Araucana Chicken

     The Araucana is a breed of Chickens that originated in Chile. It’s well-known with its blue or green eggs, and may be confused with other similar chicken breeds, such as the Ameraucana and the Easter Egger.  

     Araucanas are pea-combed birds, that can be tufted but they don’t have wattles. Their facial feathers are so thick, with a small crest on the head in some cases.  The Araucana can be born with or without a tail, those without it are simply known as ‘Rumpless Araucanas’. Unfortunately, the tufted and ‘Rumpless Araucanas’ carry lethal genes that make some of the embryos die soon before hatching. That’s why it’s advisable not to mate tufted and rumples pairs together, and it’s also the reason why other breeds like the Ameraucana got developed.

     Araucanas are hardy and early-maturing birds. The hens are good layers of blue or green eggs (around 170 – 200 per year), and tend to go broody and make excellent mothers too. The most common color-varieties for the Araucana are; Black, black-red, blue, blue-red, cuckoo, golden and silver-duckwing, lavender, spangled and white. A bantam version is also available for this breed.