Araucana is a breed of chickens belonging to the decorative. The homeland of most of these species is Southeast Asia: Japan, Indonesia, China, India. Moreover, most breeds initially had purely practical significance - obtaining eggs or meat. Later, thanks to the allocation of a certain characteristic (length, color, feather structure, etc.), hens of exotic appearance appeared. They began to refer to the decorative.
Decorative breeds
There are several directions for breeding birds. In addition to the usual consumer (eggs, meat), there is also aesthetic - decorative breeds. Araucan is a breed of chickens (photo in the text), which successfully combines both directions.
Decorative poultry occupies a large niche and has many followers. This is a separate industry, providing for the breeding, improvement and breeding of unusual breeds of birds, including chickens, the organization of exhibitions, conferences and forums on pressing issues of decorative poultry farming. Breeders are trying to develop decorative breeds with a meat-and-egg or meat orientation in order to interest amateur poultry breeders with a rare variety, thereby preserving the gene pool of the bird.
Thanks to lovers of exotic birds, many species of rare breeds of chickens not adapted for industrial poultry have been preserved from extinction. They are bred solely for aesthetic reasons, showing at exhibitions. The rarest species of chickens with unusual pedigree features - the absence of plumage or a tail 13 meters long - are bred in all corners of the world.
History
The first mention of the breed dates back to 1526. But almost four centuries passed before the Araucan chicken was exported from South America. The unusual color of the eggs made the breed very popular and in demand. Blue-shelled eggs were believed to have extraordinary healing properties.
Araucan is a breed of hen of the egg-decorative direction. Her native consider South America, and more precisely Chile. The breed received its name from the tribe of the same name of local Indians. Birds were held in high esteem for their ability to carry colorful eggs, and roosters were valued for their pugnacious fighting character.
At the beginning of the 20th century, an unusual species of Araucan bird, a breed of chickens, was already known in European countries. Its description is as follows: it is a small bird with a tailless rounded body. She has wide shoulders, a long back, a wide chest, a clearly visible belly, strong legs, small earrings and a low crest. The appearance features include the presence of a beard and a whisker on the head of an araucana. Hens (photo in the text) have an even more warlike appearance than males.
Content of decorative chickens
Their content is not much different. Chickens feel great both with cellular content and with free grazing. The harmless nature of the bird allows you to calmly keep it with other representatives of domestic animals. But it should be remembered that only breeding "clean" will save all its pedigree characteristics.
The chicken coops are equipped with everything necessary: perches, at the rate of 30 cm per 1 head, nests - one nest for 5-6 layers, feeding troughs, drinking bowls. Careful care, regular cleaning and disinfection will help to avoid diseases and mortality of birds.
Walking is better to fence, make a canopy from above. This will not only protect the hens from the bird of prey, but also provide coolness on a hot day.
For proper feeding, you need a balanced diet, taking into account the intake of the necessary micro and macro elements, vitamins, minerals, especially calcium. The presence of gravel, coarse sand, small pebbles is necessary, this will help birds in the digestion process.
During the season, fresh greens, vegetables and fruits can and should be added to the diet. It is very useful to maintain vitamin balance by top-dressing in the winter with coniferous flour.
To maintain a high egg production, feed the bird at least three times a day. In the morning and in the evening it should be a grain feed, and for lunch it is better to cook wet mixers.
Decorative birds are often kept in apartments of multi-storey buildings. A place for keeping birds can be equipped on an insulated balcony or loggia. The cockerel can disturb the neighbors, but the hens will not cause trouble with loud morning singing, but the guttural clucking will have a calming effect on the owners of the apartment.
Bird description
This breed can be safely attributed to one of the most original in the world. Visually, two unusual signs of the breed are immediately evident: the absence of a tail (in hens of German selection) and the presence of ear feathers of incredible size and splendor.
The decorative bird has a small head, a small crest in the form of a red-orange pod. The beak is bent. Round eyes are orange or reddish brown. Long feather whiskers or a beard or tanks (depending on type) are well defined. She has a short, straight, wide back and chest, a dense, rounded tailless body, and medium-sized wings. Feet without plumage. Coloring: golden, white, black.
The pedigree flaws excluding the bird from breeding include:
- developed tail;
- different color of eggs;
- the complete absence of feather bunches or their absence on the one hand;
- strongly falling short back;
- pronounced beard and cuff;
- angularity and clumsiness;
- sharp and narrow body;
- a fallen scallop by a rooster.
For all its decorativeness, the breed has established itself as an egg-laying breed. Obtaining eggs of excellent quality, decent weight and in large quantities makes this breed not only attractive in terms of decorativeness, but also practical and cost-effective.
