True Ameraucana?

[donrae]

I'll give them credit for simply being ignorant and not flat out lying. But those aren't Ameraucana, according to the SOP. From their own website....

Add some color to your flock with this interesting breed that lays an array of colored eggs! Egg colors can include blue, green, pink, or olive drab. The birds vary in color and size, some with whiskers and others with muffs of feathers covering the ears.

SOP Ameraucana only lay blue eggs. They come in specific, standard colors, like any pure bred. When you buy Rocks, you buy barred, or buff, or white, etc. When you buy Wyandottes, you buy gold laced, or colombian, etc. When you buy Ameraucana, you buy black, or wheaten, etc. You don't just get random birds that come in various colors and sizes and lay different colored eggs. That's the opposite of a Standard

I'm glad you're going to be happy with your birds. Most of us enjoy our Easter eggers more than pure Ameraucana, for the very reasons that they're different colored and we get different colors of eggs. I'll always have some in my flock

 

[junebuggena]

So I swore up and down I wouldn't buy any birds this year since I have 30 in the coop, but I stopped at TSC so my 3 yr old could see the chicks at "Chick Days" and six "Ameraucana" chicks just happened to follow me home. I won't buy hybrid birds ever again, but I was skeptical these were true Ameraucanas with the stripes and chipmunk markings, but what do I know about this breed? Nothing.

Once I got them home I did a little bit of research and I'm wondering now just what I have in my basement. Anyone want to take a gander? I'm fairly decent at sexing now - so I'm pretty sure I have 3 males, maybe 4 and definitely 2, maybe 3 females. But Breed? I'm thinking I actually have four Silver Ameraucana, One Wheaten and One Black.

Anyone else care to weigh in? They are all three days old.

Those are Easter Eggers. And they aren't really cross breeds, they just haven't been bred to meet any sort of specific breed standard. They will be pretty birds that could potentially lay a variety of egg colors. And they are much too young to even try to guess the gender. Wing feather sexing does not work with Easter Eggers.

 

[Lelilamom]

I'll give them credit for simply being ignorant and not flat out lying. But those aren't Ameraucana, according to the SOP. From their own website....

Add some color to your flock with this interesting breed that lays an array of colored eggs! Egg colors can include blue, green, pink, or olive drab. The birds vary in color and size, some with whiskers and others with muffs of feathers covering the ears.

SOP Ameraucana only lay blue eggs. They come in specific, standard colors, like any pure bred. When you buy Rocks, you buy barred, or buff, or white, etc. When you buy Wyandottes, you buy gold laced, or colombian, etc. When you buy Ameraucana, you buy black, or wheaten, etc. You don't just get random birds that come in various colors and sizes and lay different colored eggs. That's the opposite of a Standard

I'm glad you're going to be happy with your birds. Most of us enjoy our Easter eggers more than pure Ameraucana, for the very reasons that they're different colored and we get different colors of eggs. I'll always have some in my flock

I saw that on their website as well. They can't possibly be Ameraucana. I too hope the same thing - ignorance and not deception on the part of the Hatchery. Still, I hate false advertising, even if it's inadvertent.

But all in all, Great Sleuth Work BYC Folks! Hopefully, these birds will be healthy and happy and grow to lay lots of eggs that will amuse and taste great.

 

[lorriesp]

These chicks at family farm and home were yellow, white, and very light brown.

 

[ejcrist]

Well this is all very interesting. I can't contradict anything anyone is posting because I simply don't have enough knowledge on the subject! I did contact the TSC I purchased the birds from and asked who they obtained them from. They said Townline Hatchery in MI. I called Townline and spoke to them. I explained what I purchased and where and asked if it was possible that their Ameraucanas were indeed Easter Eggers and they were using the names interchangeably. She said without a doubt they were "True Ameraucanas" as that is what they breed and sell. I thanked her and wished her a good day.

I have my doubts but really in the end, it doesn't matter. As long as I end up with a friendly, egg laying bird and a easy going, non-aggressive yet protective rooster, I'm happy. Just call them chickens.

