White/grey hairs growing on hens head

[StinkyAcres]

I was wondering if she was a Black Copper Marans as I just got one

She has a muff and a pea comb, so she is likely an Easter Egger (a.k.a. Americana).

 

[dottie15]

She has a muff and a pea comb, so she is likely an Easter Egger (a.k.a. Americana).

After googling both, she may be a mixture of both? Either way, she has these cute little earmuffs or sideburns that I think are so cute!

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

I was wondering if she was a Black Copper Marans as I just got one

legs look unfeathered....... I would guess Americana mix.

 

[StinkyAcres]

An Easter Egger is a mixed breed. Americana is another name for an Easter Egger descended from or related to Ameraucanas (note spelling difference), which is a recognized breed. If you got her from a feed store she is likely just an Easter Egger.

 

[ChookaPete]

Hello,

This is Annie. She’s anywhere between 1.5-2 years old. I noticed the top of her head is growing white/silver hairs. She was molting a few months ago but has been growing them back. She eats, drinks and poops normal. She also perches, forages and roams around normal. Any idea why she’d be growing these hairs? Thanks in advance!

Annie is a very pretty chicken!


My Clover is now 1.5 years old as well, and I noticed she started growing white patches amongst her feathers on her head. She is healthy as well, but I don't know why it has happened all of a sudden.

 

[ChookaPete]

An Easter Egger is a mixed breed. Americana is another name for an Easter Egger descended from or related to Ameraucanas (note spelling difference), which is a recognized breed. If you got her from a feed store she is likely just an Easter Egger.

Is the Ameraucana a hybrid breed from an Araucana chicken?


I have only ever heard the names "Easter Egger" and Ameraucana chickens on this website forum, and social media sites like Reddit where a lot of users ask if their chicken bought from Tractor Supply is a hen or rooster.
Nowhere in Australia have I heard those chicken breed names mentioned.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Is the Ameraucana a hybrid breed from an Araucana chicken?


I have only ever heard the names "Easter Egger" and Ameraucana chickens on this website forum, and social media sites like Reddit where a lot of users ask if their chicken bought from Tractor Supply is a hen or rooster.
Nowhere in Australia have I heard those chicken breed names mentioned.

Welllll...this article (https://ameraucana.org/Ameraucana Chickens) says, "Araucanas were not developed from Ameraucanas and Ameraucanas were not developed from Araucanas. They were both bred up from Easter Eggers or mixed breed chickens."

BUT, as I understand it, some of those early Easter Eggers were called Araucanas until the APA recognized only the tufted varieties as the Araucana breed.

It's confusing!

 

[ChookaPete]

Welllll...this article (https://ameraucana.org/Ameraucana Chickens) says, "Araucanas were not developed from Ameraucanas and Ameraucanas were not developed from Araucanas. They were both bred up from Easter Eggers or mixed breed chickens."

BUT, as I understand it, some of those early Easter Eggers were called Araucanas until the APA recognized only the tufted varieties as the Araucana breed.

It's confusing!

Confusing indeed!



Online I always read about "Easter Eggers", "Americaunas", and the Buff Orpingtons (what about other coloured Orpintons?). I have a book about chickens and mentions the Orpington, Aracauna, and naught about Easter Egger. But that article does make sense to me, e.g.:

"...What is referred to as an Easter Egg chicken or Easter Egger is not a recognized breed, but rather a mixed breed bird that possesses the gene for blue eggs. These birds can be of any physical description."


I bought some fertile Araucana blue and pale greenish eggs earlier this year and tried to incubate them, however the process failed (fortunately before any developed). And, I've only ever seen the name Araucana outside of the USA, not Ameraucana. And definitely not "Americana"!


"...Araucana and Ameraucana chickens are both relatively new breeds. The APA accepted Araucanas as a breed in 1976 and Ameraucanas in 1984. Before Araucanas were accepted and became a standard breed the term Araucana was used interchangeable with Easter Egger to describe all chickens that possessed the blue egg gene. Today some people still mistakenly get it wrong and that is partly due to all the misinformation and outdated information on the Internet and elsewhere..."


"As far as “Americana” chickens go there is no such breed. It is just that many commercial hatcheries can’t spell Ameraucana and try to pawn off their mongrel chickens as such. When you see Araucana/Americana chicks for sale you can bet they are really Easter Eggers. Generally speaking these are fine chickens for the backyard, but would be disqualified at an APA sanctioned poultry show. Many novice poultry fanciers have fallen for the false advertising of these hatcheries and been very disappointed. Some hatcheries now have disclaimers saying their Araucana/Americana chickens are not for exhibition yet they continue to advertise them using APA breed names."


I take it is chain stores like Tractor Supply that mostly contribute to this?

 

[ChookaPete]

Sorry if I seem to have derailed the thread - the Easter Egg chicken thing is interesting, before I had planned to hatch some Araucana roosters from those fertile blue eggs. Then when those roosters had matured, have them mate with my Hy-Line red sex link chickens (like Clover, pictured with the white patches in the feathers on her head). I was (and still am) curious to see what crossing a blue rooster with a red-brown hen would look like. More than just blue pullets and reddish-brown cockerels I guess?