True EE definition

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Yes, if they are SQ (show quality) and don't have any DQ (disqualifications) then they are 'that breed'. But it'd be darn near impossible to mix a bunch of birds, and not focus on their type or their heritage,and end up it being a SQ 'X' (like a SQ brahma for example

 

[poltroon]

A landrace means something fairly specific - a type of livestock bred in a particular area to meet its particular niche. Icelandic and Swedish Flower chickens fit that definition because they've existed for some time and there's a significant population that have converged on a type just because of where they lived. Livestock groups are landraces rather than breeds because they don't have a studbook and don't have an appearance standard, and tend to have less organized breeding arrangements. Sometimes people make "breeds" out of landraces - in dogs the Border Collie is a good recent example. "Lays a colored egg" is a pretty large niche - you might as well say any chicken that lays brown eggs would be a landrace.

Easter Egger is kind of a useful term and I'm not sure why you wouldn't just embrace it. There's nothing wrong with "mutt" if the resulting birds are useful and desirable to you. Outcrosses are often very hardy and very good at filling a niche. You can't expect them to create offspring that look like the parents but again, there's no reason that has to be an important goal of yours.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

x2 on what CochinBrahmaLover and poltroon said.

A lot of people take mutt offensively but honestly, in all reality, it's a word and not an insult. Fact of life is that they are mutts 90% of the time and there's no way to get around that. Hatchery stock especially has been obviously out-crossed to increase egg production/vigor. This is coming from someone who, for quite some time, bred f1 Ameraucana cross EE's. There's nothing wrong with EE's, but I don't make them out to be something they aren't. Which is a breed. They have no standard (at all), aren't recognized by the APA, etc. How can it be a breed if the breeders don't even work toward a standard or even a general idea? There's not even a singular egg color that they are bred for. Blue and green are the most valued, yes... but they're called Easter Eggers because they can lay just about any color egg.

Making the connection that they are to Ameraucanas like what hatchery stock is to heritage stock is completely off imho. If I purchase an EE from a hatchery, I have no clue what color it's going to be, what conformation it's gong to have, what color eggs it's going to lay, what sort of personality it's going to have. But, if I buy a RIR from a hatchery - I can expect that bird to mimic stock from a quality breeder, just to be of lesser quality. But expecting anything like an Ameraucana from hatchery stock EE's is setting yourself up for disappointment.

If the birds met the standard other than color... had the body type, right shank color, pea combs, muffs and beard, layed blue eggs... you can argue that the bird is non-standard color Ameraucana. After all, project Ameraucanas actually are Ameraucanas that just haven't had their color accepted into the books. But like I said previously fact is very, very few EE's are mixed color because two different color Ameraucanas were bred together.

 

[Klutch]

Is egg color a standard for a breed? We all know show quality hens do not lay the same color every time, I've seen Maran eggs of different color from the same hen on this site.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

It is - not down to the shade, no, but the base color and general shade for eggs is always written in the standard. You can never be precise on the shade of course - but an Ameraucana should always lay blue, just like a Marans should lay some darker shade of brown.

 

[Spangled]

Wonder what is true definition of an EE
A hen that lays a colored egg?
a chicken hatched from Amercanana or Aruacana and another breed .colored egg layer or not?
A chick born of an EE and another breed? Are they EE?
Anybody know for sure?
I have some EE hens that are crossing with a few other pure breeds.Can a chick when grown from a green egg layer lay a colored egg too?

Dear Roxannemc,

Here's an interesting thread at BYC that explains some of what your asking about. It's one of my favorites.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/402512/quechua-tojuda-ameraucana-easter-eggers-in-vino-veritas

I enjoy having green egg layers around our place. They have a noble history and are hardy birds. The ones I get from Cackle have always laid a green egg (no browns) and have consistently had good temperament, almost as if Cackle is paying attention to how they are breeding their green egg layers.