1. Introduction to Ameraucana Chickens

Ameraucana chickens, commonly referred to as “Ameraucana,” are a distinctly recognizable breed, and they are well appreciated as backyard chickens. The Ameraucana is indeed known for its pleasing appearance. Its majestic bearing, a striking red crown on its head, and its lush beard, muffs, and ear-tufts immediately call attention to it. Ironically, it is best known for its beautiful eggs. These eggs are pale blue and blue-green and result from the deposition of the eggshell pigment biliverdin in the oviduct of the hen. But, it is not the eggs per se that make this breed unique. Currently marketed as free-range or cage-free products, eggs from Ameraucanas fetch a premium at the grocery store simply because of their color and the manner in which the hen is raised. What else is unique about Ameraucana chickens? How are these yet another chicken breed? This review will introduce Ameraucanas to the geneticist. As seen through the lens of the backyard chicken keeper, some hereditary characteristics make Ameraucanas special, too. These birds are fluffy, charming, and gentle, and some are good flyers. On the downside, they are often marsh-flutterers and typical. Apparently, addressing behavioral traits as “Expressions of Hybrid Vigor” helps romanticize their unpredictability. Overall, Ameraucanas serve as a valuable genetic reference point in the chicken breeding landscape, with their unique breed history placating those who fret and bicker over whether “pure” chicken breeds have any practical implication. Long live Ameraucanas!

1.1. Origin and History

The Ameraucana breed of chickens was developed in the United States within the last century from four South American chicken breeds: the Queteros, Pichis, Araucanas, and Colloncas, which were originally imported from Chile and Argentina. Breeders in the United States began creating and manipulating these fowl around 1970 to create a “rumpless, tufted” breed of chicken. No one person or group is responsible for the creation or distribution of the Ameraucana chicken. This breed of chicken originated in a few small areas around Arkansas and Arizona, with a few other breeders working on this specific breed in other areas. It is customary for poultry breeders to sometimes form small groups of people called clubs, their purpose being to work together with ideas, support, and encouragement for breeds of chicken. The Ameraucana breed has benefited greatly from the formation of such a club. Nowadays, hatchers around the world are producing Ameraucanas to supply local people and backyard chicken lovers.

This breed was created by breeding and selecting toward the “ideal” Ameraucana from the Araucana, which was an exhibition bird. While the Araucana and the Ameraucana breeds very much resemble each other, they are not related, nor are they considered the same breed of fowl by poultry associations across the country. As we can see from the above, the Ameraucana breed was developed by a tremendous amount of selective breeding done purely for pleasure and show to create the varieties that we have become fond of today. Even before acceptance by the American Poultry Association, Ameraucanas were quite popular with the general public. They quickly became a staple at small and local swaps and shows, and most people were interested in seeing a tufted Ameraucana. Tufts were, and are still prized.

1.2. Physical Characteristics

• Ameraucana chickens can be identified by their distinctive pea combs, ear tufts, beards, and muffs. They also have a small, compact body type. When a standard was being created for exhibition, it was mentioned that the males and females should be very similar, so they decided on a broad, meaty-looking back and a balanced body carriage from front to rear as a gentle way to convey femininity and masculinity. They also wanted a standard size bird, not as large as a dual-purpose breed or as small as a bantam.

• Ameraucanas also have a distinctive tufted appearance. With feathers that protrude at an obtuse angle from their faces in the form of both beards and muffs, they have broad, well-developed heads. Muffs are feathers that surround the face but are not restricted to the profuse face muffness often seen. An ideal Ameraucana has both a beard under the beak and a beard around each eye. This combination increases the appearance of roundness.

