# Blue eggs



## dreamacresfarm2 (May 10, 2014)

I have a motley crew of chickens. They were all free that no one wanted. Most are under a year. One of my hens is laying blue eggs. All my others are laying brown eggs. Is there a breed that lays blue eggs?


----------



## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Auracana (AKA Americana) will lay blue and green and pale pink.


----------



## dreamacresfarm2 (May 10, 2014)

Thank you - do you know if they are cross bred will they keep those colored eggs?


----------



## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Some will. We have some that are cross and we still get a few colored eggs


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

All I love blue eggs they just look so pretty. We even had a chicken lay purple eggs once.


----------



## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

kccjer said:


> Auracana (AKA Americana) will lay blue and green and pale pink.


OK, a bit of a bone to pick with this post, because it has misinformation. And that is the fault of the _hatcheries_. They sell mixed breeds under the guise of purebred breeds, muddying what the breeds really are.

Araucanas, Ameraucanas, and "Americans" (Easter Eggers) are NOT the same.

The Araucana is an American Poultry Association recognized breed whose breed standard, in a nutshell, calls for rumpless (tailless, they lack a coccyx, a tailbone), tufted birds that lay only blue eggs. They will breed true.

The Ameraucana is also an American Poultry Association breed whose standard calls for muffs and a beard, a tail, and also blue eggs only. They too, breed true. Muffs and beards are not the same as tufts.

"Americanas", which are properly called Easter Eggers are a bastardized hatchery version of both recognized breeds. They do NOT breed true in any sense. They can be any color, have any comb, lay any color egg, etc. they are mutts who may lay blue eggs.

This was one of my purebred Araucanas. I sold the flock to another breeder in order to downsize. But I had them for nearly four years. So I know the breed like the back of my hand!










NO HATCHERY SELLS PUREBRED ARAUCANAS AND AMERAUCANAS. That is my public service announcement. Meyers claims to sell Ameraucanas, but they are poor quality birds that barely make the breed's SOP.


----------



## Greybird (May 14, 2014)

All of what Stacey said!
And the rumpless mutation is a semi-lethal one so good aruacanas are hard to come by.

Supposedly, a crossbreed hen from a blue egg layer and a brown egg layer will lay greenish eggs. (I don't remember what blue egger x white egger does.) I don't know this first hand since I try not to raise mutts, but I remember seeing this info on a poultry genetics board ages ago.


----------



## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

A blue egger and a white egger makes a light blue tinted egg.


----------



## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

Actually the rumpless trait is not lethal. Tufting is if an animal is homozygous for the trait, and those die in shell or shortly after hatching. Thus all living tufted birds are only heterozygous. Tufts and rumplessness are both dominant, as are blue eggs.


----------



## Greybird (May 14, 2014)

Oops - sorry! You're right - I was getting my mutations mixed up. (I knew there was a lethal mutation somewhere in there ... )

How do they fare without oil glands? It seems they might tend to become vitamin D deficient if it was lacking in their diet. 
Also ... can they hear as well as other chickens? I saw that the tufted mutation fuses their inner ear bones and I thought that was interesting.


----------



## dreamacresfarm2 (May 10, 2014)

one of my hens has tufted cheeks


----------



## glndg (Feb 8, 2013)

dreamacresfarm2 said:


> Thank you - do you know if they are cross bred will they keep those colored eggs?


http://www.araucana.net/thegreathorsecigaryahoo-com-2/introduction-continued/

You could select for the color. The article in the link states that cream legbars were produced by crossing Araucanas with a couple other breeds, and they lay blue. Non-exhibition quality Araucanas may lay brown. It could be a fun project.


----------



## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

Greybird said:


> Oops - sorry! You're right - I was getting my mutations mixed up. (I knew there was a lethal mutation somewhere in there ... )
> 
> How do they fare without oil glands? It seems they might tend to become vitamin D deficient if it was lacking in their diet.
> Also ... can they hear as well as other chickens? I saw that the tufted mutation fuses their inner ear bones and I thought that was interesting.


I never noticed any hearing problem. When I had treats for them, all I had to do was call out the back door "chickies!" and they'd come running at top speed. Since they free ranged, they weren't always nearby.

As for the lack of oil glands, I'm not sure. They still had sleek, glossy feathers like those with tails and oil glands. I did butcher a few males from time to time, and the ones who were rumpless were lacking the gland. The rumplessness does affect fertility some. It is harder for the rumpless ones to touch cloacas for a successful breeding. But a trim of the feathers around the vent made fertility rates increase.


----------

