Araucana

The Araucana is a medium-sized fowl from South America, best known for two things: it lays blue-shelled eggs, and most birds carry small feather tufts that grow out of skin flaps near the ears. A good number of Araucanas are also rumpless, born without the tail bone and the long tail feathers seen on most other breeds.

The blue shell colour comes from a pigment called oocyanin, laid down right through the shell rather than only on the outer surface. Because the pigment runs through the whole shell, the blue shows on the inside as well as the outside. This is what set the Araucana apart from the usual brown and white layers, and it became the base stock behind several blue-egg and green-egg hybrids bred later on.

Temperament-wise, the Araucana is independent, inquisitive, active and alert. The birds forage keenly and keep a sharp eye on their surroundings, a habit that suits a free-range camp or a large run far better than a cramped coop.

Who it suits

The Araucana suits a keeper who wants an unusual egg colour and a bird that gets on with things itself. Given room to range, it stays busy and does not need much fussing over. The tufting and rumpless genes bring breeding complications, however (see Health and Hatching below), so anyone planning to hatch chicks should get to grips with the breed's lethal-gene issues before setting eggs.

The Araucana takes its name from the Araucanía region of Chile, where Mapuche communities kept fowls that laid coloured eggs. Early records describe two separate local types: one with ear tufts and one without a tail. These traits were only combined into a single recognised breed later on, and where the foundation birds actually came from is still not settled.

Wider interest in the breed picked up in the early twentieth century. The Spanish poultry researcher Salvador Castelló studied Chilean fowls in the 1910s and wrote up the blue-egg trait for an international readership, which is how poultry keepers elsewhere first heard about it.

From the 1920s, breeders across Europe and North America imported birds and worked with them. Each country took the breed in a slightly different direction, so the standard is not the same everywhere. The American Poultry Association added the Araucana to its Standard of Perfection in 1976, defining it there as both rumpless and tufted. British and several European standards describe a tailed, crested bird instead, so the same breed name covers noticeably different birds depending on where you are.

Because both the tufting gene and the rumpless trait carry inheritance risks, the Araucana also became the genetic starting point for crossbreeds such as the Easter Egger and, later, the Ameraucana, bred to keep the blue egg without the lethal-gene complications.

The Araucana is a compact, medium-sized bird that carries itself upright and alert. Two features mark the breed out: the ear tufts, which are tufts of feathers growing from small skin flaps just below the ears, and the rumpless back, where the tail and tail bone are missing altogether so the body finishes in a rounded curve at the rear. Not every bird shows both traits, and standards vary from country to country.

The comb is a small pea comb, sitting low and coping well with cold. The face is clean, and the bird carries a full, hard covering of feathers.

Coat and colours

The Araucana is recognised in a wide range of plumage colours. Black, white, blue, black-breasted red, silver duckwing and golden duckwing are among the commonly recognised varieties, though the exact accepted list depends on the standard being followed. Skin and shanks usually run willow or slate rather than yellow. The feathering sits tight and sheds water well, which helps the breed cope with damp, cold spells, provided it has dry shelter to retreat to.

The Araucana is an active, alert bird that would rather keep moving and exploring than sit still. It forages well, covers ground readily when given the chance, and stays alert to threats from above and on the ground, mongooses and birds of prey among them, and that watchfulness suits it to free-ranging. The breed is independent and does not need constant attention, so it tends to look after itself within a flock.

With family and regular handlers, Araucanas can settle down and grow used to people, especially when handled gently and often from chick age. They are not lap chickens as a rule, and the more active birds can turn flighty if startled or kept too close together. Around strangers they stay watchful rather than aggressive.

Around other pets and within mixed flocks, the breed usually settles in without much fuss under calm management, though its alert nature means it reacts fast to any disturbance. Because it dislikes being cooped up, boredom and stress show up more often in small runs than in open space.

The Araucana is a hardy breed, needing standard poultry husbandry plus enough space to satisfy its active, foraging nature. The tight feathering and pea comb give it decent cold tolerance, but it still needs dry, draught-free housing and solid protection from predators.

Grooming

• Give the birds a dry dust-bathing patch so they can manage their own feather and skin condition.
• Check the ear tufts and the skin around them during routine handling, since that area can be tender.
• Check vent, feet and feathers regularly for mites and lice.
• Trim nails or spurs only if overgrowth gets in the way of movement.

