Chickens have been around a very long time. In South America as early as the Mid Sixteenth century, the Arauca Indians bred a chicken that laid blue/green eggs called the Araucana. It's purity was fiercely guarded by the Arauca and it is still bred today.
As trade between different countries and continents increased, chickens spread across the world.
The Araucana is classified as light soft feather breed in varieties of large, bantam and rumpless. Rumpless indicates that neither Rooster or Hen have tail feathers.
All the araucana types lay medium sized strong shelled eggs that are coloured throughout the shell (the inside colour being the same as the outside) with blue being the favoured colour. The blue egg factor seems to be dominant when the birds are crossed with other breeds. These birds are much sought after by enthusiasts and breeders alike because of their unusual eggs.
Lavender Araucana pullet
The general apprearance of the Araucana is of a Game type, not the old english Game but more of the Asiatic type, being deep in the body and wide at the shoulder with a horizontal and fairly long back, except in the rumpless variety.
Another characteristic of the Araucana are their full beards and ear muffs. Tufts of feathers grow outward from the side of the head that resemble ear muffs-so cute !.
The combs displayed on the roosters are usually described as a 'Pea Comb' as they are plump and soft.
The birds themselves come in a variety of colours including Lavender, Blue, Black, Cuckoo, Silver Duckwing, Black/red, White and Spangled.
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