The wifi I'm on has the site blocked, but I purchased Easter Egger chicks that were supplied by Townline and seem to remember that on their site they list them as Easter Eggers, not as Americaunas.

I just looked them up and didn't see Easter Egger's listed separately.

This is Townline's description for Ameraucana's:

Add some color to your flock with this interesting breed that lays an array of colored eggs! Egg colors can include blue, green, pink, or olive drab. The birds vary in color and size, some with whiskers and others with muffs of feathers covering the ears.

Ameraucana's lay only blue eggs. The birds they sell are Easter egger's. Nothing wrong at all with EE's. Actually Ameraucana's are thought to have been bred from Easter Egger's. The reason they lay different colored eggs is because they are mixes that have some Ameraucana in them. For example, if mixed with a brown egg layer an EE will lay a green egg (brown + blue = green). If you want them for multi-colored eggs and/or as pets they are just what the doctor ordered. But if you want pure, blue-egg laying Ameraucana's you'll have to get them from a reputable breeder. Pure Ameraucana's lay blue eggs, have beards and muff's and come in the colors outlined in the APA's Standard of Perfection. Also refer to the SOP for shank and feet color, type (shape), size, etc.

 

[dekel18042]

Those are Easter Eggers. And they aren't really cross breeds, they just haven't been bred to meet any sort of specific breed standard. They will be pretty birds that could potentially lay a variety of egg colors. And they are much too young to even try to guess the gender. Wing feather sexing does not work with Easter Eggers.

That said, I have and have had both Ameraucana and Easter Eggers (Sometimes spelled Americana, differentiated by spelling with an I) and I prefer my Easter eggers. Both are similar birds and friendly, but the EE's lay more and I get a better variety of colors in the adults I don't want a cookie cutter flock. My EE's lay beautiful true blue to greenish blue eggs, but by selecting for color and using roosters that carry the very blue gene (One of mine is an Ameraucana, the others EE) I am moving more towards the blue side, but don't want to lose the green entirely as I like varied color eggs.
Did you buy the chicks as straight run or pullets? Just for grins I am going to guess the little spotted one (Chipmunk stripes are broken) is a cockerel. I'll say girls on the others.

 

[ejcrist]

I saw that on their website as well. They can't possibly be Ameraucana. I too hope the same thing - ignorance and not deception on the part of the Hatchery. Still, I hate false advertising, even if it's inadvertent.

But all in all, Great Sleuth Work BYC Folks! Hopefully, these birds will be healthy and happy and grow to lay lots of eggs that will amuse and taste great.

Gosh, your experience is extremely mild compared to a lot of hatcheries' claims. A lot of hatcheries will have a picture of a SOP bird in their catalog but say it's not for 4-H use. How can they advertise a SOP bird like in the picture but sell something that would be disqualified? I'm not knocking hatcheries per-se because they are just doing what businesses do which is meeting a demand for a reasonable price while not breaking any laws and making a profit. I ran into the same thing and was pretty disappointed when I found out what all was going on.

The Cliff Notes version is that chickens don't have pedigrees like dogs do, and breeders refer to the Standard of Perfection to determine what the breed should look like. Even though a given chick may have come from two pure-breed parents, if the chick doesn't have characteristics for that breed that are found in the SOP it isn't considered that breed. A lot of birds from SOP parents may not have a lot of the characteristics of the breed and as a result breeders cull these, and by cull I also mean sell, give away, etc., not always doing away with them. This occurs even though breeders carefully select for characteristics. Most hatcheries on the other hand do not selectively breed, so the outcome is a gaggle of chicks that don't usually meet any standard. There probably are very rare cases where a hatchery bird might have potential but I've never seen it, and don't know anyone that has. Heck, I have a hard enough time breeding carefully selective birds to have the proper characteristics. So anyway, that's the long and short of it. People often have a hard time understanding how two pure-bred parents can produce anything but pure-bred birds that have the same coloring as the parents, but coloring alone isn't the only thing that defines a breed. Look at Dominique's and Barred Rocks - similar coloring but two completely different breeds. I'm denser than most so it took me a while to understand the whole chicken-pure breed thing.

