The EE braggers thread!!!

[salt and pepper]

The chickens that were brought to the U.S. in the 1920's for the world fair that laid the blue eggs from South America, that later became known as EE were a form of quechua chicken from S.A. these chickens had a wild type pattern and beards, muffs, and dark legs, their descendants are the colored egg layers we call EE. This type and their descendants were the only ones given the name ameracana, and sold as such by the hatcheries until the late 70's and early 80's when a group of people standardized solid colors and other things and took the name ameracana and expected the hatcheries to change the name they had been calling their wild type birds that laid blue eggs (EE). There are other colored egg laying chickens that are not referred to as EE, they do not have the muffs, beards, and colored legs like cream legbars for instance.

The descendants of the colloncas which became araucana chickens when imported to North America layed the blue eggs and were rumpless and tufted, these somehow got mixed up in the whole EE thing, but were never sold by the hatcheries as EE (or ameracana).

My original post stated that it was my opinion that EE needed to have beards/muffs/dark legs to be called EE, that is still and always will be my opinion. It is also my opinion that all this talk about EE can be anything, look anyway, etc..... is a bunch of propaganda spread by the "keep all chickens pure" side of chickendom. While it is true the wild type patterning and color can be greatly varied there is still a great deal of "likeness" in the group of chickens (since it isn't a breed) descendent from the quechua of South America. (and central to that "likeness" in my opinion is the facial feathering, and dark legs)

I do know that the easter eggers were the first ameraucanas and such, And that the ameraucana that we know now is just a standardized version, and that the original EE was from south America, and had these traits. But then, what would you call a chicken without a beard that lays blue eggs, and has green legs? The EE is no longer the original collonca, or quechia, or quetro. Do to breeding it only for it's colored eggs, and not so much to look like it's ancestors. I see them as a different strain per say.. Maybe it's just all opinions though.

 

[Kassaundra]

Nothing wrong w/ calling a mixed chicken a mixed chicken. I personally love mixes and don't view it as negative. Yes it is mostly all opinion especially when it comes to what a mixed breed chicken is called. I think there are two very different EE mixes, there is the straight hatchery type that has kept more of the "traditional look" of this type of chicken, and then there are the "designer" type mixes people play with, trying to get this look or that look w/ blue or green eggs. ( I have both by the way so I am not downing either option) but in my opinion these type aren't EE anymore but more EE mixes, or cochin mixes, or NN mixes, or polish mixes etc.......

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
I would beg to differ. The Hatcheries were calling their birds Auracanas in the 70s and 80s and even into the 90s - because I was buying them at that time and that's what they were called. This I have from personal knowledge.

The hatcheries changed their names in the 80s because enough customers contacted them and said "These are not Auracanas - they have a tail". Some hatcheries STILL call them Auracanas or Auracana/Americauna. The tufted gene and the rumpless gene both were bred out of what the Hatcheries breed - because one kills the chicks and the other has fertility problems.

I believe from extensive research that the original South American chickens imported into the US in wake of that "Blue Egg" craze in the 1920s carried all of the traits found in both the Auracanas and Ameraucanas. The quechua chickens (named for the area in which they were found) were a very mixed breed and also laid blue, green, brown, white, purple and gray eggs. The Auracanas and the Ameraucana groups have made the effort to get their Breeds created and recognized by the APA/ABA. The hatcheries bought birds from both types of breeders and mixed them all to make money on the "blue egg" craze which started again in the '70s when those breeds were recognized. The hatcheries also mix in other breeds with their birds to keep the egg laying and health of their birds. So the Wild-Type hatchery Americaunas will remain a mixed non-breed.

I have adopted the name of Easter Eggers for my Americaunas when talking about them on this forum. Outside of this forum they are Americaunas - but not Ameraucanas. I believe the hatcheries chose that name because it suits them to mis-lead people into thinking they are buying a Breed - and because it sells birds. If we can convince them that calling them Easter Eggers would sell the birds - then they probably would change it. One hatchery already has.

Please do further research into the history of these birds as I have done. There was never such a breed as colloncas (which only means "no tail" in Spanish) It was artificially created by one breeder in South America, brought to the worlds fair and mistakenly announced as a "natural breed". It was publicly denounced and apologized for at the next worlds fair but by then the craze had started.

Since the Ameraucana breeders have designated any of their crosses as EEs, and have requested that anybody using this site call their Hatchery Americaunas EEs, and any other blue egg crosses EEs.. there will always be confusion as to what is what.. AMxAM or Hatchery or custom crosses... All the same name. I am starting to side with calling AMxAM "Non-standard Ameraucanas", and calling all the rest "Mixes".

 

[draye]

Quote:
Call 'em what you want. I call them awesome!

 

[chickadoodles]

Can anyone tell me at about what age EE's start laying eggs? I have 8 EE's and two are abt. 4 months old the others are abt. 3 months. I am trying to figure out when to start them on layer feed and oyster shells.
Thanks!

 

[salt and pepper]

Can anyone tell me at about what age EE's start laying eggs? I have 8 EE's and two are abt. 4 months old the others are abt. 3 months. I am trying to figure out when to start them on layer feed and oyster shells.
Thanks!

around 24 weeks.

 

[chickadoodles]

around 24 weeks.

Hi salt and pepper, Thank you!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Hika Ma at 6 days old!

Sleepy baby

 

[mommycakes83]

Your two girls look just like two of mine!! I have posted on another thread because I was hoping that someone could help me sex them...your black and white one gives me hope, I have had 2 people say female, 2 say roo for my Cleo who is her twin! You've got some pretty ladies

. I've Been told that Lady Hawk may be a roo, but she looks very similar to your pretty girl. Any guess??

 

[chickencrazy429]

I'm having guesses about Hazel too.. She's just slightly bigger than Pippy, and I heard something about pullet's pea combs being in a straight line or whatever?

No rooster habits-- just her comb that is confusing me.
Also, what color are Pippy's legs? Are they a color called willow, or am I just clueless here?

They look slate in this lighting, but the below picture is better.