Easter Egger

An Easter Egger is any chicken that possesses the "blue egg" gene, but doesn't fully meet any breed description as defined in the American Poultry Association (APA) and/or the American Bantam Association (ABA) standards. The name derives from the resemblance of their colorful eggs to Easter eggs. Araucana, Ameraucana, and Easter Eggers are descended from the same founder stock that spread around the world from Chile and the Falklands. Three main founder breeds were involved in the creation of what we today call Araucanas, Ameraucanas, British tailed Araucanas, and the Easter Eggers. These would be the Quechua, the Quetro, and the Colloncas. In about 1976 some Chilean Araucanas were imported to the United States and are still here today unchanged. They appear except for color to be Ameraucanas or British tailed Araucanas. Some Easter Eggers breed true to type and color over fifty percent of the time. Molecular data retrieved from specimens of known provenance in the Falklands, United Kingdom, Shetland Isles, and Canada proved to be closely related. Consequently, the Ameraucana is probably closer genetically to the South American founders than the North American Araucana. None of these, Araucana, Ameraucana, or British tailed Araucanas were actually a breed in South America.

Often confused with the rare, pure breeds of Araucana and the not so rare Ameraucana, the majority of chickens in laying flocks that lay blue or green eggs are Easter Eggers. Even if a bird meets an APA or ABA Standard of Perfection breed description, but doesn't meet a variety description, or breed true at least fifty percent of the time, it is technically considered an Easter Egger. These chickens commonly exhibit muffs and beards similar to the Ameraucana. Easter Eggers come in many colors and most are duckwing at the E locus.