Exercise

• Give the birds daily free-range time or a large run; this breed does badly shut in a tight space.
• Provide perches and varied ground cover to support natural foraging and roosting.
• Fence securely or cover the run, since active birds can turn flighty and may try short flights over low barriers.

Environment

House Araucanas in a coop that stays dry and well ventilated without being draughty. The pea comb resists frostbite better than large single combs do, so the breed handles cold reasonably well, whether that means Free State frost or a wet Cape winter, but damp bedding and poor airflow bring on respiratory and foot problems in any climate. Provide shade and fresh water when the heat climbs, as it does in the Lowveld and the Karoo. A predator-proof coop and run matter a great deal, since alert, ranging birds spend plenty of time out in the open, away from cover.

Feed the Araucana a complete commercial poultry feed suited to its life stage. Chicks need a starter ration, growers need a grower feed, and laying hens need a layer feed that supplies the extra calcium required for strong shells. Birds that forage will top up their diet with insects and greens, but a balanced feed should still form the base of it. Provide insoluble grit so the birds can grind their food in the gizzard, and offer a separate calcium source, such as crushed oyster shell, for layers.

Treats and supplements

Keep treats to around 10 percent of the daily diet so they do not throw the complete feed out of balance. Good extras include leafy greens, cooked grains and small amounts of mealworms or other insects. Fresh water needs to be available at all times, and laying hens should always have access to a calcium supplement to keep shell quality up.

As an adult bird the Araucana is hardy and handles cold well, thanks to its pea comb and tight feathering. A typical lifespan runs to 7 or 8 years under good husbandry. The breed's main health concerns are genetic rather than environmental, and they show up mostly around breeding and hatching.

The ear-tuft trait is tied to a lethal gene. Chicks that inherit two copies usually die in the shell, which is why pairing two tufted birds brings down hatch rates. The rumpless trait, and the shape of the rear vertebrae that goes with it, can also lower fertility, since it changes the mating angle. These are inherited issues to plan around, not illnesses that need treating.

Preventive care

• Keep housing dry and well ventilated to head off respiratory and foot problems.
• Check for mites and lice during routine handling and treat early.
• Provide layer-appropriate calcium to avoid soft shells and reproductive strain.
• Quarantine new birds before they join the flock.
• Plan matings carefully to avoid doubling up the tuft gene (see Hatching below).

The Araucana does best in a secure coop paired with as much outdoor range as can be offered. The coop needs to stay dry, allow good airflow without draughts, and shut up tight at night against predators, mongooses and birds of prey in particular. Because the breed is active and dislikes confinement, the run or free-range camp attached to it matters just as much as the coop itself. Provide roosting bars for the night and clean nest boxes for laying.

Setup checklist

• Dry, ventilated coop with a solid roof and a secure door.
• Roosting bars set above the nest boxes.
• Clean, bedded nest boxes tucked into a quiet corner.
• A large run or supervised free-range area for daily foraging.
• A dust-bathing spot with dry, loose substrate.
• Predator-proof fencing or a covered run, plus shade and fresh water.

Araucana eggs incubate on the same schedule as any other chicken egg, hatching at around 21 days under the right temperature and humidity. The breed's particular difficulty is genetic. The tuft gene is lethal in its double form, so pairing two tufted birds costs a good number of embryos before hatch. To keep hatch rates workable, breeders commonly pair a tufted bird with a clean-faced (non-tufted) one, which avoids doubling up the gene while still producing tufted chicks. Fertility can also run lower than average in rumpless birds, because of how the rear shape affects mating.

Where load shedding is a factor, a backup power supply or a battery-run incubator is worth planning for, since a drop in temperature partway through incubation can cost a full clutch of eggs.

Hatching steps

1. Choose fertile eggs from a planned mating (commonly tufted by clean-faced) and store them pointed-end down for no more than about a week before setting.
2. Get the incubator stable at 37.5 C and the right humidity before adding the eggs.
3. Turn the eggs several times a day up to day 18.
4. At day 18 stop turning, raise the humidity for hatch, and leave the incubator closed (lockdown).
5. Let chicks hatch and dry out fully before moving them to a warm brooder with starter feed and water.