The Ameraucana chicken breed is unique. They are medium in size with a henny and rectangular shape, and they have all the traits of an active forager and layer without any overly abundant genital traits that detract from their overall health and vitality. The breed standard says it best when considering the Ameraucana: Chickens must be of good substance, giving an impression of force and energy, yet displaying fine traits of racy build and graceful finish. All of the physical characteristics of the Ameraucana breed are tied back to the genetics. Feathers and coloring are tied to a bird’s genetics. When colors are crossed, new and usually undesirable colors are produced. Tail and other genetic traits also play a role when designing the perfect chicken. Some folks may not care about genetics, and those who breed for looks and meet that are covered in this section. All the genetic and non-genetic characteristics add up to one thing: one great-looking and terrific bird! Ameraucanas are a hardy breed. If bred for their looks and overall sound genetics that can fulfill all the features listed below, they will also be good layers and large enough for the table.

2. Ameraucana Chicken Breeding

The breeding of Ameraucana chickens is a combination of artificial selection for desired traits and intentional inbreeding. We want assurance that the blue egg genes will be maintained throughout the breed. Because of the connection to egg color, breeders have also intentionally selected for the bright white leg color along with the typical features of their egg size, comb type, and overall standard breed characteristics. Through selective breeding, we are standardizing the general appearance, size, and productivity between the varieties. We also focus on the overall health and survivability of flocks. One of the reasons that you may purchase Ameraucanas from us is the selective breeding that has gone into the bird’s egg color potential or to start your own breeding line to refine these features.

In many breeding programs, the use of linebreeding and an effort to track genetic contributions improves the success of breeding programs. The practice of inbreeding is one that has often been used in captive breeding to ensure the purity of a line. This diminished wild population is inside the genetic bottleneck that we can evolve the subspecies of the original bird to variations that we find interesting. Patience with heritage breeding is important, as many of the old lines or heritage breeds do not typically have the growth that is seen in commercial breeds, and it takes time to develop proper coloring and shape standards.

2.1. Genetics of Egg Color

The blue eggs of some Ameraucana chickens are a valuable marketing tool. The blue shells represent the wild type or ancestral trait for eggs, and brown eggs are a result of the domesticated chicken. Genes for blue eggs have a different mode of inheritance than other traits that have been shown to be responsible for many of the good qualities of the crested breeds among the birds commonly called Ameraucanas. The blue eggs are caused by a mutation on the main color gene, a mutation that is associated with the various signaling genes. The shell blue gene is inherited simply; the gene is dominant and the white eggs are recessive to all other colors. A white hen cannot hatch any chick that will be any color but white. Egg color, as well as the frequency of egg distribution, is an important trait for egg marketing. The shell color of eggs is influenced by the genotype of hens, and the color pattern of eggs can change with the increase of brown egg genes due to brown egg gene infiltration of white-egg layers. Most eggs are found in the intermediate classes. A light baby blue shell color is similar to those of the Ameraucana cream and wheaten, crele, golden crele, and silver duck-wing, which can look similar in color to the barred and birchen. As the brown egg genes have infiltrated the blue eggers, the shade has become lighter toward the baby-blue shade in order to avoid green tints to the eggs. Blue egg shells are not common but are now being seen occasionally in the true white-egg layers in non-brown egg gene flocks.

3. Nutritional Value of Ameraucana Eggs

Compared with other types of chicken eggs, Ameraucana eggs have a higher protein content, vitamins, and minerals, which makes Ameraucana eggs more nutritious. Research shows that 100 g of Ameraucana eggs contain 9 g of protein and 5 g of unsaturated fatty acids, higher than the protein and unsaturated fatty acid contents in conventional eggs. Among them, the content of omega-3 fatty acids in Ameraucana eggs is higher, which is 1 to 6 times that of conventional eggs. The content of ARA is also less than the content of conventional eggs, indicating that Ameraucana eggs contain high omega-3 fatty acids. Antioxidants in Ameraucana eggs are 4.5 times that in conventional eggs. Antioxidants can delay aging, enhance immunity, and resist oxidation, which has good health benefits. As a high-protein food, Ameraucana eggs contain a total of 14 types of protein, including β-MD-1, β-T, α-E, GH, LLC, avidin, and several others such as ovomucoid, ovotransferrin, and vitelline membrane proteins. There are two more ways to categorize these ingredients: dietary protein and non-dietary protein. The results of this study have shown that different Ameraucana hen diets will maximize the various nutrients contained in Ameraucana eggs. Therefore, researchers use feed for Ameraucana hens to ensure that laying hens can produce high-nutrient and functional characteristics of the eggs, which are widely favored by consumers in the market. In the current market, egg detection technology is limited to high-fat and low-cholesterol content in Ameraucana eggs. In contrast, the common Ameraucana eggs available to ordinary people contain more nutrients. Feed intake directly affects the quality of eggs, accounting for 65%; heredity accounts for about 25%; and other reasons account for about 10%. In view of the high nutritional content of eggs, breeding research can be focused on laying hens.

