Collecting the rarest animal is a never-ending battle amongst the hobbyist peoples. If you ever had a rare animal, you must know how difficult it is to manage them.
Sometimes we cannot find the animal, and sometimes the animal becomes too costly to buy. Moreover, sometimes we cannot keep the rarest animal just because we don’t know how to care for him.
Do you want to keep the Araucana chicken breed in your collection? Then, you must know everything about these Araucana chicken breeders, including their nature, egg-laying, caring, etc.
Indeed, this is the rarest species of chicken, but rearing these chickens is not so difficult. That’s because they have no bad habits; instead, they are very friendly and adaptable to any environment.
Scroll down to know more about these rarest chicken breeds!
What is an Araucana chicken?
The Araucana chicken is a domestic chicken breed that has come from Chile, western South America.
It is one of few rarest breeds because of the blue and green-shelled eggs. Regardless, the looks of this Chicken breed also make it different from the other chickens.
This chicken breed looks a bit weird with its tuft feathers on the ears without tail-bones and tails. But these features actually originated from the genes of its ancestors.
You can build a good friendship with Araucana chicken by interacting with them. That’s because the Araucana chicken breeds have a friendly nature, especially with the child.
Continue the article to know more about the characteristics of this beautiful breed.
What are the characteristics of the Araucana chicken breeds?
The first Araucana characteristic is, they are cool-tempered, practical, and friendly chicken breeds. But its temper doesn’t always remain the same. If you cannot interact perfectly with these breeds, these might become harsh to you.
That means the friendliness of these breeds depends on your way of talking and behavior.
Still, they are very dedicated chicken species amongst most other chickens. That’s because these chicks get matured very quickly compared to the typical chickens.
Worried about the adjustability of the Araucana chicken breeds?
The Araucana chickens can handle both the hot and cold weather perfectly. If you know about its origin, then you must’ve learned that they have come from the hot countries.
Still, these breeds have adjusted themselves very well with the colds. That means these chicken breeds are adaptive animals.
Want to learn more about their nature?
The Araucana chickens are inquisitive about their surroundings. So, they love to travel a lot more than the regular chickens.
They take the smartest move against enemies using their intelligence. Whilst traveling, they like to search for tasty treats by themselves.
Types of Araucana chicken?
The Araucana chickens can be classified only by their color. Rather than that, there are no separate species of Araucana chicken breed.
Let’s know about different types of Araucana breeds.
Black Araucana:
The black Araucana comes with a uniform and shiny feather. The breeds of these chicks are also born with the black as they have.
Like other Araucana, the black Araucana also lays green or blue shelled eggs despite being black. But these birds aren’t nosy at all; instead, they come with a lovely behavior.
Black breasted red Araucana:
The black-breasted red Araucana is the chicken with a mix of red and black color. The chest and lower body of this chick are covered with black plumage.
Conversely, the neck and back part of these roosters is covered with red plumage. Also, there are a reddish-chestnut head and black tufts at both ears of the Araucana rooster.
Golden Duckwing Araucana:
With the silver and golden, or white and golden combination, the golden Duckwing is another type of Araucana. This Araucana has a tall comb and large tufts at the ears.
Overall, this chicken breed is so beautiful that it must catch your eyes at very first sight.
Silver Duckwing Araucana:
Have you ever heard the name of Loch ness monster? The silver Duckwing Araucana looks something like that.
Also, these chicken breeds somehow look like the golden Duckwing Araucana. The difference is, these chickens come in the silver color instead of the golden.
White Araucana:
By the name, it needs no specification that the white Araucana comes with white colors. The whole body of the chicken breeds is covered with white plumage.
Even the tuft near the ears of the breeds is also covered with white color.
Araucana Chicken Egg and Meat Production
Araucana chicken is one of the record number blue egg layers of South America. These chickens lay 250 eggs approximately in a year. From the age of 20 to 24 weeks, they start to lay eggs and continue their whole lifetime.
Most people raise the Araucana chicken just to enjoy the beauty of their blue eggs. As these chicks lay unique eggs, there is a huge demand for their egg market.
So, you can earn a good amount of profit if you take the Araucana eggs for sale in the market.
However, some people think that blue and green eggs might negatively impact health. But, this is not true at all.
The eggs of the Araucana chicken, whether blue or green, are absolutely safe for human health. The taste and nutrition are also indifferent to the regular chicken eggs.
Some people also raise these chicken breeds to have their tastiest meat. But to be honest, the Araucana isn’t the perfect choice to raise for getting meat.
The average weight of the Araucana chicken is only 5 pounds. That’s why they cannot give a lot of meat like regular chickens.
However, they cover up their lack of meat with colorful eggs and breeding capacity. A simple Araucana chicken can breed and raise at least 10 hens by himself.
What to feed Araucana chicken breeds?
Providing the nutrients in food is essential when you want to keep your Araucana healthy and free from disease. The Araucana chickens eat both the ready-mate and natural food.
But what will be the best food among the natural or packaged food? Let’s see!
- The Araucana searches for their own foods when you make them free in an open place. But, if you are raising these birds in captivity, you must buy nutritious packaged food.
