Description

The Lowdown:

If we could have only one breed it would be the Araucana. Their fascinating history, taillessness, face tufts and blue eggs are just too much to pass up. We just never get tired of the sight of those strange rumpless butts and crazy ear tufts. While the tufting is sooo fun, it’s quite hard to come by. Of chicks that inherit the tufting gene, it is estimated that 50% die in the shell before hatch. It is for this reason that they are exceedingly rare, and large scale operations have no interest in breeding them. One well-known breeder calculated that only 4% of chicks born will be double-tufted. The only downside is that they have a very small pea comb and are just about impossible to sex until about two or three months. If you want blue eggs but don’t want to chance having to rehome a rooster, we would recommend the Pearl or Cream Legbar. Otherwise, if you want a very rare and unique bird you will never tire of we highly recommend the Araucana.

Ameraucana vs Easter Egger:

A true Araucana is extremely rare. There is much confusion between Araucanas, Ameraucanas and Easter eggers. If you want to be certain you have a true Araucana, it should have a pea comb, be rumpless, and lay a blue to light green egg. An Araucana can have a single tuft, double tufts or none at all. Ameraucanas will always have a pea comb, lay blue eggs and come in recognized color varieties. Easter Eggers are a mix of breeds (The Ameraucana Club of America calls them mongrels but we won’t go that far ☺) with at least one parent that carries the blue egg gene but could lay a brownish, blue-ish or greenish egg. It is so interesting how the genetics of egg colors in chickens work. The blue egg color permeates the entire shell such that a blue egg is blue both inside and out (you will have to scratch off the membrane on the inside to see the blue) A brown egg, for reference, is colored by a pigment that is painted on the outside of a white egg. Both the blue and brown egg genes are dominant so if a chick inherits copies of both, It will have a blue egg base with a brown paint on top, resulting in a green egg.

Breed History:

The Araucana is best known for its blue eggs that set the poultry world on fire in the early 1900s. This breed is unique because though all domesticated chickens are thought to have descended from the Malaysian Jungle Fowl, they spread from there on two primary paths. One going west toward India, China and ultimately Europe to be further commercially refined by the Romans. The other went east across the Pacific Ocean with the Polynesians. Most modern chicken breeds descend from the line of Roman chickens bred with commercial intents such as early egg production and size for meat. Because the Araucana developed outside these strictly controlled Roman breeding programs, you will notice a certain alluring wild intelligence to this bird. We have observed these birds to be better fliers, foragers, more alert and form more cohesive flocks. 

The Araucana originated in the remote wilderness of southern Chile with the Mapuche Indians. The Araucana was created from two types of chickens the Mapuche raised, the Collonocas and Quetros. The Collonocas were rumpless and laid blue eggs. In 1879 a Mapuche chief named Quinenao explained they preferred their birds rumpless because foxes could not easily get a hold of them. The Quetros on the other hand had facial tufts, laid brown eggs and had a strange crow. The name Quetro came from the Mapuche word “kertes,” which described their strange stuttering crow. This strange crow has mostly faded but we can still hear remnants of it, especially in our tufted roosters. The mix of the two Mapuche breeds would come to be called “collonca de aretes” meaning Collonocas with earrings. The Araucana name comes from a poem written by Alonso de Ercilla titled “La Araucana,” where he describes the courage shown by the Mapuche people when the Spanish invaded their territory in 1556. These amazing birds finally made their way onto the world stage when a young man in the Chilean army, Dr. Ruben Bustros, toured remote areas and observed their unique traits. He later returned to get some, began breeding them and was ultimately visited by Salvador Castello Carreras, a Spanish poultry expert who debuted them at the World Poultry Congress in 1918.

Stats:

Eggs- Blue/Green. Roughly 150 – 250 eggs per year

Dual Purpose- No. Males average 5lb and females 4lb

Standard of Perfection:

We offer pure lines but select primarily on egg color, vigor and temperament. If you are a breeder looking for specific SOP traits please contact us to ensure our stock will be the right fit for your breeding goals.