Meet Edna, our Ameraucana...or so we thought.

I will admit that when we first embarked on this chicken journey I thought a chicken was a chicken. Once we started doing research we were amazed at all the breeds and their differences.  My family and I quickly came to the conclusion that we needed an Ameraucana because it laid blue eggs and had a beard!  

Meet Edna, our Ameraucana...or so we thought.

When Edna laid her first egg we didn't think much about the fact that it was actually more of a mint green than blue, but as time went on we began to wonder about her breed because her glorious beard wasn't coming in. Recently I came across an article written by Lisa Steele with Fresh Eggs Daily called  Ameraucana vs. Araucana vs. Easter Eggers - The Blue Egg Layers and this is what I learned: 

Ameraucana
Pure breed chicken, originating from South America, recognized by the APA since 1984

blue eggs

pea comb

muff and beard

red earlobes

tail

blue legs

light foot bottoms

Easter Egger

Mixed breed chicken, not recognized by the APA

blue, green, tan, pink or yellow eggs

any kind of comb

muff, beards, ear tufts or none

any color ear lobes

tail or tail-less

any color eggs

any color foot bottoms

According to these descriptions, it appears our local feed store sold us an Easter Egger, not an Ameraucana.  Why the mix up? According to The Chicken Chick, "...[Ameraucanas] are only available through reputable breeders, regardless of advertisements by hatcheries, and other large scale distributions sources."  The Chicken Chick warns that if you see "Americana" being advertised, the misspelling is usually intended to imply that they are selling Easter Eggers.  

In the end, Ameraucana or not, we love our Edna!  Our biggest disappointment in our findings is the fact that she isn't going to have a beard. 

Thanks for reading!

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