What breed is she?

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Not trying to highjack the tread but on my phone I can not start my own. I just hatched some eggs supposed to be ameracuana. What do you think. I figure they are probably EE which would be OK as well.

Do they have green legs or slate legs? Green legs = EE.

Hard to tell for sure until they have real feathers, but none of those have the tell-tale EE chick "look." The blue and blacks look like my blue and black Ams did as newborns. I think you have hope.

 

[BridgetBarger]

There legs are not green would slate be a grayish color?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

There legs are not green would slate be a grayish color?

Yep. So far those babies look to be authentic Ams to me. Again, post some photos once they have lost all their baby fuzz. Here's a photo of my black and blue Ams at hatch (with their hatch mother):

 

[BridgetBarger]

I will post pictures after the baby fuzz is gone. They are adorable either way

 

[Searsmom]

An Easter Egger is any chicken that possesses the “blue egg” gene, but doesn’t fully meet any breed description as defined in the American Poultry Association (APA) and/or the American Bantam Association (ABA) standards. To clarify, I was going on the fact that a green egg is tied to the blue egg gene since green is a color of egg not possible without the blue egg gene present. I just lump green eggs in with the blues. That being said: "Easter Eggers are everything from the reject Ameraucana to the extreme mutts." Yes, but only if they carry the blue egg gene and therefore lay blue eggs.
"Easter Eggers can lay green, pink, blue - if the blue gene has been outbred too many times, you will end up with cream, brownish, etc. eggs." No. Easter Eggers are Easter Eggers by virtue of the fact that they carry the blue egg gene and therefore lay blue eggs. An Easter Egger is not an Easter Egger if it lays anything other than blue/blue green/green. A bird that is the result of out breeding so that the blue egg gene has disappeared and therefore lays pink, cream, brownish eggs etc. is not an Easter Egger but a barnyard mix, a Heinz 57.

I'm puzzled. The only reason they started calling them "Easter Eggers" was because they couldn't get away with calling them Ameraucanas anymore. Whether the reason was that they didn't look right or laid an egg that wasn't blue. An Easter Egger IS an off-breed mutt. How can it not be an Easter Egger, if all an Easter Egger is, is a bird that is not an Ameraucana SOP? Meaning...bear with me...I have a hen that have the classic muffs/beard that lays a cream colored egg. Then I have a hen with no beard/muffs at all that lays a green egg. Seems like they're both EE because they have the Ameraucana blood lines in there somewhere, but they're mutts. They've been selling pink egg layers as EEs for a long time, because, they can do that with mutts. I'm just puzzled why there is a standard for a mutt that isn't standard.

 

[KieksterChicken]

".I have a hen that have the classic muffs/beard that lays a cream colored egg." Not an Easter Egger because she doesn't carry the blue egg gene and won't pass it on to her offspring.
"Then I have a hen with no beard/muffs at all that lays a green egg." Is an Easter Egger because she carries the blue egg gene and will pass it on to her offspring.
"They've been selling pink egg layers as EEs for a long time, because, they can do that with mutts." They can't do this just because they are mutts. They are mutts that carry a special trait that differentiates them from all other mutts. They do this with the knowledge that a real Easter Egger only lays blue eggs and carries the blue egg gene. They are lying to their clientele. They shouldn't do it as it's a dishonest business practice. Kind of like selling a canned drink with packaging that looks like the Coca-Cola brand, telling you it's Coca-Cola and when you buy it and open the can it's not Coca-Cola but water.
"I'm just puzzled why there is a standard for a mutt that isn't standard." There is a standard, just one standard to follow for an Easter Egger. That standard is "An Easter Egger is any chicken that possesses the “blue egg” gene, but doesn’t fully meet any breed description as defined in the American Poultry Association (APA) and/or the American Bantam Association (ABA) standards." So this includes Ameraucanas, Araucanas and any other purebred bird that is off it's SOP but lays blue eggs and any crossbred bird that doesn't adhere to an breed SOP because of this but carries the blue egg gene.
"The only reason they started calling them "Easter Eggers" was because they couldn't get away with calling them Ameraucanas anymore." They couldn't call them Ameraucanas because they were off their SOP. They used the name Easter Egger instead because that designated them as birds that carried the blue egg gene and that name/designation came to also include any bird no matter what breed it was that happened to carry the blue egg gene.
" Whether the reason was that they didn't look right or laid an egg that wasn't blue." The sole reason they are called Easter Eggers is because they carry the blue egg gene. It has nothing to do with a birds breed or not looking right. It's just the blue egg/blue egg gene they are looking at. Thats why you can have Easter Eggers that don't display any typical Ameraucana/Araucana traits but that lay blue eggs..because they carry the blue egg gene. As I have clarified, an Easter Egger is an Easter Egger if it carries the blue egg gene. They never started calling them Easter Eggers because they laid an egg that wasn't blue.
" An Easter Egger IS an off-breed mutt. How can it not be an Easter Egger, if all an Easter Egger is, is a bird that is not an Ameraucana SOP?" There are 2 types of birds that can be called Easter Eggers. 1/. A pure bred (meaning not crossed with any other breed) bird usually an Ameraucana or Araucana that is off their SOP and carries the blue egg gene. and 2/. A cross bred bird, a mutt, a bird that is usually a mix of Araucana or Ameraucana with any other breed but can also be any other crossbred bird (no matter what the cross is) that carries the blue egg gene. The mutts are the ones the large scale hatcheries sell misleadingly labeling them Ameraucanas or Araucanas or various miss- spellings of those names because they are able to sell more that way and make more money and will continue to lie as long as it gets them more money. The off SOP Araucanas and Ameraucanas and therefore designated Easter Eggers, are the ones the serious smaller scale show breeders sell which are culls they remove from their breeding programs in order to keep their bloodlines pure and on SOP in order to preserve the breeds genetics. Usually the culls are killed but some kind hearted breeders who also value making a buck here and there choose to sell them instead..as Easter Eggers which hinges solely on the blue egg gene they carry.
I really hope this clarifies things for you.

 

[VAFarm]

Ummm...back to my chicken??? What happened in here, Squirrel!!!

 

[KieksterChicken]

Sorry, I was answering Searsmoms question about Ameraucanas vs EE's. as she asked for clarification. Apologies. Your chicken is a Production Red most likely. She is a crossbred. She should be an egg laying machine for you, as that is what they are known for. Very nice birds.

 

[VAFarm]

No issues...all the EE vs Ameraucana talk was quite a side road. An educational side road nonetheless.

 

[KieksterChicken]

Lol..and the "Up" reference was great! It's such a good movie..lol!