Oh, my! Such controversy surrounding one little chick! When we ordered our chicks through Wagon Train Feed & Tack in Orange, we decided to include one Ameraucana in our little clutch. We thought it would be fun to have pretty blue or green eggs among the brown, and the markings on the little chicks reminded me of fluffy, little chipmunks. You can see her little dark head and chipmunk-like markings on her back, right, middle.
Here’s Patsy (named for Patsy Cline) at two weeks old (5/7/2015). She has the most precious little face, her eyes dramatically outlined.
Shes’ so cute in this photo, standing up on her tiptoes! She stayed very tiny for quite awhile, then shot up to be nearly the same size as the older three chicks in the clutch at around 5 weeks of age.
At 3-4 weeks, above, Patsy was showing some really remarkable feathers and beautiful slate colored legs. I wasn’t seeing any signs of a beard or muff feathers, to speak of, at this point.
In my research concerning All Things Chicken, I have been reading a lot of posts and perusing photos on the internet, especially in a Facebook group of CA Poultry People. There seems to be some confusion regarding the breeds Araucana, Ameraucana and Easter Eggers. Here’s what I found out:
Ameraucana is another breed that lays blue eggs. Ameraucanas also:
- have ‘pea’ combs
- are bearded and muffed (they appear to have a beard of feathers)
- do not have ear tufts
- have slate blue legs
- males have red ear lobes
- Colours include: Black, Blue, Blue Wheaten, Brown Red, Buff, Silver, Wheaten, White
An Easter Egger is not a recognized breed, but rather a cross between any other chicken and either and Ameraucana or an Araucana. Breeding with so many different breeds opens them up to all sorts of variations! They usually have muffs and pea combs, but come in nearly every variety and color. Some Easter Eggers even have ear tufts and some are rumpless. They usually are smaller in size, and may lay pink, green or blue eggs. They are normally friendly and calm, and have become quite popular in backyard flocks. Patsy very likely may be an Easter Egger.
Joe Duval is my hero! He discovered, early morning, that one of our hens was egg-bound. We asked for help from the Chicken People here on FB. We brought her in, gave her a good soak in a warm bath with Epson salts and tended her all day. She finally passed her egg (she broke it after laying it)! She ate & drank, took in a lot of calcium and is now back in the coop asleep on her roost. That was one scary day! But, I think Patsy will be okay. 
Patsy: April 20, 2015-September 2, 2018
Today was a sad day in the chicken yard. When my husband opened up the hen house in the morning, he found Patsy, dead, laying on the floor underneath the roost. It appeared as if she had fallen from the roost in the night, hit her head on the roost below, and broken her neck. She had no sign of illness or discomfort the day before, and there was no other sign of injury.
