Difference between Easter Eggers and Ameraucanas! With Review. (Optional)

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Intro​

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@TheOddOneOut is the only other person who I have seen touch on this subject. A link to her thread here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...hink-you-have-an-ameraucana-do-check.1421663/

She goes through all the basics. I wanted to go a bit deeper.

HISTORY​

In order to under why there is so much confusion we need to understand HOW the Ameraucana came to be. Ameraucanas were derived from Araucanas. Now WAIT. Before you go shaking your head at me, I don't mean the APA accepted breed "Araucana" as we know it today. Araucana used to be the name for the blue laying chickens imported from South America. Some had tufts, some had muffs and beards, some were even clean faced. Many breeders began breeding them and were breeding them to the standard they thought they should be bred to. Some were breeding rumpless and tufted varieties, while others were breeding muffed and bearded varieties.

Then in 1974 APA accepted "Araucana" as breed. Only, they only accepted the tufted and rumpless variety. Leaving the breeders breading the bearded varieties excluded.

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SPELLING​

Misspelling of Ameraucana and mislabeled Easter Eggers (EEs for short) are my pet peeves. For me is like nails on a chalkboard, teeth-grinding worthy. So I thought I'd help educate people on the difference.

Let's start with spelling. Ameraucana is an APA (American Poultry Association) accepted breed. An Easter Egger is not. Any of the following are NOT Ameraucana's, they are all Easter Eggers: Americana, Ameracauna, Americauna, Ameraucauna, Ameracana, Ameruacana, or any other weird way of spelling Ameraucana is an EE NOT an Ameraucana.

When spelling, make sure you spell it like this: A-M-E-R-A-U-C-A-N-A.

Here is something I once heard someone say, I thought it was incredible and I had to create my own version:







Ameraucana was accepted as an APA recongnized breed in 1984.

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Accepted Colors​

One main difference between Ameraucanas and Easter Eggers is Ameraucanas only come in a very specific set of colors.
Currently, there are nine accepted colors of Ameraucana: self blue (lavender) being the most recent.

Disclaimer: These descriptions of the birds are not the SOP. They are simply a discription of the general color.

Black
Black Ameraucanas are completely covered in black feathers.

Blue
Blue Ameraucanas have a gray color called blue. The hackles are usually garker than the rest of the body. In roosters there will be darker gray splotches around the body.

Blue wheaten
Males appear blue underneath with long orange/golden hackle feathers and saddles. They have big red spots on the wings. Females are more uniform in color.

Brown red
Brown Red Ameraucanas have a black base with long golden hackle and saddle feathers (on males). Males also have dark red wing splotches. Females have red/golden hackle feathers on their head.

Buff
Buff is a light brown/golden color.

Self blue (lavender)
Self Blue is a light gray that remains uniform throughout the feathers, unlike blue which is very splotchy.
According to The Ameraucana Alliance: "The APA now recognizes nine varieties of large fowl: black, blue, blue wheaten, brown red, buff, self blue (1/24/20202), silver, wheaten, and white. What they call "self blue" is really the lavender variety, but the APA officers refuse to use the proper name. The lavender variety is the result of the lavender gene that was identified and termed "lavender" (lav) by poultry scientists back in 1972."

Silver
Silver Ameraucanas are silver duckwing. The males and females feather in very different. Silver Ameraucana Roosters are black. They have big white splotches on the wings, and long flowy black and white saddle and hackle feathers.
Females have a light brown/salmon breast, and silver hackle feathers. Their main feather color is a lovely brown.

Wheaten
Wheaten is very Similair to Blue Wheaten but it lacks the blue underneath.

White
White Ameraucanas have white down throughout.

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Leg Color​

Ameraucanas have blue/slate/black legs.




NOT green.

NOT yellow.

NOT pink.

Or any other color.

Ameraucanas have slate (and black) legs.

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Feet Color​

When talking about feet color people often confuse it with leg color. Leg color is the color of the legs, while feet color is the color of the bottom of the feet.

Ameraucanas have pink feet.

If your Ameraucana has yellow feet, or some other color it is an Easter Egger.



Skin color is the same color as the feet, the feet is just the easiest way to see it.

Ameraucanas have pink/white skin. They don’t have yellow, or any other color.

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Wattles​

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Another thing is wattles.

It's pretty simple but Ameraucanas don't have big ol' wattles like most breeds. They have very teeny (if any!) wattles.

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Comb Type​

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Ameraucanas MUST have pea combs. A pea comb has three rows that appear to be made out of little peas.

An Ameraucana can NOT have any other kind of comb.
That means NO rose comb, cushion comb, walnut comb, single comb, or any other type of weird comb that is not a pea comb.

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Egg Color​

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Ameraucanas lay a gorgeous blue egg (ONLY).