3.1. Comparison with Other Chicken Eggs

Ameraucana eggs tend to be smaller than eggs from other breeds. On average, the eggs weigh about 53 g, compared to 64 g for large-sized eggs from other chickens. However, larger eggs have been observed in older birds, while egg weights and mean egg masses showed a decreasing tendency at 40 weeks of age and above. Other characteristics also differ from eggs of other chickens. They are white-shelled eggs that vary in the shade of pink and are sparsely dotted with pink pigment. In addition, the eggs can be found in four different colors—turquoise, brown-red, yellow, and yellow/white. Ameraucana eggs contain mulberry, zinc, kynurenine, cryptothanxin, and provitamins A and E. Although their carotenoid content is less than that of egg-yolk color-pigmented eggs, Ameraucana blue eggs have higher antioxidant activities than white-shell eggs, which may mean they have other unknown natural properties. Nutritional comparison of white and brown eggs has been carried out; more research is required to confirm this claim.

The blue color of the eggs can be a special feature because brown eggs accounted for a significant percentage of the total eggs produced in recent years. Although no mathematics can prove it scientifically, it is safe to say that the percentage of white eggs and Ameraucana eggs is quite low. Additionally, eggs are divided into three types in terms of shell colors. Ameraucana eggs are white and differ in shell color, making them more diverse and interesting than white eggs. Brown eggs attract more consumers than white eggs because they have a characteristic taste. Packaging under conditions that increase shelf life does not reduce the taste of brown eggs. Flotation resulted in a small increase in flavor, but when perceived as a taste, the brown egg was preferred. Organic yellow and white eggs were the same color when used in cooking, and the taste was good. Medium-level trained tasters preferred control eggs in color, fried after one month of storage. Chicken breed can influence egg characteristics, including functional properties, cooking, coagulation, and any other handling involving egg usage. Breed characteristics could potentially contribute to chickens that are dual-purpose varieties that also produce eggs with good characteristics for the production of specific food products.

4. Ameraucana Eggshell Color Variations

Amanda Arrindell, Shawn Burns, and Drs. Peter Ferket and Susan Lamont worked together to elucidate the genetic mechanisms behind the colors and patterns in the Ameraucana eggshell. Varying genetic control measures pigments to create blue, brown, and the Ameraucana-specific pale pink eggshells, as well as spots, patches, overlays, glitches, strips, and washes of color applied to each shell’s background. For green to occur, there must be a blue coat but also a brown eggshell covering. Diet can change the brightness of the eggshell and the intensity of pigments but not the resulting color. There are some colors (white, silver, yellow, and green) that must be “pure,” or an absence of any result from another system. There is some potential to influence the preference for different eggshell colors through marketing rhetoric; an opportunity already explored by variations on the marketing slogan by brown egg competitors to twist public perception to choose brown eggs over white.

