Rhode Island Red and Black Araucana Cross

[cottagechick]

Just daydreaming. Has anyone done this and do you have pictures?

 

[Illia]

I've done New Hampshire and Araucana, but the Araucana was a blue-golden duckwing.

Assuming your Araucana is rumpless and willow legged, you'll get half and half rumpless vs tailed birds, all with yellow legs, all black with hints of golden to reddish color on their neck, sometimes breast, and/or saddle. They'll lay green eggs and have an average size.

If your Rhode Island Red is a heritage type bird (not a production layer) it will make a GREAT dual purpose/meat hybrid.


ETA - Some may have silver instead of gold on them. Depends who is mom/dad

 

[cottagechick]

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What about tufts? Will some of them be tufted or will they have those puffy ee cheeks?

 

[Illia]

If your Araucana has puffy EE cheeks (making it not an Araucana) , the offspring will too, but if not, then no.

If your Araucana has tufts, 50% of the offspring will. If not, then none will. They'll be clean faced.

 

[cottagechick]

Quote:
One has tufts, one doesn't. I thought that, perhaps when you breed an Araucana with a different breed it resulted in puffy cheeks instead of tufts... Interesting. I am dying to see this mix. These little Araucanas have really grown on me. I think the mix would be beautiful.

 

[Stacykins]

Quote:
One has tufts, one doesn't. I thought that, perhaps when you breed an Araucana with a different breed it resulted in puffy cheeks instead of tufts... Interesting. I am dying to see this mix. These little Araucanas have really grown on me. I think the mix would be beautiful.

An adult chicken with ear tufts can only be heterozygous for the trait, not homozygous. Chicks that are homozygous, meaning they carry two copies of the tufting gene, always die in shell, it is 100% lethal. So that is why when a tufted bird is bred to a clean faced one, 50% of the offspring are tufted, having gained the dominant gene.

Edit: Muffs, i.e. 'puffy cheeks' are a completely different trait and not related to tufting.

 

[cottagechick]

Cool. Thanks for the info. Are the puffy cheeks from being breed with an Americana?

 

[Illia]

Puffy cheeks are not related to Tufts, as said above

It's a common misinformation that floats around due to the whole "Easter Eggers are Araucanas and Ameraucanas or brown layers mixed" thing. If they were, there would be few bearded EE's around and more tufted ones, in fact, there would actually be tufted ones. Although some people defend the claim saying they bred the tufts out because of the lethal issue, that isn't so, because only tufted x tufted causes the issue, which only affects 25% of the offspring, plus there's the rumpless trait too, and I doubt hatcheries would put the energy out to specifically choose clean faced, tailed Araucanas

They don't clean up the Frazzle issue. . . . So Araucanas would be even more work.


If a bird has puffy cheeks, it is an Easter Egger or Ameraucana (less likely) but no Araucana has puffy cheeks in the US.

 

[RainyChicks]

Just daydreaming. Has anyone done this and do you have pictures?

Yes, I did. Originally bought her as just a cross breed, but she is blue Araucana x Rhode Island Red. She has ear muffs but I don't know where her feathered feet came from. She's blue with a couple brown dots on her neck and is just going to start laying in a few weeks. I might be able to get some pictures of her tomorrow.

 

[RainyChicks]

She also has a tail, has never been rumpless. Her parents are purebred.