I've just recently bought some Aracona (Araucona?) chickens. They've feathered out now and getting mature, but they all look so different from each other!! One looks like someone poured bleach on it. Are they suppose to look so different OR have I been duped?

-- Wanda in East Texas (wrfw@lcc.net), September 05, 2001

Answers

I have 6 Aracauna chickens hatched the week of May 30. The 4 hens are all a nice rich milk-chocolate red-brown with darker feathers in the wings and tails. The 2 roosters vary from iridescent blue-black to red to gray-white feathers all over them, and are growing neck muffs (really funny-looking birds). When they were a little younger, one of the roosters had a kind of bleached look about him. I think Aracauna, as a breed, is unpredictable in appearance. They were bred for the egg color rather than breed conformation. You'll just have to wait and see how they turn out.

-- Claudia Glass (glasss2001@prodigy.net), September 05, 2001.

I have a beautiful americana hen that has about every pattern of feather possible on her, including lovely light golden neck feathers. When she dies, she's definitely getting plucked!

-- elizabeth (eball2@wvu.edu), September 05, 2001.

Hi Wanda,

I too have Aracauna chickens and no 2 look alike. I have one that is completely white like a white leg horn with a different comb and puffy cheeks, and also a few that are red like a RRI. All different shades of egg colors too. Pale blue, light green, & olive. When crossed with brown egg layers, the brown egg seems dominant. I've always liked aracaunas. They're a good conversation starter.

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhill@eznet.net), September 05, 2001.

I have 30 plus and no 2 look alike .I think thats the cool thing {besides colored eggs] .When you hatch out a batch you never know what you are going to get.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), September 05, 2001.

I have 4-all look different. 1 solid white, 1 light gold, 1 dark gold and black, and I bought one at the flea market last week that is a blue-gray color. The last one is laying beautiful blue eggs the others haven't started to lay yet. I think they are all beautiful chickens, but each one is different.

-- Dian (rhoffman@nctc.com), September 05, 2001.

All four of mine look very different :)

-- Brendan K Callahan (Grinnell, IA) (sleeping@iowatelecom.net), September 05, 2001.

Well we must have something very different over here,our Araucana are Lavender in colour,all birds are very much the same shade of light blue/grey.I have just checked out an old copy of the British Poultry Standards,it says any colour the same as an Old English Game,it lists over twenty colours,probably more by now.Hope this helps.

-- Rooster UK (nicholson.p@btconnect.com), September 05, 2001.

Wanda, I have raised Aracauna chickens for years and one of the things I really enjoy is the variety of colors and patterns. Most will have the green legs and quite a few have cheekpuffs and beards, but coats of many colors. You will tell by the eggs as they really do lay green eggs of every shade, blue and a rose beige. enjoy

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), September 05, 2001.

Unless you're purchasing your birds from private breeders, chances are good you don't have Araucanas:

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Arau/BRKAraucanas.html

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), September 06, 2001.

Araucanas are tailess, may or may not have ear tufts. Breed standard says they should have but its a lethal gene - 100% of homozygous progeny die in the egg, and something like 25% of the heterozygotes die as well, and of those a certain percentage that I've never been able to nail down don't even express the tufted trait even though they carry one of the genes and its supposedly a dominant trait.

Because of the lethal gene for ear tufts which has been allowed by the breed standard to be REQUIRED for the Araucana standard I personally wouldn't want to own one of these birds. There are other ways to get the blue egg gene.

Ameraucanas have a tail, and have a beard and muff, and lay blue eggs. No lethal genes in their breed standard. There are several different varieties, something like 6 or 8 varieties of Ameraucana that are recognized by the breed society.

"Easter egg" chickens are crossbreeds that carry the blue gene.

Green egg color comes from carrying the gene(s) for brown eggs as well as the gene for Blue. Basically only means that the bird is not homozygous for Blue. Brown and blue are codominant and when both are present you get green eggs. Blue is completely dominant to white though.

What's tricky is figuring out what's involved in the brown and white traits, because those traits are multi-genic - there's more than one gene involved in determining those colors and I don't know what they are. There's only ONE gene that controls blue egg color though and that is completely dominant to white and co-dominant to brown.

The trait for blue egg color is expressed early in the formation of the shell, so the color goes all the way through the shell. The trait for brown eggs is expressed very late in the process of shell formation, and is overlaid only on the surface of the shell. When the brown is overlaid on the blue, you get various shades of olive green.

Both Ameraucanas and Araucanas are SUPPOSED to be bred to carry only the dominant gene for blue shell color, but unscrupulous, lazy, or ignorant breeders routinely ignore this alleged breed requirement. So buying a "purebred" Araucana (which I wouldn't have because of the intentionally introduced and perpetuated lethal gene) or Ameraucana is no guarantee of getting blue eggs.

However, most of what is sold as "Araucana" are actually one or another type of mutt chicken that may or may not be carrying the blue egg gene. These are more commonly known as "Easter Egg Chickens", and most likely that's what you've got.

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), September 06, 2001.

Thanks for all that info .My head is still spinning ! My have ear tuffs and tails so guess they are something like americanas,still love them !

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), September 06, 2001.