A study around this time also tested eggshell acceptance of young consumers, showing an inarguable tendency for white shells, the eggs everyone remembers from the kitchen growing up. According to “conversion through taste,” a positive but atypical experience in the culinary realm will be required to influence a change in consumer preferences. This holds true in eggshell color logic, as many Ameraucana owners have commented that white eggs are all they have known, and they never gave them a second thought until they laid a pale pink egg! In general, brown eggs are described as having the least favorite shell color due to extreme market saturation, although in nearly every market, if an Ameraucana of any color lays a blue egg surrounded by pink eggs, those will be the first taken. Multiple studies have shown numerous traits of brown shells that may be advantageous to producers and consumers; the pattern on shells typically identifies the variety. These shell benefits and traits described here are generalizations. The exception is that pale pink eggs are compared to white AA grades, and AA large white eggs are generally the highest wholesale price for an ungraded egg in commodities markets. From a strong past in the matching blue Ameraucanas, they currently produce a variety of fun color descriptions commercially known as cream, pearl, blue, buff, fawn, wheaten, and rare apricot! Because of this, Ameraucanas are one of four eggshell color ranges that truly have a breed of their own, the others being blue, brown, and green Ameraucana. Diplomatically, these breeds are correctly grouped with a combined eruption of eggshell and earlobe color as “rainbow” or multicolor, but historically, Ameraucanas and their relatives in this case also complete their own eggshell and eggshell color breed foundation traits and are even identified as different classes (in this case, “eggshell finish and eggshell color varieties”). An in-depth study of physical eggshell traits showed both their consistency in Ameraucanas compared to other brown shell egg layers and that eggshell thickness, eggshell keel, eggshell density, and eggshell breaking strength all vary within commercial populations as a function of standard shell color. Not so for the encouragement of small variations through selective breeding as in Ameraucana, where internal and external egg quality records are kept.

5. Egg Production and Laying Habits of Ameraucana Chickens

Ameraucana chickens are generally productive layers. They often lay one egg every 2-3 days and lay at a slow, steady pace. Eggs produced by Ameraucana chickens tend to be seasonal layers, which means that egg production is low in the late fall and winter. These chickens will often lay primarily from February to the end of summer. However, egg laying can take place outside this early spring to fall window. There are various factors that can affect the ability of Ameraucana hens to lay eggs. Nutritional deficiencies, stress, the local environment, age, as well as season can all play a role in when and if Ameraucana chickens are willing to provide eggs.

Genetic differences can affect the laying patterns of Ameraucana chickens. Some chickens, due to selective breeding, may instead lay eggs year-round apart from breaks due to molting. Selectively breeding for ethically sound modern egg production systems that aim to ensure responsible egg layers that are able to produce eggs in sufficient amounts to be of substantial use in local and non-commercial settings is the broader goal. It is important to understand the genetic profiles of egg production for helpful management. Laying hens of a suitable dual breed or any breed with suitable fattening abilities can produce a fair number of eggs. Certain lineages had better laying quantities mainly due to higher prolactin levels. Without a doubt, other genes exist in the pedigrees of egg-laying flocks to enhance egg quantities per year carried down by the bloodlines of those selectively bred Ameraucanas. In an egg flock of backyard chickens, you can separate and re-breed for bigger producers should you so wish. It should be noted that the capability to produce large levels of eggs year-round is held by all gold and black hens of a breeding system. Middle Red Ameraucana, however, thrive while laying eggs at an average pace. For numerous years, flocks from this pedigree breed slowly declined in production qualities. The average daily egg production is based on estimated data.

