Ameraucana vs Easter Egger: True Breed vs Mixed Genetics 

Hahaha, misinformation at the feed store! Hear that ALL the time! Crazy stuff, for sure.

Chickens have a potential to live up to 20 years, believe it or not; most rarely do. I've known of a 17 yr old hen, not mine. Well protected or not, hatchery birds rarely make it to 10 years old. Breeder stock has better longevity, generally. Even good care cannot overcome bad genetics. Thanks for watching!

Thank you for being here!

99.9% of all hatchery "Ameraucanas" or their "Ameraucana/Araucana" birds are EEs. Meyer is now selling Blue Ameraucanas separately from EEs, at least, but others are still ignoring breeder pleas to stop misadvertising.

Sure is fun, isn't it? I'm glad you found the video helpful.

Yes ma'am I've always had buffs and black Australorps and barred rocks all kinda look the same I really love these birds.eish they would let share pics on here I had some absolutely beautiful birds out of this springs hatch

They are full of personality, that's for sure! Sorry, I missed your comment. Notifications are just hit and miss.

Murray McMurray has the absolute best reputation of any hatchery I've ever used. You can be sure of what they tell you. Try the best. Forget the rest!

Glad it was informative. Appreciate the comment!

I just lost a 14 year old Ameraucana hen and an 11 year old Belgian D'Anver rooster to old age, never ill in their lives. I still have an Easter Egger who is also 14, from a breeder who was trying to create a new Ameraucana color, as well as a Barred Plymouth Rock hen from an old pure line who is 11 years old. Most of my chickens live past 10 years old. Chickens have the potential to live 20 years, though they rarely do. I had a Barred Rock hen who lived to be 13 years old and she produced eggs every single year until the last year of her life, the only year she skipped. They may not produce all those years, but they certainly can live that long (provided they are from good genetic lines, not hatchery stock, generally). I have hatchery Easter Eggers this year for the first time ever and I do not expect that those hens will live as long as the ones in previous years. Hatchery stock rarely lives as long as the non-hatchery stock.

@@rootsrocksfeathers1975 Wow that’s incredible. You obviously provide a very happy safe home. 😊 My current easter eggers slowed down laying partly because of winter but even as the weather improved it was hit and miss. But then my neighbors ended up with a rooster, and it seems when he started crowing, all 3 hens layed every day 🤣

@@Cathy_MidwestHome_Hens After losing most all my original hatchery flock to reproductive malfunctions and consulting a PhD in poultry science as they dropped one by one, he told me that I should get my stock from better sources. I took it to heart and began hatching eggs from breeders of quality stock. That changed everything. All the good care in the world cannot make up for sucky genetics! And I have fed the same good feed for almost 17 years now, Tucker Milling Show Flock (formerly Super Lay 22) which still contains animal protein(ETA: Not anymore, had to switch to another of their feeds for animal protein), plus they free range on a rotating basis. Haha, the neighbor's rooster was a "call to lay".

@@rootsrocksfeathers1975 ^^ This.

No, not necessarily, though I did have an Ameraucana hen years ago whose shells were never hatchable due to their fragility. She ate a lot of oyster shell, but I guess her body did not process her Vit D and Calcium well. Most of our blue eggs here now with this current group are strong as iron, but they're all just two years old. I have a mix of blue layers and green layers, though they are all considered Easter Eggers, not true Ameraucanas. I can't really recall much about my true Ameraucana hens' eggs other than that one I mentioned in the beginning. Most lived to be 11-14 years old and quit laying years before they passed away.

@@rootsrocksfeathers1975 Thanks!

@@rootsrocksfeathers1975Me and brother have noticed thinner eggs since we have Ameraucana type of they are real blue, the Easter Eggers shells seem fine, just put some in the incubator blue, brown and green I will take note of hatch rate for each color.

They do now carry some true Ameraucanas, wouldn't call them "show" Ameraucanas, but they are the real deal, I understand. That's a fairly new development. I have six of their Easter Eggers and at least a couple of those could pass for true Ameraucanas other than their egg color being green. It's good that some hatcheries are finally seeing the light and offering both separately!

@@rootsrocksfeathers1975 I also have Ameraucanas purchased from Cackle Hatchery. They've been developing their line since 2015. There are about nine different breeds which lay various degrees of blueish eggs. The darkest coming from the Black Ameraucana line. Note that their line of Ameraucanas have a genetic cross-beak defect that shows up 1 out of 100 chicks. I ordered the Blue Egger Female Surplus package and bought an additional 4 Black Americaunas. The hatchery gave me two additional chicks. I drove down to pick them up. Point is, I was unlucky enough to get a severe cross-beak defective chick. I will eventually have to terminate it at some point. Amercaunas lay around 180 to 200 eggs per year. Not a breed you'd want for egg production. The sexing rate is somewhere around 75 to 80 percent accurate. I use to breed Black Copper Marans until our barn burned down. I have a total of 16 live chicks I bought in early April and all are still healthy. I expect a couple will not make it, but that's part of raising chickens. I am hoping to breed Black Ameraucanas for the darkest blue eggs as I had been doing with my previous Black Copper Marans line until their demise several years ago.

Same. If he starts limping , I make him go inside and rest in his pen. Leg stuff takes forever to heal. I can't keep him away from his hens entirely to do it. I'm afraid he'd become depressed. Or his behavior would change for the worse. Had that happen once in the past.

Only if you want the eggs to be fertilized so you can hatch chicks, though I do like roosters to watch out for the hens if they free range out of the pen, personally. But, no, they aren't necessary unless you plan to hatch eggs.

Yes and longer than that. The black Ameraucana lived to be 11 1/2 yrs old. I still have my Splash Ameraucana and she is 13+ as is one of my Easter Egger hens. They come from good breeder stock!

@@rootsrocksfeathers1975 wow I didn't know they can last that long that's pretty cool I'm glad to hear that .