Hi! Before we bought our chickens I did some research on the differnt chicken breeds; one of the books I read (I can't which one) said that Aracauna hens lay dark blue to off-white color eggs! There is, as far as I know, no reason why change colors frequently, maybe they just get bored of laying the same color egg day after day!!!(Response to 10/20)

-- Chandler Wible (thewibles@yahoo.com), October 26, 2001

Answers

Poultry can not change the color of eggs they lay. Sometimes diet will effect the darkness of the color, but not the color itself.

You might find this to be useful information:

Araucanas are actually pretty rare, and are NOT sold by Murray McMurry despite their claims. True Araucanas are rumpless birds (no tail base at all) with ear tufts. Both of those characteristics make breeding araucanas difficult; they need a tail for balance and to position the vents properly, and the tuft gene can be fatal in some combinations. Some will have a tail, or have no tufts, but they never have muffs and beards. Muffs are by the ears but not in them. They lay the blue eggs, the only true blue eggs. Never white, never green, never brown, and never beige. This is a pure breed that has a "Standard" of characteristics.

Ameraucanas are also a pure breed with a listing of "standards", or accepted characteristics. This is what Murray McMurray actually sells. These birds have muffs by their ears, beards where beards should be, and tails. They usually have a pea comb as well. They lay bluish green eggs. Sometimes they look pretty darn blue, but if you find a baby blue sheet of paper and put the egg on it you can see the greenish tint. Lovely egg, good layers, few problems breeding them because they DO have a tail, and have muffs instead of tufts.

Easter Eggers are a mixed breed, usually a combination of Ameraucana and something else. They have tails, usually have muffs and/or beards depending upon the concentration of Ameraucana blood in them, and lay anything from blue-green, to olive, to 'pink' eggs which are actually brown eggs with some olive in them. They are not a "standardized breed", in other words - they're never pure by the fact that Easter Eggers denote a cross breed. However, they don't have the breeding problems associated with Araucanas, and also lay a lovely mixture of colored eggs.

Hope this helps you to learn the differences. I was convinced that my first rooster, Louis the Ameraucana, was a pure blooded Araucana! :) I was wrong, but he's given me lots of lovely ameraucana babies from my Ameraucana gals who lay the most lovely blue tinted eggs. I just never put them next to blue to remind me they're green. heheh Plus, despite the fact that there's no difference in taste or content (something else I learned) I would "swear" they taste better. *wink*

Enjoy your birds, no matter what they are! Nathalie R. in Houston TX

-- Nathalie Ross (threehorses@katworld.com), October 26, 2001.

I may be wrong, but I don't think each individual chicken changes the colour of egg they lay. In a flock of hens, different ones will lay different coloured eggs, so you'll get various hued eggs, but each hen sticks to her own colour, determined by her individual genes.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), October 26, 2001.

Araucana's can be born rumpless or have tails, can have tuffs on the side of their the sides of their heads, can have one tuff or no tuff at all, and can lay green, blue, cream and shades of each of those! The "correct" bird would be rumpless, have tuffs that sweep in a downward motion and lay eggs of blue shades. Most breeders will cull the birds who do not meet these standards! Very few are born rumpless, tuffed and lay blue eggs. Many hatcheries sell chickens who lay colored eggs and past them as Araucanas or Ameraucanas. I am a member of the Araucana Club of America and the Ameraucana Breeders Club. Try this web site www.araucana.freehosting.net

Other than diet I don't know what could cause your chickens to lay diferent colors of eggs. Good luck

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), October 26, 2001.

Color of the eggs varies between those shades for different birds. A particular hen will lay the same color eggs time after time.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), October 26, 2001.

Mine are supposed to be true blue Auracans and one (of the five) has just started laying and its a pale creme-colored egg too....not blue or green....so I'm waiting to see what the others lay. Mine do have the tufts of feathers and all that and are entirely different looking than my other chickens.

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), October 27, 2001.

What I really love is the people who ask if we have any of "those anaconda" chickens that lay the colored eggs!

-- Rose Marie Wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), October 30, 2001.