What is the difference between an Easter Egger and an Auracana?

[junebuggena]

Like I said. Ameraucana only come in a few colors. Easter Eggers can be any color/pattern combination. Ameraucana only have pea combs. Easter Eggers usually have pea combs, but occasionally, one will pop up with a single comb. The bottoms of an Ameraucana's feet should be white. Easter Eggers usually have yellow foot bottoms. The bottom of the foot is an easy place to see the skin color. Ameraucana are always muffed and bearded. Easter Eggers can be muffed, bearded, or neither.
Basically, any bird that resembles an Ameraucana, but doesn't meet the breed standard is an Easter Egger.
Ameraucana can be very slow to mature and develop. It can take a pure Ameraucana pullet about 6 to 8 months to be mature enough for laying eggs. Some take even longer. They are not great layers when they do start, giving about 3 or 4 eggs a week.
Easter Eggers mature a bit faster. Most reach laying age by 20 to 25 weeks. They are generally much better producers than pure Ameraucana. One of mine lays nearly every single day. Blue eggs are not guaranteed. Most will lay a shade of green or blue green. Some will lay brown, white, or cream. There is no way to tell what color egg a pullet will lay, but the pea comb is a good indicator of having at least one blue egg gene.
There can be a wide range of sizes in Easter Eggers. My rooster is a big boy (at least 8 pounds). I have a pullet that's almost the same size as him (she's about 6 pounds), and I have another that is tiny. She's barely 4 pounds.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The difference is EE are mixed breeds and Ameraucana/
Arucana are pure breeds. If you do a quick google search on physical characteristics of those breeds it will quickly tell you what they look like. As EE are basically mutts they have a multitude of physical characteristics.

 

[enola]

And it is spelled Ameraucana.

There is no such thing as Americana.....

 

[Michael OShay]

And it is spelled Ameraucana.

There is no such thing as Americana.....

X2 on enola's post. Hatcheries frequently and incorrect market their Easter Eggers under the label Ameraucana, often misspelling it (I think intentionally because they know their EEs are not Ameraucanas) as Americana or Americauna. Any such misspellings are a sure sign that the sellers are selling are Easter Eggers and not true Ameraucanas.

 

[CrazyTalk]

The difference is EE are mixed breeds and Ameraucana/
Arucana are pure breeds.

"mixbreed" and "pure breed" mean nothing in the chicken world - birds either meet the breed standard, or do not.

Auracanas' tuft gene is fatal when homozygous, but it's required in the breed specification, so all Auracana are heterozygous for the tufts. When you breed them together, you get 25% chicks that die in the shell, 50% Auracanas (heterozygous), and 25% birds that do not have tufts, do not meet the breed standard, and are therefore easter eggers.

Many Auracana breeders keep two flocks - one of tufted birds and one of untufted birds(which are easter eggers, not Auracana), and breed between them - this means that they don't get any chicks that are homozygous for tufts and die in the shell - they instead get 50/50 tufted/untufted - IE, 50/50 Auracana/Easter Egger.


Quote: The definition the APA and Ameracauna Breeders Association gives for Easter Egger is basically "Any bird with the blue egg gene that doesn't match any breed specification" - so EEs can't lay white, brown or cream. If a bird lays those colors, it doesn't have the blue egg gene, and doesn't match the definition.

 

[junebuggena]

"mixbreed" and "pure breed" mean nothing in the chicken world - birds either meet the breed standard, or do not.

Auracanas' tuft gene is fatal when homozygous, but it's required in the breed specification, so all Auracana are heterozygous for the tufts. When you breed them together, you get 25% chicks that die in the shell, 50% Auracanas (heterozygous), and 25% birds that do not have tufts, do not meet the breed standard, and are therefore easter eggers.

Many Auracana breeders keep two flocks - one of tufted birds and one of untufted birds(which are easter eggers, not Auracana), and breed between them - this means that they don't get any chicks that are homozygous for tufts and die in the shell - they instead get 50/50 tufted/untufted - IE, 50/50 Auracana/Easter Egger.


The definition the APA and Ameracauna Breeders Association gives for Easter Egger is basically "Any bird with the blue egg gene that doesn't match any breed specification" - so EEs can't lay white, brown or cream. If a bird lays those colors, it doesn't have the blue egg gene, and doesn't match the definition.

About the white, brown or cream eggs, those colors are entirely possible from hatchery bred birds that are sold as Ameraucana or Araucana. It doesn't happen very often, but it can happen. It's even more likely when some one with hatchery "Ameraucana," start breeding their birds. There's no way to be sure what's been added in previous generations, so there is no way to guarantee the inheritance of the blue egg gene. Non colored egg layers do happen.

 

[enola]

Araucana is the proper spelling.

It is entirely possible to get Easter eggers from hatcheries that lay other colors than green or blue. However, in my opinion an Easter egger that lays brown or cream colored eggs are just another brown egg layer. So when néwbies order Americanas they are really getting ripped off when they lay brown eggs. Not only did they not get colored eggs, they didn't even get Easter eggers.

 

[enola]

I would also like to add, dedicated Araucana breeders do not refer to their clean faced birds as Easter eggers. They realize clean faced birds are not show quality, but consider them necessary to their breeding program.

Personally, I prefer the clean faced chickens over the tufted ones.

 

[MeepBeep]

The definition the APA and Ameracauna Breeders Association gives for Easter Egger is basically "Any bird with the blue egg gene that doesn't match any breed specification" - so EEs can't lay white, brown or cream. If a bird lays those colors, it doesn't have the blue egg gene, and doesn't match the definition.

The problem is that a majority of the hatcheries do not adhere to any recognized definition of 'Easter Egger' but their own, and to many that just means they lay a colored egg...

On a side note, I know 'wikipedia' says the APA defines Easter Eggers as a blue gene carrier but I fail to actually see any APA definition...

And the ABA makes it clear that EE are not a breed, just a generic catch all term for a blue gene carrier that either doesn't meet their standards or fails to breed true 50% of the time...

 

[enola]

The APA doesn't even recognize Easter eggers because they are not a breed they are a mutt.

I am not sure what the ABA is.