Even though my first layer flock turned out not to be the breeds I bought and paid for, I still enjoy them very much. They lay much better than the SOP birds I'm breeding now and are very hardy. When asked what I'd recommend to new chicken farmers I always ask what their goal is, and if it's eggs I always recommend to buy from a hatchery since you can't beat the value.

 

[BantamLover21]

I'll give them credit for simply being ignorant and not flat out lying. But those aren't Ameraucana, according to the SOP. From their own website....

Add some color to your flock with this interesting breed that lays an array of colored eggs! Egg colors can include blue, green, pink, or olive drab. The birds vary in color and size, some with whiskers and others with muffs of feathers covering the ears.

SOP Ameraucana only lay blue eggs. They come in specific, standard colors, like any pure bred. When you buy Rocks, you buy barred, or buff, or white, etc. When you buy Wyandottes, you buy gold laced, or colombian, etc. When you buy Ameraucana, you buy black, or wheaten, etc. You don't just get random birds that come in various colors and sizes and lay different colored eggs. That's the opposite of a Standard

I'm glad you're going to be happy with your birds. Most of us enjoy our Easter eggers more than pure Ameraucana, for the very reasons that they're different colored and we get different colors of eggs. I'll always have some in my flock

x2

 

[Lelilamom]

Gosh, your experience is extremely mild compared to a lot of hatcheries' claims. A lot of hatcheries will have a picture of a SOP bird in their catalog but say it's not for 4-H use. How can they advertise a SOP bird like in the picture but sell something that would be disqualified? I'm not knocking hatcheries per-se because they are just doing what businesses do which is meeting a demand for a reasonable price while not breaking any laws and making a profit. I ran into the same thing and was pretty disappointed when I found out what all was going on.

The Cliff Notes version is that chickens don't have pedigrees like dogs do, and breeders refer to the Standard of Perfection to determine what the breed should look like. Even though a given chick may have come from two pure-breed parents, if the chick doesn't have characteristics for that breed that are found in the SOP it isn't considered that breed. A lot of birds from SOP parents may not have a lot of the characteristics of the breed and as a result breeders cull these, and by cull I also mean sell, give away, etc., not always doing away with them. This occurs even though breeders carefully select for characteristics. Most hatcheries on the other hand do not selectively breed, so the outcome is a gaggle of chicks that don't usually meet any standard. There probably are very rare cases where a hatchery bird might have potential but I've never seen it, and don't know anyone that has. Heck, I have a hard enough time breeding carefully selective birds to have the proper characteristics. So anyway, that's the long and short of it. People often have a hard time understanding how two pure-bred parents can produce anything but pure-bred birds that have the same coloring as the parents, but coloring alone isn't the only thing that defines a breed. Look at Dominique's and Barred Rocks - similar coloring but two completely different breeds. I'm denser than most so it took me a while to understand the whole chicken-pure breed thing.

Even though my first layer flock turned out not to be the breeds I bought and paid for, I still enjoy them very much. They lay much better than the SOP birds I'm breeding now and are very hardy. When asked what I'd recommend to new chicken farmers I always ask what their goal is, and if it's eggs I always recommend to buy from a hatchery since you can't beat the value.

I have to admit I've dealt less with hatcheries than many of my fellow backyard chicken growers. My flock is older and I'm tending toward a "heritage" flock now that I know that many of my beloved girls are closer to the end of their natural lives. I'm not as happy as I thought I'd be with the "pure breed" chickens I've purchased from feed store or hatchery in the past three years and I'm leaning toward breeders in my area, despite price. I learned my lesson with hybrid chickens the hard way and now I'm learning my lesson with chick mills, aka hatcheries. Even though I just have a small flock hiding illegally in my back yard, I still want a quality, healthy bird relatively free of physical, genetic and personality defects. I'm finding that rather difficult to find and so have attempted to grow my own - but I keep losing my Roos to predators! Either way I more than appreciate the incredible knowledge and willingness to help here on BYC.