6. Health Benefits of Consuming Ameraucana Eggs

The consumption of Ameraucana eggs offers many health benefits to individuals of any age. Nutrient-dense foods, such as Ameraucana eggs, provide a wide range of essential nutrients that are necessary for overall health and well-being. Ameraucana eggs contain high-quality protein and several essential nutrients, such as lutein and zeaxanthin. They also contain more omega-3 fatty acids than other types of eggs. Consuming eggs regularly has been shown to increase healthy cholesterol, decrease inflammation, and lower the risk of developing cataracts. Additionally, regular egg consumption by healthy young adults may help to contribute to a balanced diet, improve overall nutrient intake, and lower the risk of nutrient deficiency, particularly in vitamin A, vitamin E, calcium, and fiber. As part of an athletic diet, Ameraucana eggs provide an additional health benefit by improving the body’s ability to uptake certain nutrients. Because Ameraucana eggs are higher in omega-3 fatty acids, consuming them can improve heart health by reducing inflammation and decreasing levels of low-density lipoprotein. Unlike conventional eggs, Ameraucana eggs may have a protective effect on the body because their unique nutrient content can help to aid in the absorption of other nutrients. Including Ameraucana eggs as part of an overall balanced diet can help support optimal health and overall well-being while reducing the risk of developing certain nutrient deficiencies. Egg consumption actively benefits the human diet with much-needed nutrients at school age and beyond. As a health professional, I highly recommend Ameraucana eggs in your diet. Mary Helen is a healthy foods shopper and knows she is consuming a higher quality egg. The Ameraucana eggs are the freshest eggs and I believe there is a nutritional advantage in purchasing these eggs.

7. Culinary Uses and Recipes for Ameraucana Eggs

Ameraucana eggs are well-suited for a variety of uses in the kitchen and in cooking. They make a stunning visual addition to any dish requiring egg as an ingredient and can be incorporated into virtually any egg-based dish. Ameraucana egg recipes run the gamut from baking projects to savory dishes like scrambled eggs, omelets, quiches, and shakshuka. The depth and slight sweetness of Ameraucana eggs add an extra-rich flavor to recipes, making the signature shell color a pleasant surprise to anyone enjoying the dish. Ameraucana eggs’ high nutritional content, including a brighter yolk rich with omega-3 fatty acids, makes the product an attractive choice for health-conscious chefs and bakers. Coloring the eggs for Easter or using them in cultural egg recipes could be an enjoyable project that is as delightful to cook as it is to serve to others.

A simple way to prepare Ameraucana eggs is to make deviled eggs. Many cultures incorporate recipes for stuffed eggs into their traditional or religious holiday meals, and these can be made with simple mayo and mustard fillings or embellished with extra ingredients like spinach, cheese, salmon, or curry. The high-quality egg yolk has a bright marigold color and a rich, creamy texture. The glossy shells are a beautiful indicator of an unproblematic hen health-wise, and a dozen eggs will be enough to supply a two-layer cake, sponge cake, muffins, or 24 cookies in many baking recipes. However, the reddish color and strong flavor may dominate a delicate vanilla or almond treat, so consider this when matching with other ingredients.

8. Conclusion and Future Research Directions

Genetics of Ameraucana Chicken Eggs. 8. Conclusion and Future Research Directions

A few distinct genetic traits set apart Ameraucana chickens when compared to eggs from other chicken breeds. These unique characteristics are part of why three different breeds of relatively rare chickens—the Ameraucana, Araucana, and Cream Legbar—are so popular with small-scale poultry hobbyists and enthusiasts. Over the years, breeders have introduced these genetics into other, more common commercial birds. However, less is understood about other traits possessed by Ameraucana chickens, particularly in comparison to differences in egg characteristics related to different breeding strains and diet. Though the name may sound familiar, Ameraucana chicken eggs are not to be confused with regular eggs from other chickens. Research into chicken breeding will help us better understand how to produce eggs with preferred appearance, texture, and even flavor.

Many different factors affect the taste and texture of an egg, including how old a chicken is, its strain, and what it eats. More research is needed to understand how breeding modifies egg processes, from the genetics of the chicken to the diet it is provided during egg formation. In particular, the flavor profile of the yolk could be compared with the makeup of the rest of the egg to explore different diet and breeding combinations. Not everyone has access to the same breeds or birds in their backyard to conduct these studies, so it is important to collaborate with researchers, poultry enthusiasts, and small farmers to increase the speed of this research. It would also be interesting to assess breeding for phenotypic characteristics—what an animal looks like rather than its genes—and production efficiency of the eggs, such as how easily the chickens can lay eggs or how much feed it takes to grow the birds to a standard body weight. Finally, there is a lot of intersection between biology and cooking, and it would be wonderful to share a naturalist’s understanding of selection in the kitchen.