A few years ago when we first started collecting chickens, I didn't know much about them. I thought they were gross and ugly, but as things often go my son fell in love with them. Suddenly we couldn't get out of the farm stores without chicks and people were always bringing us chickens they couldn't keep. We even had a rooster dropped off in the middle of the night once. (you know who you are)
I had no idea there were so many different breeds and egg colors. My ideas have changed and although I am not crazy about chickens like Bodie is, I am coming around.
Along the way we were given and bought some Ameraucana hens. If you didn't know they lay blue/green eggs. We noticed some differences among some of the hens, but I never thought about it until I stumbled on an article the other day about Ameraucanas, Easter Eggers, and Aracaunas. After reading the article, I went out to our hen house and discovered that some of our Ameraucanas are really Easter Eggers. It doesn't really matter, they all lay blue or green eggs, but it's always good to learn something new. So, I will post pictures so you can see the differences.
I had no idea there were so many different breeds and egg colors. My ideas have changed and although I am not crazy about chickens like Bodie is, I am coming around.
Along the way we were given and bought some Ameraucana hens. If you didn't know they lay blue/green eggs. We noticed some differences among some of the hens, but I never thought about it until I stumbled on an article the other day about Ameraucanas, Easter Eggers, and Aracaunas. After reading the article, I went out to our hen house and discovered that some of our Ameraucanas are really Easter Eggers. It doesn't really matter, they all lay blue or green eggs, but it's always good to learn something new. So, I will post pictures so you can see the differences.
Here is a great shot where you can see the differences. They are colored almost identically so at first glance you think they are both Ameraucanas, but then you can see one has no beard or fuzzy cheeks. She is an Easter Egger. An Easter Egger is basically an Ameraucana crossed with something else. If you are looking for backyard hens it doesn't even matter. The only time it really matters is if you are showing or raising and selling the chicks. There is so much confusion on the two that I was pretty excited to learn this.
Here is another Easter Egger. I always thought she was mixed, but the people we got her from called her an Ameraucana so I just thought it might be a variation.( there are quite a few different colors in the Ameraucanas.) All the Ameraucanas we have are the color called Black Gold, but again she does not have ear muffs or a beard so she isn't a true Ameraucana.
Here is another that is an Easter Egger. She is a little lighter in color and is one of the prettiest ones I think, but again no ear muffs, no beard.
None of this matters, it just gets confusing. If you google Ameraucanas half the pictures on there aren't true Ameraucanas. I kept wondering what the difference was and finally found it.
We don't have any Araucanas. I was also confused about this. People use all three names interchangeably. It was driving me crazy. Araucanas have no tail feathers. They are called rumpless. They have ear muffs that stick straight out but no beards.
This is a picture out of a chicken book we recently got that proves how confusing it is. The first sentence throws them all in there together. The Ameraucana and The Araucana are both recognized breeds. The Easter Egger is a cross breed of any number of blue egg laying hens. Secondly, they didn't spell either breed right which annoys me. If you are going to sell a book on chickens do your homework. Lastly, these pictures are clearly Ameraucanas as they have tail feathers, ear muffs, and beards, yet they have them marked strangely. I'm not sure if that is supposed to mean they are a cross or that they are interchangeable. Either way it's unclear. You can see how confusing it gets.
None of this matters, it just gets confusing. If you google Ameraucanas half the pictures on there aren't true Ameraucanas. I kept wondering what the difference was and finally found it.
We don't have any Araucanas. I was also confused about this. People use all three names interchangeably. It was driving me crazy. Araucanas have no tail feathers. They are called rumpless. They have ear muffs that stick straight out but no beards.
This is a picture out of a chicken book we recently got that proves how confusing it is. The first sentence throws them all in there together. The Ameraucana and The Araucana are both recognized breeds. The Easter Egger is a cross breed of any number of blue egg laying hens. Secondly, they didn't spell either breed right which annoys me. If you are going to sell a book on chickens do your homework. Lastly, these pictures are clearly Ameraucanas as they have tail feathers, ear muffs, and beards, yet they have them marked strangely. I'm not sure if that is supposed to mean they are a cross or that they are interchangeable. Either way it's unclear. You can see how confusing it gets.
In conclusion, if you were wondering what the differences were between these three chicken types. Here's your summary. Araucanas~ recognized breed, rumpless, ear tuffs, no beard. Ameraucanas~ recognized breed, tail feathers, ear muffs, bearded. Easter Eggers~breed not recognized, may have one or more characteristic, but not all of the breed characteristics described above.
Here is another link that also gives more info on the differences. http://www.ameraucana.org/faq.html
Hope that helps clear up any confusion on the three types of chickens. It sure helped me.
Here is another link that also gives more info on the differences. http://www.ameraucana.org/faq.html
Hope that helps clear up any confusion on the three types of chickens. It sure helped me.