Ameraucana
The Ameraucana is an American chicken breed developed in the 1970s and 80s from Araucana stock imported from Chile, specifically to keep the blue egg gene while breeding out the lethal tufting gene that killed Araucana chicks in the shell.
It is a medium bird with muffs and a beard, slate-blue legs, a pea comb and a full tail — the tail and the beard are the quickest way to tell it from a rumpless, tufted Araucana. It lays genuinely blue eggs, blue right through the shell rather than coated. Temperament is generally calm and hardy, and the pea comb resists frostbite well.
- Origin
- United States, 1970s–80s, from Chilean Araucana
- Size
- 2.2–2.9 kg
- Lifespan
- 7–8 years
- Eggs
- Around 200 blue eggs a year
- Temperament
- Calm, hardy, generally friendly
- Note
- Often confused with the hybrid Easter Egger, which is not the same
2 ameraucana photos, newest first
Living with a ameraucana
Chickens need a secure coop that is dry and well ventilated without being draughty, with roosting bars and a nest box for every three or four hens, plus a run safe against foxes and against digging.
They are flock birds; keep at least three. Layers need a complete layer feed with grit and separate oyster shell for shell strength.
Be clear about what you are buying. A great many birds sold as Ameraucana are Easter Eggers — blue-gene crossbreeds that lay blue or green eggs but are not the breed.
Worm and check for red mite regularly; mite infestations build fast in warm weather.
General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual birds vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.
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