What is a "Real" Araucana?

[The Monkey Mama]

OK, just curious. I am very confused about what is an "Ameraucana" vs an "Easter Egger" vs a true "Araucana" [and I may be spelling those wrong!]

One of our first hens was sold to us as a "real" pure blood Araucana, but on learning more, I don't think that is true. She is a beautiful hen, and she has cheek muffs, but she also has a tail and I read recently that the "real" thing has no rump? She also lays medium sized green eggs and I read that real Araucanas lay blue ones?

Is this right? And then what is the difference between the "Ameraucana" and an "Easter Egger"? We have several "Ameraucanas" that we hatched from eggs off eBay and they are gorgeous, but I just wondered if I was calling them the right thing.

Also, if one wanted to purchase "real" Araucanas, what would be a good place to find one?

Thanks!

Kelly

 

[Guitartists]

Araucanas are a tufted rumpless breed (though some will be born without tufts because the tuft gene can be fatal and sometimes will show a partial or full tail... but these are undesirable traits...except for the tuftless are good for breeding without ending up with two lethal copies of the tufted gene)

See here.... http://www.araucana.net/


Ameraucanas are another breed that lays blue eggs, though there appears to be NO Araucana blood in their backgrounds. They have muffs and a beard and a tail. They MUST meet the standard and listed colors to be considered a true Ameraucana

See here..... http://www.ameraucana.org/index.html

Easter Eggers are typically Non-standard Ameraucanas or Ameraucana crosses, though technically, since they have NO standard, any blue egg laying chicken could be referred to as an EE even if it is a mixed breed. They typically have muffs and or beards, a tail, green legs and come in ALL kinds of colors!

And here.... http://www.ameraucana.org/faq.html This will explain about Easter Eggers



There are a few true Araucana breeders here on the BYC. You just have to check around. The bad thing is that they are hard to hatch as there is a chance of chick mortality due to the tufted gene.

 

[Anne]

Hi there,

I raise Araucanas and wrote a BYC member-submitted breed page on them. You can check it out here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=441

There's also some pretty good info about the differences between Araucanas, Ameraucanas, and Easter Eggers on my website:

http://araucanasonline.com/page5.html

I hope that helps!

-Anne

 

[Anne]

P.S.

Araucanas are SUPPOSED to be rumpless and lay blue eggs, but it's pretty common for tails to pop up here and there, and due to "genetic contamination" I unfortunately get plenty of green eggs from my flock.

EDIT: However, the fact that your hen has cheek muffs indicates that it might be an Ameraucana, or far more likely, an Easter Egger. In the U.S., Araucanas absolutely must NOT have muffs and beards.

 

[Anne]

P.P.S.

What color legs do your birds have? Sometimes leg color can be a surefire way to identify an Ameraucana vs. an Easter Egger without seeing pictures.

 

[The Monkey Mama]

Thanks for the info!!! I feel much more informed now.

Anne, thanks for your info, I'm going to go check out your website now!

Kelly