they are pretty white chickens that lay blue eggs. You could call them EEs if you'd want, but they don't fit the Ameraucana standard, even tho they are breeding true to their own type.

LOL! That is precisely my point! And YES, they most certainly are mutts, as are Ameraucanas. The only difference is that Ameraucanas have an SOP, and my white EEs do not.

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

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Actually, not so with chickens. If an Ameraucana is the wrong color, it is not an Ameraucana. It is an EE. (I agree, that's odd---if you breed a purple Throughbred horse, it's still a Thoroughbred, just one of an odd color). Chickens go by SOP, so really, no Ameraucanas should be considered purebred.

No, being born the wrong color does not make it an EE, that makes it a defect. An EE is an Ameraucana with other breeds bred into it, recently.

 

[EMaker]

Quote:
Exactly--the problem is that some people seem to think there is a closed gene pool. If you read the history of most chicken "breeds" you'll see there was a constant back crossing to get some kind of quality--egg size and production, quick growth, comb size, hardiness, etc.--and it is never surprising that one would get throwbacks. I would imagine if one were interested in doing it, they could, through careful selection and breeding, create a Ameraucana from a flock of EE's.
BTW, calling an animal a "mutt" isn't a bad thing. Mutts tend to be hardier, less susceptible to disease/birth defects and easier to care for. Truth is most of us are mutts to some degree.

Absolutely agree! Hybrid vigor is a very good thing. Not only are most of us mutts, most chickens are mutts, too...and most breeds of any other mammal were mutts, at some point in time. In order to create a breed, crosses were used. That said, there is a point where a new breed is created, and breeding "true" happens with good reliability. I just don't think that has happened with the Ameraucanas yet...plus, SOP versus pedigree/lineage are too wildly different concepts. I breed animals, albeit not chickens, but I am an experienced breeder, so I'm not pulling this opinion out of my, er, hat. But yes, mutts are usually a good thing and EEs rock.

 

[EMaker]

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Actually, not so with chickens. If an Ameraucana is the wrong color, it is not an Ameraucana. It is an EE. (I agree, that's odd---if you breed a purple Throughbred horse, it's still a Thoroughbred, just one of an odd color). Chickens go by SOP, so really, no Ameraucanas should be considered purebred.

No, being born the wrong color does not make it an EE, that makes it a defect. An EE is an Ameraucana with other breeds bred into it, recently.


Nope, not according to the majority of Ameraucana breeders. If it's not SOP, it's not an Ameraucana. Seriously, do your research first, you're waaaayyy off on many of your statements. I don't intend that as insulting, nor mean, but if you plan to speak out as a champion of Ameraucanas, you should do more thorough research. The organization website is a great resource.

 

[EMaker]

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Actually, not so with chickens. If an Ameraucana is the wrong color, it is not an Ameraucana. It is an EE. (I agree, that's odd---if you breed a purple Throughbred horse, it's still a Thoroughbred, just one of an odd color). Chickens go by SOP, so really, no Ameraucanas should be considered purebred.

No, being born the wrong color does not make it an EE, that makes it a defect. An EE is an Ameraucana with other breeds bred into it, recently.



Sigh. Nope, again. An EE is a bird who carries a blue egg laying gene, not necessarily at all connected to an Ameraucana. Quechua, for example, were introduced to produce the original EEs. The Ameraucana came AFTER the EE, and Quechua, not before. This is what I mean about doing your research....