Description

The Lowdown:

We love Ameraucanas. We have a small problem with a white hen named Snowflake that, if we are anywhere near, she is not happy unless perched on our shoulder or nestled in our laps. We love the Ameraucanas’ affectionate personalities, fluffy cheeks, and beards. We have recently come to adore the iridescent blues and greens the blacks erupt with in the sunlight. This is the bird for you if your goal is to obtain the best blue egg you can find. While our Lavender Ameraucana, Araucanas and Legbars also lay blue eggs, the color does not have the depth and richness of our line of Ameraucanas. The downside is that they have a very small pea comb which makes them just about impossible to sex until two to 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 it’s about maximum egg blueness, go with the Ameraucana.

Ameraucana vs Easter Egger:

A true Ameraucana is actually quite rare due to the common confusion between Ameraucanas, Araucanas and Easter Eggers. True 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. A couple ways to tell if someone is offering you an Easter Egger not an Ameraucana is any color eggs possibility listed besides blue and if they are offered in non-standard colors. A mixed breed will likely not be available in standard colors for the Americauna. Easter Eggers can be great chickens, but if you want to be sure you are getting a rich blue egg gene and only the blue egg gene go with a real Ameraucana. This is especially important when selecting a rooster, because you can’t see the eggs to ensure that your chicken carries only the blue egg gene.

Breed History:

The Ameraucana is a relatively new breed, accepted into the APA in 1984 and created in the 1970’s as a variant of the Araucana to eliminate a genetic problem related to facial tufting but retain the blue egg. An Araucana can have facial tufts, or feathery protuberances on each cheek. This is much different than the fluffy muffs of an Ameraucana. If a chick receives two copies of the tufting gene, roughly 50% of the chicks will die in the shell. While the tufts are quite remarkable in appearance, this chick mortality issue is what breeders set out to solve in the creation of the Ameraucana. 

You can’t fully understand the Ameraucana without understanding its predecessor the Araucana and we would recommend reading that HERE. The Ameraucanas’ blue egg comes from the Araucana, the original rumpless, sometimes tufted, blue egg-laying breed.  At some point in its history it contracted a harmless retrovirus that changed its genes, causing a pigment from the liver (biliverdin) to be deposited into the eggshell giving it the blue color we so love. It is so interesting how the genetics of egg colors in chickens work. The blue color permeates the shell so a blue egg is blue both inside and out (you will have to scratch off the membrane on the inside to see the blue). On the other hand, a brown egg results from 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.

Stats:

Eggs- Blue to light green. Roughly 180 – 200 eggs per year

Dual Purpose- Yes. Males average 6.5lb and females 5.5lb

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. Its worth noting that we will do our best to accommodate color requests but unfortunately due to the unpredictability of hatches can not guarantee specific colors.