Araucana chicken breed emerged from the continent of South-America, particularly from Chile. Though the Araucana chicken is also considered to be the parent breed of Ameraucana Chicken, they are different from each other in many aspects. Given below are some of the characteristics of the Araucana breed.
Araucana Chicken Appearance
The Araucana has a very interesting physical appearance that is lacked by many other chicken breeds. The back of Araucana is inclined downward, due to which they have got an erect posture for which they are famous. One of the most characteristic features of the Araucana that distinguish them from other resembling breeds such as Ameraucana and Easter Egg is their tuft.
Tuft is a witty feather that sticks out of the Araucana Cheeks. Two tufts grow on their face on each side. These tufts can grow large in length and give hype to the personality of the Araucana. Due to the tufts present on the cheeks of the Araucana, they appear to be the chap with a moustache. Another interesting characteristic of the Araucana is that like other chicken breeds they don’t have long tail feathering or simply lack a tail.
They have tiny crest or comb on the lower side of their heads close to the neck. Their legs are feather-free and vary in colour but mostly dark. Their eyes are mostly reddish to brown. The Araucana chicken comes in a large variety of colours such as black, white, silver, black-red and golden.
Weight
The Araucana Chicken is not very large and is considered to be smaller than many other chicken breeds. They are also light in weight. Both hen and roaster weigh around 4.5-5lbs which is about 2kg. Though the Araucana chicken is not big in size and light in weight they grow much faster than any other chicken breeds.
Egg-laying Capacity
Though the Araucana is small in size they make-up this deficiency by producing very beautiful light blue colour eggs. But, the amount of eggs produced by them is not contented as they produce only 3 eggs per week which mean around 120-130 eggs per year.
They are winter hardy and can easily tolerate harsh environmental conditions but up to a certain limit. They lay eggs only during summer and spring season. However, as soon as the fall ends they get back to lay eggs. Despite their small size the Araucana produce medium size eggs.
Hatch-Rate
The Araucana has a very lethal gene that is responsible for the blue colour of the eggs and growth of tufts. But, the disadvantage of this gene is that it lowers the hatch-rate of the Araucana eggs as most of the chicks die before hatching. Because of this reason many agriculturists do not find Araucana suitable for poultry purpose.
In the case of Ameraucana chicken, this lethal allele has been removed to increase the hatch rate but their quality to produce light blue eggs is preserved.
Araucana Chicken Nature
The Araucana is freedom-loving fowl like other chicken breeds and loves to roam freely in the yards. They don’t like being touched and will follow you only if you have treats for them. The nature of Araucana chicken is quiet confusing as some the breeders have claimed that the Araucana is the friendliest fowl they have ever seen but on contrary to it some have also claimed that they are violent.
