Oh yea, I was talking to Mom and my Great Aunt a while ago about Araucanas. The birds Grandma would buy from the feed store when Mom was growing up were labeled as Araucana. I quizzed them greatly on the bird characteristics. The birds had rumps, didn't have tufts, and had mixed combs. They couldn't remember if any had beards, but Mom doesn't think they did. Mom and Aunt both said they were good layers and lived to about 6. So most likely they were some hatchery mix. Reading up on the history of the breeds, this is very likely, since hatcheries were cross breeding to get as many birds that laid blue or green eggs as possible. Physical characteristics didn't matter, only if the bird laid an egg other than white or brown.
My mini Pinata cakes didn't turn out as I'd hoped, but the birthday boy and everyone else still thought they were awesome so I won't complain. I'm a TERRIBLE baker so at least they tasted good! Pics in a minute, from the ipad.
