I have seen several posts about “Pure Ameraucana” in recent weeks.
Please keep in mind that there is no such thing as a “Pure Ameraucana.”
A more appropriate term would be a “Standard-bred Ameraucana.”
Standard-bred refers to a bird that adheres to the standard for a recognized color variety of Ameraucana. It should produce not less than 50% of all specimens reasonably true to type, color, size and comb.
The recognized color varieties of Ameraucana were bred up from birds of varying backgrounds and specific traits and plumage colors were selected for. Some of the traits selected for include attributes such as the pea comb, reddish bay eye color, muffs/beard, slate shanks, blue egg color, etc.
There are presently ten approved color varieties for the Ameraucana breed with the American Poultry Association and American Bantam Association (wheaten, blue wheaten, blue, black, white, brown red, buff, silver, splash, self blue).
Each of the approved color varieties has a written standard. When available, a Standard of Perfection book can be purchased with the APA to review the standard. You can also find additional information on the Ameraucana breed at
www.ameraucanabreedersclub.org.
Hopefully this post is helpful to others out there!
