Ameraucana's

[AccidentalFarm]

Just got my first 2 Ameraucana chicks from Ideal today and have a question.
One of the chicks has a beard and muffs(?), while the other has nothing of the sort. Is this variation normal? They are both pullets, 3 days old.

 

[Picco]

Its completely normal. What you have are probably easter eggers (EE). They are hybrids created by crossing pure ameraucanas with other egg laying breeds such as leghorns to increase their egg production. because of the hybridization most EEs look different from one another with some having facial feathers and others not having any. EEs are great birds and are usually great layers and foragers.

 

[Buckguy20]

Quote:
The only bad thing about EE's is that they may not all lay colored eggs. I kept eight pullets from my hatch last year. Only four of those lay blue eggs. The other four ( three have muffs and the look like pure Ameracaunas) lay a tannish egg I guess some might call it pink. Hatcheries are notorious for calling EE's Ameracauna, which they are not. Monty

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Well, reading from the website, it leads one to believe they are selling birds that should have the beard and muff (and tail):

Quote from the Ameraucana order page online:
Ameraucanas, known as the "Easter Egg Breed", are a multicolored breed. They have beards, muffs and a normal tail with a tail head. They are often incorrectly called Araucanas, which have ear tuffs, are rumpless, and do not have a tail head which gives them a bunny tail appearance. Most of the chicks sold as Araucanas are really Ameraucanas, which are excellent, efficient producers of large eggs of many colors and shades including blue and green.

Standard weights at maturity are males-5 lbs. and hens-4 lbs.


Am I wrong in thinking that Araucana's and Ameraucana's are actual breeds, while EE's are essentially 'mutts'? If so, shouldn't both of my Ameraucana's have the beard and muffs? And honestly, if the egg color isn't the blue or green or pink as it is supposed to be, no matter. I am just curious about this.

 

[hinkjc]

You can typically only get Araucana and Ameraucana from breeders. Hatcheries usually only sell Easter Eggers, which is why they state "easter egg" chicks. They have been misleading customers for years by calling these chicks the wrong names and the breed clubs have tried (unsuccessfully) to get them to correct their marketing practices. Ameraucana and Araucana are pure breeds and have standards of perfection, whereas EEs are cross breed (mutts as some people call them) that can really look like anything. This confusion is ongoing and it is increasingly more difficult to explain to people that they've been lied to by a large scale hatchery.

I had friends come to my house and tell me they have Araucana. I tell them I can guarantee they don't have Araucana and they insist they do. Then I show them my Araucana and they say "omg, I don't". I tell people all of the time...do your research on breeds before buying to ensure you get what you really wanted. If all you want is pretty egg laying chickens, then EEs will fit the bill. If you want show birds or Ameraucana and Araucana breeder birds, then go to people who specialize in those breeds. It's still not a guarantee that you'll get perfect birds, but these people have worked on them for years to offer them as close to the standard as possible.

As for the clean faced versus muffs. It is a gene, just like all of the other features that make up a bird. Some may hatch with muffs and others without the muffs - it's not a guarantee that all birds will hatch muffed/bearded. That can go for EEs and Ameraucana.

Jody

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Oooh, okay. Thanks for the explanation. I don't really care what my 2 are, I just got curious about the obvious differences in their looks. They will both be pretty birds, I am sure. I wouldn't mind having pure Araucana as well as Ameraucana, but that will be sometime in the future. At least I know now that I will have do some searching to find good representatives of the breeds.