January 30, 2017

The Araucana

The Araucana is our top selling breed here at Woodville Ace Hardware. This bird is truly unique in many ways. The beauty of this chicken is in the eyes of the beholder. They were developed in Chili in the early 1900's by a professor of animal sciences. They were bred from birds kept for centuries by the Mapuche, a native Chilean tribe.  Lacking a tail and their earlobes are partly hidden by an “earring” or tuft of feathers. Some have a ruff of feathers around their neck called a beard. I have heard them called “rumpless” but have also seen these adult hens and roosters with a smaller than normal rump and beautiful blue green tail feathers. These traits come from the crossing of the South American Collonca with a Quetero, both laid egg colors from baby blue to green.

 

The Araucana can lay eggs of many colors, mostly green or blue, but occasionally pink, yellow and shades of brown. This is how hatcheries came up with the term “Easter Egger”. They first showed up in the US in the 1970's and have become a favorite chicken for their eggs and hardiness. These strange chickens are known for their long egg laying season. They range in body colors from silvery white, brown to tan, with black, blue, or green and sometimes white in their wings and plumage. Their colors are as unique as their eggs. When you see a coop of these different colored chicks it is fun to pick several of different colors, even the small chicks can have tufts and ear muffs. As adults they have small combs, small or absent wattles, both bright red. 

Another chicken bred from the Chilean breeds is the Ameraucana an improved breeding to produce mostly true blue eggs, not to be confused with the Araucana but with the same origins.