That means No green. No Olive. No spearmint. No pink. No tan. No cream. No brown.

Easter Eggers can lay gorgeous eggs ranging from brown to sky-blue.

Ameraucanas are limited to blue. And blue only.

That doesn’t mean their eggs can’t have a green tint, a heavy bloom can sometimes cause an egg to appear slightly green.



Now don't be fooled, EEs can lay blue eggs too, so just cause your pretty feathered friend lays gorgeous blue eggs doesn't make them pure yet!

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Muffs and Beard​

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Muffs/beards are probably the things that cause the most confusion between Easter Eggers and Ameraucanas.

Beards are those glorious Santa beards that make your adorable Easter Eggers and Ameraucanas look like little chipmunks.

Muffs are the cute little chubby cheeks.

Pretty much all Ameraucanas have beards and muffs, it is very rare for an Ameraucana to be clean-faced. If they are, I would personally not breed them as that is not breed standard.

Easter Eggers do not have to have muffs, but the most common EEs from hatcheries and feed stores, even most breeders do. But that is not mandatory.




Tufts: Ameraucanas do NOT have tufts. Tufts are the feathers that stick out from the face and curve around. They are common in Araucanas.

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Eye Color​

Ameraucanas have red-orange eyes.


Easter Eggers are mutts that have a chance of laying colored eggs.

The definition of an Easter Egger can differ depending on the person. But here is my definition.

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Easter Egger combs
EEs are mutts. This means that they can have any type of comb.

Most commonly they have pea combs.

This is my Easter Egger Scary. She has what appears to be a rose comb.



This was Poshy, she had muffs and a beard, but also had a single comb.



What are Olive Eggers?
"Olive Egger" is a subsection of Easter Egger. They are chickens bred to lay olive eggs. Common mixes are Welsummer x Cream Legbar, and Marans x Ameraucanas, but can be any mix of a dark egg layer and any blue layer.



Now don't be fooled, Easter Eggers are incredible birds. I love both Easter Eggers and Ameraucanas. They can both be extremely sweet, adorable, and lay beautiful eggs. I just want to help teach people the difference and correct spelling of Ameraucanas and Easter Eggers.



Showing Birds!
If you have Pure Ameraucanas and are interested in showing them you will want to check out the SOP (Standard of Perfection)

You can buy the book here: APA store





Before we begin the review I want to credit people who made this article possible!
- @ChocolateMouse
- @JadeFarms


Answer the questions then look at the answer sheet to see if you got it right!

Find out your results at the end!


Question 1

What Coloration of Ameraucana is this?



a) Wheaten
b) Blue Wheaten
c) Blue
d) Not an Ameraucana

Question 2

Is this an Ameraucana or an Easter Egger? (hint: the color is blue)


a) Ameraucana

b) Easter Egger

c) Neither. It's an Araucana.

Question 3

What is the correct spelling?

a) Ameracauna

b) Ameraucana

c) Ameruacana

d) Americana

Question 4

Which Comb is an Ameraucana comb?

a)

b)

c)

d)

Question 5

These are Ameraucana legs:

Truth or False?

a) True

b) False


ANSWERS!

Question 1

What Coloration of Ameraucana is this?



a) Wheaten
b) Blue Wheaten
c) Blue
d) Not an Ameraucana

Question 2

Is this an Ameraucana or an Easter Egger? (hint: the color is blue)


a) Ameraucana

b) Easter Egger

c) Neither. It's an Araucana.

Question 3

What is the correct spelling?

a) Ameracauna

b) Ameraucana

c) Ameruacana

d) Americana

Question 4

Which Comb is an Ameraucana comb?

a)


b)


c)


d)

Question 5

These are Ameraucana legs:

Truth or False?

a) True

b) False


Results!

0-1 correct, You still have some learning to do! Try reading of this and TheOddOneOut's thread again!

2 correct, You are on the right track! You might want to re-read this thread and TheOddOneOut's thread. You will be a master sooner than you know it!

3-4 correct, You are better than most! Keep learning and you can help us fight confusion and misspelling in no time!

5 correct, You are ready for battle! You can join us in helping stop confusion between Easter Eggers and Ameraucanas!



I hope you enjoyed this thread, and I hope you learned something. You may have noticed not all of the Ameraucana colors have photos attached. If you have an Ameraucana with any of the colors, PM me PLEASE. I would love for them all to have photos with both a rooster and a hen. Please don't be afraid to PM me. I will credit you in the article.


Also thank you agian to:
@JadeFarms and @ChocolateMouse for allowing me to use your photos.

Thank you for reading






If you made it to the end you deserve a special reward! Here’s some bonus Ameraucana and Easter Egger chicky pictures! Will continue adding more, more on the way! This is the end of the article so if you don’t want to see chickys that’s okay! Thank you so much for reading!