We have some new family members.
Meet Meri and Pippin. Meri is the blonde and Pippin is the redhead. Not that you can tell what color they are in my crappy pictures. The next picture has the best color.
They were labeled as Araucanas but I'm sure they aren't. They must be Ameraucanas, or maybe even Easter Eggers. According to Wikipedia there is a difference. I knew most of our colored egg layers in America weren't Araucanas, but I didn't realize Easter Eggers were even more removed from the araucanas. Whatever they are, they're supposed to lay pretty eggs, and that makes me happy.Another thing different about this breed is their tufted cheeks, giving their faces a round look. They remind me of little owls. And they seem smart, somehow. They love to look straight at you and seem to very much enjoy staring at people. I spent some time feeding a big bunch of regular chickens and Ameraucanas once, and they are definitely different from regular chickens. That particular bunch turned out pretty flighty compared to the other breeds they were raised with, so I'm planning on holding my girls a lot.
Yes, they are named after two hobbits. Boy hobbits. But they were labeled as pullets so they should be girls. We hope. If not, we have a good soup pot.
I'm really tempted to go back tomorrow and get more. But 4 hens poop less than 6 hens, so I'm really not sure two more would be a good idea.
I think some Americaunas (or Easter Eggers) tend to be very hardy because they are often mixed breeds, so not as inbred as some chicken breeds are. And in that sense, that's a good thing! Did you know that show quality chicks often tend to be very fragile and NEED medicated feeds to prevent them from becoming sick, while the "lesser quality" birds tend to be hardier and don't need that extra help.
ReplyDeleteAlso the green egg gene is dominant, so it is easy to introduce into your flock and probably why so many green eggers are actually mixed breed. But, who cares! They lay beautiful eggs! Did you know that if you cross a green egg layer with a dark brown egg layer, you get dark olive colored eggs?
How fun!! Makes me want to get some, too, but my dad gives us all our fresh eggs now. Maybe next year if we can build a decent coop for them.
ReplyDelete