The nerve of some people....

[Illia]

Easter Eggers are mutts, commonly sold under false claims of an Araucana or Ameraucana. They usually but not always have some form of brown coloration, green legs, and lay green eggs (but they vary a lot, and can even lay blue or brown eggs)


Ameraucanas (no I in the name) are a purebred breed, not sold at feedstores or hatcheries though despite what they say. They come in recognized colors, have blue legs, and lay blue eggs.


Araucanas are a really rare breed, having no tail and no "puffy cheeks" but instead tufts of curling feathers coming from just near the earlobes. They lay blue eggs.


There's several articles on BYC about this, here's a well known one. Personally I think the first post is a tad confusing to read, but if you skim through the thread you'll get a good idea of the difference, visually. Although Easter Eggers vary, they have their more commonly found colors. Ameraucanas can look like Easter Eggers but don't have the same colors; their colors breed true. Araucanas are completely different in that they don't have a beard and don't have a tail.



If anyone is selling you a chicken with blue/green/pink eggs, there's a high chance it is an Easter Egger. A low chance it is a true Ameraucana, and an even lower chance it is an Araucana. If the seller is, say, from BYC - There's a good chance they're not lying. If the seller, though, is a hatchery, feedstore, or someone on Craigslist who spelled the name wrong - Chances are they're selling you Easter Eggers no matter the claim.

 

[BarefootMom]

thanks! I never realized that there were 3 different ones.

helps alot. I have looked at that thread and ended up more confused than when I started! lol I think to be on the safe side I will just call them all EE's !

 

[sourland]

I would have located the 4 H leader and politely brought both situations to his/her attention. First situation may have been an accident, the second was just wrong!

 

[bt03]

I have no idea what I have. I just call them mutts of various breeds. Mine lay from a dark olive green to a pale blue, pink, dark red, and one day we even got a very pretty ping with almost purple speckles. Breeds aren't important to us, especially since it takes so much to figure out what we have really. I would be scared to purchase a pair of "pure breeds" and then end up with some obviously not pure bred traits in their chicks.

 

[Okla-doodle-doo]

We were just talking about this on our Tennessee thread the other day. At our local county fair there are so many crossbred birds that have been "named" its ridiculous. The so called "judges" are not doing any one favors by allowing them to stay in the shows. If a bird is not pure then the judge should hsave it removed. How can you ever respect a judge who doesn't stick to the rules! It certainly isn't teaching the young people any good things. I just don't understand why its allowed to happen.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

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I would have, but the thing is I have no clue how to contact or find them! It's a giant, giant mess. Before I go next year, I'll figure out if there's a number I can call.


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I know! But of course they were! With that scraggly barely-there EE beard/muffs that seem so typical. What gets me the most, perhaps, is that they NEVER disqualify the EEs that are put in the show as Ameraucanas. I saw only ONE real Ameraucana hen out of my count of 17 "Ameraucana" entries. However, I did find 3 real bantams - a poorly colored Blue Wheaten, a blue, and a nice (to my eye) Brown-Red. I would've liked to have that last one....

I didn't even notice. Figures!


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Yeah, I remember seeing that at auctions before. That's the thing - even with the feathers pulled, they were obviously mutt Easter Eggers! Mixed color, had MUFFS and a BEARDS! I mean, I think common sense would kick in when the birds are colored up like barnyard mixes, but I guess not...




I made a video a while back on the differences between the three. Not very in-depth, but I done it none the less. You can find it here.

 

[HHandbasket]

I have a number of EEs and a few true ameraucanas. I find them to all be really sweet and lay delicious eggs.

That being said, I think it's terrible that someone would pull out a chicken's tail feathers just to pretend it would meet the standard of a breed that it is NOT. I hope someone with some clout admonished the person(s) entering those birds!

 

[dainerra]

our local fair allows cross-breeds (chicken/cattle/goats/etc). Not to mention, the judges are really just fair staff who don't know any more about birds than the average person who wanders in off the street.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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And just to be a bit more confusing, the araucana standards in other countries are quite a bit different: muff AND tufts, crests and sometimes even tails.

 

[Stacykins]

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By the way, contact wikipedia in order to have your picture removed from their public domain. Only the actual owner of the photo can release the photo to wikipedia. I know because I released a photo of mine when I wrote an article about a fish species that didn't have any info in the database. They really care about copyrights, actually. Someone stole your photograph and then posted it to wiki with false permission, since they were not the owner. They might even give you the information as to who uploaded the picture so you can pursue the matter.