The Ameraucana and the Araucana Breeds of Chickens

The other day, my neighbor's friend came by, and of course we began to talk about chickens. This lady is a retired English teacher . . . she pays close attention to words and how they're spelled. Right away, she was curious  about the Araucana and Ameraucana breeds, as they're spelled similarly.

There is a connection between these two chicken breeds, kind of an interesting history. The Araucana breed was raised by the Inca Indians years ago in chile and Peru. They don't have tails, but have ear tufts on the side of their faces. They were introduced in America in the 1920's.

The Ameraucana is an Americanized Araucana, the result of cross breeding (most likely with the Old English) They don't have ear tufts, but have beards under their chins. They also have tails.

The Araucanas are fairly rare, but there are breed specific clubs for them. Since the '70's, hatcheries have been offering Ameraucanas.

So, there you have it, just in case you, too, were curious about these two beautiful breeds.