- Typically, the Araucana chickens love to consume small boneless insects. The insects like ticks, worms, and different small flowers and vegetables are their favorite items.
- However, if you feed the packaged food to these chickens, look at the ingredients part. Make sure the food has enough nutrition and minerals. Never feed the contaminated food to your chicken breeds.
- Lastly, feed lots of water to your Araucana pet in a day. You mightn’t know how much water it may consume. So, take a large bowl of water and keep it near the Araucana home. Refill the bowl frequently in the day if the water gets finished.
What is the difference between Araucana and Ameraucana chickens?
Both the Araucana and Ameraucana lay blue eggs and are admired for their looks. In fact, the Ameraucana is a species that has come from the Araucana.
But, what are the differences between Araucana and Ameraucana despite coming from the same origin? Here we have ended up with the differences between the Araucana and Ameraucana.
Firstly, the genes of the Ameraucana make them better breeding chicken than the Araucana. So, they are more egg and breed productive chickens than the Araucana.
Wherein the Ameraucana lays 250 to 300 eggs in a year, the Araucana lays only 250 eggs on average.
Secondly, come to the egg color of these chicken breeds. The Araucana can lay both the blue and green eggs, which is unspecific. But the Ameraucana lays blue eggs only although they give more eggs than Araucana.
Thirdly, come to the looks of these birds. Basically, the looks of these birds are different from each other, although both are attractive.
Fourthly, the Ameraucana has fluffy hair on their cheeks that is known as muffs and beards. Conversely, the Araucana chicken has fluffy hair on their ear that is referred to as rumples with the tufts.
And finally, the Ameraucana birds are available almost everywhere in America. But, the Araucana is very rare and hard to find, particularly in America and Europe.
What are the health issues that the Araucana may have?
With an athletic body, the Araucana can withstand both the cold and summer. So, usually, these species of birds don’t get sick or cause no health issues. Even if you cannot take care of the Araucana breeds so much, they won’t get sick frequently.
But the Araucana inherited some health issues from their parents due to ear tuft and rumpless genes.
A study has shown, the Araucana breeds that receive ear tuft genes from both their parents die soon. So, a new Araucana breed can die within 17 to 19 days because of this problem.
Another problem about the Araucana chicken breeds is their rumpless 5 genes. The rumpless genes that they inherit from their parents reduce the 10 to 20% rate of fertility.
That is why the Araucana grows slowly. Moreover, they lay and breed a lower number of eggs than regular chickens.
How to Care for Araucana chicken?
To take proper care of the Araucana chicken, first off, you must ensure their balanced diet. Provide different types of bugs and insects as food that are nutritious as well as their favorites.
Ensuring the available reach of clean water is mandatory. Keep the water in a pot within their reach so that the birds can consume it whenever they want.
Furthermore, make sure they have comfortable and safe housing. There shouldn’t be any convenient chance for the entrance of the outsider like the wild animals.
Give some time to the Araucana chicken for running and roaming every day. This will keep their mind refreshed,
If you’re raising the Araucana within a boundary, make a free space of 8 square feet for his roaming.
Any More Questions?
Are Araucana chicken good layers?
The Araucana chickens start to lay an egg at the very beginning of their age, from 5 to 6 months. They can even lay 2 eggs in a day after starting to lay eggs.
That’s why these chickens are called the good layers, although the egg’s size is average. However, these chickens lay both the green and blue eggs, which separates the chicken from others.
How many eggs does an Araucana chicken lay?
A healthy Araucana chicken can lay 4 eggs in a week. This will formerly grow on approximately 250 eggs in a year.
That means, if you raise 5 Araucana chickens, you will get a total of 20 eggs in a week. In a year, 5 Araucana chicken will lay about 960 eggs.
Can you eat Araucana chickens?
Yes, you can eat the Araucana chickens’ meat, but unfortunately, it doesn’t grow with much meat. Furthermore, the growing process of the Araucana chicken.
That’s because these chickens don’t consume much food. So, you cannot expect to have this meat frequently. But occasionally, you can have this chicken meat.
Do Araucana eggs taste different?
Indeed, the color of these chicken eggs is different from the other chicken’s eggs. So, these eggs are rarely found in the market like the average chickens.
But, the taste of the Araucana chicken eggs isn’t different from the eggs of the regular chicken. In fact, the eggs of these chickens are absolutely delicious and healthiest.
How long do Araucana chickens live?
This average-sized chicken, the Araucana, lives almost 10 years on average. The life expectancy of these chickens primarily depends on their genetics.
How much you’re feeding, and how you’re caring for the Araucana chicken? These things also keep an important factor in this chicken’s life expectancy.
At what age do Araucana chickens lay eggs?
When the Araucana chicken first starts to lay eggs, their age ranges from 4 to 6 months. Some slow Araucana chickens cross these time limits and start to lay their first eggs at 10-12 months.
Parting Thoughts
Eventually, it can be said that the Araucana chicken breed standard is different from others. These chickens aren’t easy to find. So, if you can keep one of these chickens within your collection, it’ll be your proudest moment.
You’ll never get bored with them because of their friendliness. “Are Araucana chickens friendly”, if anyone asks, you can easily reply with the nature of these chickens?
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