Ameraucana

The Ameraucana is a medium-sized domestic fowl developed in the United States and kept chiefly for the striking blue eggs it produces. It has an even, unflappable temperament that suits keepers whether on a Gauteng smallholding or in a coastal backyard flock in KwaZulu-Natal. The breed is unmistakable once you have seen one: a full beard under the beak and thick muffs over the cheeks give the head a round, cushioned look.

Ameraucanas are classed as dual-purpose, but almost everyone who keeps them today does so for the eggs rather than the table. Hens lay at a steady rate, and because the blue pigment is deposited right through the shell wall, the colour shows on the inside of a cracked shell as well as the outside. Several recognised colour varieties exist within the breed.

The breed does well in a backyard setup, on a smallholding, or as a first flock for someone new to keeping fowls. Birds stay alert to what is going on around them without becoming flighty, and they cope with both a fixed run and supervised free-ranging. In a mixed flock they settle in calmly alongside other placid breeds.

Who it suits

This breed suits keepers after coloured eggs and a bird that is simple to handle around children. New owners and families get on well with Ameraucanas because they tolerate handling and rarely turn aggressive. Anyone after a high-output commercial layer or a bird raised mainly for meat should look elsewhere.

The Ameraucana's ancestry runs back to blue-egg-laying fowls brought to the United States from South America. Birds carrying the blue-egg gene became loosely known across North America as Araucanas, though that founding stock varied enormously in type and in the traits it carried.

Through the 1970s, American breeders worked to fix a consistent standard for a blue-egg bird that did not carry the lethal genetic faults linked to the tufted, rumpless Araucana. What they wanted was a tailed bird with a beard and muffs that bred true from one generation to the next and reliably laid blue eggs.

The American Poultry Association added the Ameraucana to its Standard of Perfection in 1984, and the American Bantam Association separately recognises a bantam version.

The Ameraucana is not the same bird as the Araucana, nor the same as an Easter Egger, which is a mixed-type fowl that may lay blue, green, or other coloured eggs without meeting any breed standard. It is the fixed standard for colour, type, and beard that sets the Ameraucana apart from both.

The Ameraucana carries a compact, well-rounded body on an upright stance. Its head is the giveaway feature, with a beard below the beak and muffs covering the ear area. The comb is a small pea comb that sits low against the skull, which helps the breed shrug off cold snaps on the Highveld and further inland. Wattles are small to almost absent.

Legs run slate blue to black and carry no feathering, and each foot has four toes. The tail sits at a moderate upward angle. Bantam Ameraucanas follow the same standard, just at a smaller scale.

Plumage and colour

The American Poultry Association recognises eight colour varieties: black, blue, blue wheaten, brown red, buff, silver, wheaten, and white. Plumage lies close and smooth against the body. Judges at shows look closely at whether the beard and muffs are full enough to frame the face cleanly, which is one of the main scoring points.

Ameraucanas have a reputation for a level, good-natured temperament. They notice movement and changes around the yard quickly, yet they do not carry the nervy, flighty streak seen in some lighter breeds. Handle them regularly from a young age and they become properly tame, tolerating being picked up without much fuss.

Within a mixed flock, the breed typically sits somewhere in the middle of the pecking order rather than throwing its weight around. Hens get on with other placid breeds and with people, children included. Cocks are generally easy to manage, though temperament still varies bird to bird, and any cock should be watched around small children just in case.

Noise is not a big issue with this breed. Hens give the usual call after laying but are not constant chatterers, which matters if neighbours are close by.

Ameraucanas are hardy and ask for nothing beyond standard flock care; there is no special grooming routine to keep up. The small pea comb and close plumage mean winter care stays straightforward in frosty Highveld conditions and in milder coastal winters alike.

Grooming

• Check the beard and muffs for caked food or mud, especially near wet drinkers
• Look over feet and legs for scaly leg mite or injury whenever you handle a bird
• Keep a dry dust bath available so birds can groom their own feathers
• Watch for external parasites under the muffs and around the vent

Exercise

• Give daily access to a fowl run or supervised free-ranging
• Allow room to forage, scratch, and dust bathe
• Aim for at least 1 square metre of run per bird where space allows

Environment

The breed copes well with cold thanks to its small comb, but keepers in the hotter Lowveld and Karoo need to provide shade and a constant supply of cool, fresh water in summer. A predator-proof coop with sound ventilation and dry bedding keeps birds healthy through the year, and mongoose and birds of prey will test any weak point in the fencing given the chance.

A complete commercial poultry feed should form the bulk of the diet. Chicks need a starter feed with a higher protein content, growers move onto a grower ration, and laying hens need a layer feed with added calcium to keep shells strong. Fresh water must be on hand at all times.

Treats and supplements

Offer treats such as leafy greens, mealworms, or cracked grains sparingly so they do not throw the diet out of balance. Provide crushed oyster shell free choice for laying hens to support shell strength, and offer insoluble grit if birds eat anything beyond the complete feed.

The Ameraucana is a generally robust, healthy breed, developed specifically to sidestep the lethal genetic faults tied to the tufted Araucana. With decent husbandry, birds commonly reach 7 to 8 years old. Most health issues that crop up are the ordinary ones that affect any backyard flock, wherever in the country it is kept.

Preventive care

• Keep the coop dry, well ventilated, and clear of droppings
• Quarantine new birds before adding them to the flock
• Provide a year-round dust bath to help control external parasites
• Supply free-choice calcium for laying hens
• Check weight, comb colour, and feet whenever you handle a bird

A standard fowl coop suits the Ameraucana well. The breed handles cold with ease, so the priorities are dry bedding, ventilation that does not create a draught at roost height, and solid protection from predators. Fit roosting bars off the ground and nest boxes for the laying hens.

Setup checklist

• Predator-proof coop with secure latches and fencing buried or skirted into the ground
• Dry, absorbent bedding refreshed regularly
• Roosting bars raised well off the floor
• Nest boxes tucked into a quiet, dim corner
• Fresh water and feeder kept out of the rain
• Shaded corner in the run for the heat of summer

Ameraucana eggs incubate the same way as any standard chicken egg and hatch in around 21 days. Fertile eggs can go under a broody hen or into an incubator. Ameraucanas do not go broody all that often, so an incubator tends to be the more dependable route to a hatch.

Hatching steps

1. Choose clean, undamaged fertile eggs and let them come up to room temperature
2. Set the eggs in the incubator at about 37.5 °C with humidity around 45 to 55%
3. Turn the eggs several times a day right through to day 18
4. Candle around days 7 to 10 and remove any clear or non-developing eggs
5. At day 18, stop turning and raise the humidity for lockdown
6. Leave the incubator closed while hatching happens, and let chicks dry off before moving them to a brooder