The Araucana chicken has a distinctive appearance and is prized for its prized blue eggs. Although these characteristics are desirable, breeding these hens is difficult due to their poor fertility as well as hatch levels. Your questions concerning “Araucana Rooster vs Hen” will be answered in this post.
What Is Araucana Chicken?
A certain kind of chicken produces eggs with blue shells. “Araucana” is the name of the breed which produces eggs with blue shells.
The Araucana chicken’s History in Brief
It’s fascinating to learn about the Araucana animal’s history. There are contrasting assertions.
- They originated in Europe and were transported to South America.
- They were Polynesian natives.
- These eggs were altered by a new virus to turn blue.
The Quetros and Collonocas varieties of chicken native to Chile from South America are thought to have given rise to the Araucana breed, according to the widely accepted idea. Dr. Ruben Bustros, the man responsible for creating the modern Araucana breed, introduced them here to the United States.
Not only do Araucana Roosters lay distinctively colored eggs, but they also have a striking appearance.
The Araucana Chicken’s Look
The fact that the Araucana’s eggs have a particular hue doesn’t make them special. She also possesses distinct physical traits that many famous breeds do not.
Also, she is standing straight up and looks like some wild bird of prey. She has the position she is best known for because of the way her spine slopes into her lower half.
Tufts
The amusing feathers that stick out through the Araucana’s face are called tufts. They develop beneath the skin, fold around their ears, and occasionally protrude much like a man’s mustache. Usually, there are two of these tufts—one on each edge. This isn’t always the case.
Zero tail
Rumpless essentially indicates that they lack rumps! Or, to put it another way, they don’t have the long tail feathers that other chicken breeds do. This trait also lends support to the Araucana’s look of an erect posture.
The striking resemblance in appearance between members of this species is what surprises me the most. Even for seasoned chicken growers, differentiating between male and female chickens is difficult. It becomes simpler to differentiate between a male and a female, though, if you give heed to the size, body type, feathers, and wings.
Araucana Rooster vs Hen
Let’s take a minute and compare.
Origin
As is common knowledge, the Araucana rooster and hen are both members of identical species, and both share the same nation of origin. Araucana is specifically from the Chilean area of Araucana. Its name thus originates from the location of its inception.
Presence
It can be quite difficult to gender some kinds of chicken. One among them is the potentially mohawk-sporting Araucana type of chicken. Hooks, feathers, and fur are among the only few features that make identifying somewhat simpler.
Wattles plus combs
In contrast to the wattle, which hangs out from the bottom of a jaw, the comb seems to be a fleshy, meaty outgrowth in front of a bird’s head.
When comparing such birds’ wattles as well as combs, each Araucana rooster exhibits thicker, darker wattles than all the Araucana females. On roosters, as opposed to hens, there has been noted that the combs, as well as wattles, develop more rapidly and early. Additionally, relative to Araucana hens, roosters exhibit greater combs with wattles.
Feathers
Hackles, saddles, as well as sickles, seem to be the three different forms of wings. Hackle wings are the feathers that surround the throat, while saddle feathers are now the wings that develop on the back and tip downwards towards to tails. Conversely, sickle wings are those on the ends of roosters as well as hens.
Another simple method for distinguishing between an Araucana Rooster vs Hen is to look now at feathers as well as saddle hairs.
Most female Araucana roosters possess significantly shorter and rounder hackle hairs, while the males have much more pointy and lengthier hackle wings. The roosters are seen to have more feathers than the hens, whether they be hackle, saddle, and sickle wings.
These roosters from Araucana chickens are no different in this regard; they possess the same number of feathers as those of other breeds.
Size and Weight
Roosters are typically bigger and taller than hens, regardless of the species to which they belong, as is common knowledge.
In more precise terms, the giant male Araucana, as well as Bantam Araucana, may carefully weigh 2.7k–3.2k kg and 740–850g, respectively. They have a similar composition to that of brown heeler or welsummer. In contrast, bantam and big chickens weigh approximately 680 to 790 g from 2.2 to 2.7 kg, respectively.
In terms of height, most hens are somewhat smaller than the roosters, regardless of whether they’re big or bantam Araucana.
Temperament
The temperaments of roosters, as well as hens from the Araucana breed, cannot differ from one another. In general, Araucana roosters are belligerent, but the hens are friendlier and more submissive.
Familiar names
The Araucana hen as well as rooster belong to the same species of chicken and aren’t given separate names because of it. South American Rumpless, Gallina Mapuche, as well as Mapuche Fowl.
Use
Many people breed Araucana chickens for their blue-shelled eggs. Male roosters, on the contrary hand, are said to either provide meat or egg fertilizing services.
Breeding advice
Due to the deadly nature of embryos carrying two ear tufts alleles, only a small number of chicks will emerge from a mating of two ear-tufting Araucana hens. For optimal outcomes, it is better to mating a nice specimen of a bird having ear tufts with such a bird lacking ear tufts, a bird having lesser ear tufts, or even a bird with only a single ear tuft. An ear tuft gene causes a percentage of embryos to acquire head malformations.
The Final Verdict
An uncommon and resilient breed of chicken would be the Araucana. In addition to being unusual with their blue eggs, they are also fun to be around due to their friendliness and curiosities.
The above breed could make a wonderful addition to any backyard herd if you desire a struggle in raising and enjoying collecting unique chickens.
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