Why Are EE really not Considered a Breed to Show ??

[chickbrad24]

So they are designer chickens like the golden doodle is a designer dog. I have 2 EE a rooster and hen. She lays a light blue egg I did not confuse them with Ameraucanas because I did read that a lot of feed stores and hatcheries sell them as Ameraucanas. I was just very curious as to why they were not like an official breed.

 

[Michael OShay]

So then will an EE always be considered a mutt breed ? Is it even considered a breed ?

No, an EE is not a breed; it is a hybrid produced by crossing blue egg layers with brown egg layers to produce offspring that lay in different colors. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/09/ameraucana-easter-egger-or-araucana.html explaining the difference between EEs, Ameraucanas, and Araucanas.

 

[Herdsman01]

If you go to Cackle Hatchery's website and find their EE (they are listed in the rare breed section) they have videos of their breeder flocks. I watched the videos and I could only pick out one hen that did not have a beard. All the rest have beards, green legs and for the most part look the same. There is also about every color of bird imaginable mixed in there. We have had many EE from them in the past and all the birds we got looked just like these parent flocks and we always had blue/green eggs never brown or pink. Since the chicks look like the breeder flock doesn't that say they breed true, at least for their type? Are Cackles birds just production bred Ameraucanas? Or are they cross breds that have been bred so long they now breed true? I haven't had experience with EE form other hatcheries.

 

[enola]

Easter eggers look similar, I agree with that. But, I have a question, have you ever studied an SOP?

 

[chickbrad24]

Easter eggers look similar, I agree with that. But, I have a question, have you ever studied an SOP?

What is SOP ? Is that Standard of Perfection ?

 

[chickbrad24]

If you go to Cackle Hatchery's website and find their EE (they are listed in the rare breed section) they have videos of their breeder flocks. I watched the videos and I could only pick out one hen that did not have a beard. All the rest have beards, green legs and for the most part look the same. There is also about every color of bird imaginable mixed in there. We have had many EE from them in the past and all the birds we got looked just like these parent flocks and we always had blue/green eggs never brown or pink. Since the chicks look like the breeder flock doesn't that say they breed true, at least for their type? Are Cackles birds just production bred Ameraucanas? Or are they cross breds that have been bred so long they now breed true? I haven't had experience with EE form other hatcheries.

I also completely agree that they all look similar.

 

[enola]

Yes SOP is Standard Of Perfection.

In order for a breed to meet the SOP, they have to do much more than just look similar.

 

[chickbrad24]

Yes SOP is Standard Of Perfection.

In order for a breed to meet the SOP, they have to do much more than just look similar.

Who does determine the SOP of a breed, the person who worked on the breed ?




Edited to add more

 

[enola]

Are you considering attempting to get Easter eggers accepted by the APA?

Have you ever read any breed's SOP?

They are EXTREMELY detailed. It takes YEARS of dedicated breeding, by MANY breeders to perfect a new breed. Then it takes 5 (I think) years of showing to get the APA to accept the new breed.

In my opinion, trying to standardize the Easter egger into a breed will ruin what they already have going for them. Easter eggers are as popular as they are because they all look different and they all lay different colored eggs.

In order to make them an accepted breed, with an SOP they would all have to look the same and lay the same colored egg.

 

[chickbrad24]

No I am not trying to get EE's accepted into the APA, I am just very curious of how the EE came about. Who decided to cross certain breeds to develop the EE Was it hatcheries was it a mistake was it a scam to get people to believe they were getting Amracaunas ?