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Hey, what's wrong with Vegas chicks?!? LOL!!!
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I know exactly what you mean. Some folks take this way too seriously! I have both pure ameraucanas and EEs and I love 'em all. Ok, first off all ameraucanas originally come from EEs. An EE is basically a mutt bird (like me, lol) that carries the blue egg and pea comb gene. An EE can lay any color egg, blue, green, pink, brown... An ameraucana
should lay a blue or blue/green egg.
Both have pea combs. Ameraucanas must conform to the standards which means slate/black colored legs (EEs usually have green legs but this varies), bay eyes, standard colors (some of which have not been accepted by the APA, like lavenders), have beards and muffs... I have black and wheaten ameraucanas and none of them lay a perfectly blue egg. My EEs however are definitely green layers except for the couple that lay a brown egg.
Since all ameraucanas are originally from EEs they all have the potential to lay an egg that is not blue, even though the blue gene is dominate, because all it takes to get a recessive gene to pop up is for both parents to carry the recessive gene and all ameraucanas do. Maybe most breeders are so touchy because they know that their birds are not perfect yet (as a breed I mean). That's why I like them though, they are a challenge.
Here's a link that has more info (+ more links to even more info).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameraucana
Hope this helps!
Thank you for this explanation. It is very helpful. I have a question. I was told my "Ameraucana" was really an EE, which I fully believe the experts on here. I would love to know why on her. She has blackish gray legs, not green, but she lays olive eggs. (Does laying olive eggs make her an EE)
Here is her picture. Again I believe the experts, I would just like to know what about her makes her an EE not Ameraucana. Does that make sense?
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/babyrnlc/chickens/chicken-3.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/babyrnlc/chickens/chicken-4.jpg
One thing more about this...what makes Ameraucanas (AM) purebred as opposed to EE's is the ability to breed true. With AM's you should have birds with the same markings/patterns and coloration whereas with EE's anything goes. Yours may LOOK like an AM but most would assume her not to be UNLESS you got her from a breeder, because otherwise how would one know if SHE bred true. As Sunny stated, there are many people working very hard to create and adheer to a certain standard as listed on the AM breeders website. Even those purebred birds that don't meet those standards are considered EE's. Those breeders can get a bit testy when we get birds from the feedstore or a hatchery sold as Americanas (note the spelling) or Auracanas that don't/won't/can't conform to the standard that they are working so hard for. So pretty much if you have to ASK if it is an AM it is most always an EE. The hardest part is that the hatcherys sell EE's (with various feather colors/patterns and various egg color) as AM's which should have standard or set colors of both feathers and eggs(ie. no brown, gray, pink, tan, etc.) This leads to lots of disappointed owners that thought what they had was an AM and the real breeders of AM's get so tired of constantly having to explain the difference to those misled new owners. Trust me when I say that most of us have been where you are. Most of us found out the hard way that we had EE's but, personally, they are my favorites. I love that I can tell them apart, that it's a surprise what that chick will look like and what color of egg she (hopefully) will lay. To me, variety IS the spice of life! Here's the thread that discusses the differences between the different breeds. BTW your hen is a beauty!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=128806
And Sunny, if you come to Vegas, I'm gonna need you to bring some of those black AM X wheaten AM eggs with you! That would be a cool mix!
