OH, NO....Is she actually a HE? EE or Ameraucana?

[bruceha2000]

The Ameraucana/EE confusion thing is never ending. If the hatcheries would just call their EEs (which is NOT an APA recognized breed) Easter Eggers instead of Ameraucana/Araucana/Americana it would be resolved.

I don't know why they do it, EEs are very popular birds, I have 4. The oldest (nearly 6) came from Ideal in Texas under the name Ameraucana. I called them on it in an email and got back the response that they ARE Ameraucana because there is no EE breed. Yeah, right. If it doesn't look like a duck and doesn't quack like a duck it ISN'T a duck!
The other 3 came from Meyer in Ohio, sold as Easter Eggers. Meyer sells one color of APA Ameraucana. @The Moonshiner is correct, a true APA Ameraucana will sell for much more than an EE.

I suppose they can sell them as "Americana" but it is too close to an actual APA breed name and comes across as an attempt to fool the customer. Red Star, Golden Comet, Cinnamon Queen, etc are all red sex links, they aren't APA anything but their names don't sound like anything APA either.

 

[coach723]

Here is a link to pictures of the currently accepted colors for Ameraucana's.
http://ameraucanaalliance.org/photos.html
And here is more info:
http://ameraucanabreedersclub.org/faq.html
My EE cockerels are usually slower to have saddle feathers than the pullets, but depending on the actual parentage, sometimes it's hard to tell until they are older. I'm guessing those are both pullets, a bit more time will tell.

 

[Glitterchicks]

By their price.

Why is it false advertisement to sell them as Americana?
EE is not a breed but has a made up name. Just like hatcheries sell other hybrids with made up names.
Why can't they use the made up name Americana?
Hatcheries were selling "Americana" before Ameraucana were a breed or the term Easter Eggers was coined.

$4.00 MAX

 

[Ms Biddy]

@themoonshiner because Ameraucana is a breed now and calling something similar Americana is misleading. Easter Eggers are hybrids, so calling them Ameraucana hybrids works too.​

 

[Glitterchicks]

The Ameraucana/EE confusion thing is never ending. If the hatcheries would just call their EEs (which is NOT an APA recognized breed) Easter Eggers instead of Ameraucana/Araucana/Americana it would be resolved.

I don't know why they do it, EEs are very popular birds, I have 4. The oldest (nearly 6) came from Ideal in Texas under the name Ameraucana. I called them on it in an email and got back the response that they ARE Ameraucana because there is no EE breed. Yeah, right. If it doesn't look like a duck and doesn't quack like a duck it ISN'T a duck!
The other 3 came from Meyer in Ohio, sold as Easter Eggers. Meyer sells one color of APA Ameraucana. @The Moonshiner is correct, a true APA Ameraucana will sell for much more than an EE.

I suppose they can sell them as "Americana" but it is too close to an actual APA breed name and comes across as an attempt to fool the customer. Red Star, Golden Comet, Cinnamon Queen, etc are all red sex links, they aren't APA anything but their names don't sound like anything APA either.

The hatchery I bought them from used the name "ameraucana" NOT "americana"... not that I care in the slightest that they are Easter Eggers because I adore them either way, however, it's got to be frustrating for those who are trusting that the birds they are buying are true Ameraucanas.

 

[bruceha2000]

@themoonshiner because Ameraucana is a breed now and calling something similar Americana is misleading. Easter Eggers are hybrids, so calling them Ameraucana hybrids works too.​

Not really because EEs are not necessarily a hybrid of Ameraucana and something else. In fact both the APA Araucana and APA Ameraucana were developed from birds that look like what we think of as Easter Eggers (except back then some had tails, some did not, some had muffs and/or beards some had ear tufts). You CAN make an EE by crossing an APA Ameraucana with another breed but I suspect most EEs sold by big hatcheries are descendants of the original birds the Araucana and Ameraucana breeders started with. Meyer's Olive Eggers (again not an APA breed) are created this way:
"Our Olive Eggers were created by crossing some of our foundation stock of Cream Legbars, Black Copper Marans, Welsummers, and Blue Ameraucanas. " Legbars and Ameraucana lay blue eggs, BCM and Welsummers dark brown. The dark brown coating from that half of the pairing on the blue (all the way through) shell ends up being olive.

One thing about APA birds, when you breed them you know what should come out of the egg. With EEs, you have no idea and that is part of the fun.

 

[coach723]

Honestly, it only matters if you are raising/breeding for show or sale, and anyone serious about either of those is going to purchase from a reputable breeder. A true Ameraucana is supposed to breed true at least 50% of the time. For most everyone else no matter what they are called, or what they actually are, is much less an issue, many just want the blue eggs. I've got EE's and EE/wyandotte crosses right now (amongst others), I think it's fun to see what color combos you get and which traits get passed, some are really gorgeous. For me personally, I have bigger things to get all hot and bothered about than what my chickens are called. Obviously I'm not showing, or breeding for anyone but myself!

 

[The Moonshiner]

@themoonshiner because Ameraucana is a breed now and calling something similar Americana is misleading. Easter Eggers are hybrids, so calling them Ameraucana hybrids works too.​

Way back in the day hatchery blue egg layers were sold as Araucana.
As the Aracauna split into what you know as ameraucana it was dubbed americana by hatcheries and then into Ameraucana by breeders looking to get them an approved breed.
Some hatcheries followed suit and change their birds to being called Ameraucana.
Then the name Easter Egger came out. Easter eggers were meant to lay a rainbow of egg colors while all the others were focused on blue eggs.
Some hatcheries don't see the need to keep changing the name of these birds every time the public things they need to.
They have put these birds out in masses for decades know and I guess feel they have the right to call them what they wish.

 

[SteveWin]

$4.00 MAX

Yeah, probably EE. I just bought 6 Blue Ameraucana from Cackle Hatchery, I think the price at that quantity was like $9.90/chick. Their webpage promised that these were the real deal, that they got their breeding stock from the original developer. I have no reason to doubt them so far.

But price can't be the criteria... otherwise, the shady hatcheries will just raise prices on their EE's and say "these are authentic Ameraucana.. see the price tag?"

When choosing a source, I noticed that a lot of hatcheries listed [missing color spec] "Ameraucana", and at the bottom of the description they said "not bred for show"... To me, that line screamed "fake, not authentic, ineligible, you'll get disqualified (and we'll be exposed) if you try to show these as Ameraucana." At the other end of the scale, "My Pet Chicken"s site was all about selling "the best show birds".. but their prices were outrageous, and I think they're a reseller, not an actual hatchery.

BTW, my chicks were sent via USPO from Missouri to Cleveland, OH. They were well packaged and labeled, with a heating pad, and after 36-42 hours in transit, they arrived alert, energetic, and in great shape overall. There's no reason to limit yourself to hatcheries within your driving radius, the mail thing works.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I thought hatcheries sold all their birds with one kind of discamer or another that basically states they represent the breed. In other words they're all poor quality compared to show quality.