So, araucana, breed description:
- egg production - 180 pieces;
- egg weight - 57 grams;
- egg color - green, turquoise, blue;
- the size of the chicken / rooster ring is 15/16 mm;
- features - ear feathers, the absence of the coccyx;
- chicken weight - up to 2 kg;
- rooster weight - 2.5 kg;
- number of fingers - 4;
- incubation is absent;
- temperament - calm (in roosters it can be aggressive);
- flight altitude - up to 1.5 meters;
- plumage color - diverse;
- productivity - egg-decorative.
Currently, there are several types of araucans. In America, ameriukans are widespread; in England, tailed araucans with a small crest on their heads are popular. In Germany, they prefer tailless representatives of the breed with well-defined ear feathers.
One property unites species - all hens carry colored eggs. They can be green, blue, turquoise with various shades and a degree of color saturation.
Colors
There are several recognized standards for breed colors of plumage of birds. The most common colors:
- "Wild ." Roosters have a red-brown head, neck, and saddles with a well-defined black stripe along the feather shaft. The back and shoulders are dark reddish brown. Covering feathers of wings, belly, chest, lower leg are black. Araucans-chickens (photo in the text) of the "wild" color are slightly different from roosters. The chicken's neck and head are golden brown, yellowish-pink chest, black-gray belly. The back, sides, and saddle are brown with a dotted black spot and a dark border. The eyes are red or orange.
- Golden-necked . Golden brown head, dark golden feathers of a saddle and neck of a rooster. The shoulders and back have a golden red hue. The abdomen, wing coverts, chest and lower leg are black. The plumage of the neck and head of the chicken is golden in color, along the feather shaft with a black stripe. The back, sides, saddle, wings are golden brown with black dots. Chest yellowish pink.
- Golden wheat. The color and pattern resemble the color of golden-necked or wild, but there is no black stripe along the feather shaft; a light pattern is allowed on the neck feathers. The chicken on the head and neck has a reddish-brown color. A matte black strip is acceptable for the pen shaft. Saddle, back, sides, wheat-colored wings. Shins, belly and chest are light brown.
- Silver-necked . Rooster: plumage of the neck, head, saddle - silver-white, along the feather shaft a black strip. The shoulders and back are silver white. Covering feathers of the wing, belly, lower leg, chest - black. The chicken plumage of the head and neck, like a rooster. The back, saddle, sides, wings are silver-gray with black dots, a small silver border is allowed. Shin and stomach are gray, chest is yellowish pink.
- Blue Birds have a shade of blue , darker or lighter. The rooster has a noticeably darker shade of saddle, neck, head, shoulders.
- Blue red . It resembles black and red, but black replaces blue.
- Blue-golden. The basis of the color, like golden-necked, only there is no black color, blue instead.
- Blue wheat. Like golden wheat, but with blue instead of black.
- Blue is "wild." It resembles a “wild” color, but without black, it is replaced by blue.
- Cuckoo, or striped. Each feather has its original color in the form of repeated alternation of stripes with a slight bend of black and bluish-gray. In roosters they are about the same width, in hens the black stripes are slightly wider. Metatarsus is yellow, eyes are orange.
- Black . Birds have plumage of black color with green shine. Araucan is a breed of chickens (photo in the text on the right) with bright eyes of red or brown-red color.
- Black and red. The predominant deep black color with a greenish tint. The rooster has a neck, head and saddle of a rich golden red color, with a bright black stripe along the feather shaft. The shoulders are brownish red. The back is black, brown-red blotches are acceptable. In chicken, the main color is also black with a green tint. Head and neck are brown-red. The eyes are red or brownish red.
- Creamy white. It is allowed in the plumage of the neck a little yellow (at the rooster). Metatarsus can be a greenish-yellow hue, eyes - orange.
Types
It is customary to divide chickens into three types. This applies to European standards that recognize only tailless araucans:
- with a beard and tanks (without feather bunches);
- with feather bunches and a beard;
- with feather tufts on the sides of the head (identical in size and symmetrically located).
Despite the variety of types, all representatives have common features in the structure of the body, colors of plumage, eye color and other signs.
The Araucan breed has become the basis for breeding the dwarf Araucan breed. It was bred in the USA, the standard was approved in 1984. By description it resembles araucan, but smaller. Rare breed, bearing small, up to 50 grams, turquoise eggs. But the egg production is high - 180 pieces per year. Rooster weight up to 2 kg, chicken up to 1.8 kg.
Fans with pleasure breed unusual "bearded gnomes", possessing all the features of ordinary araucans. And small eggs are in great demand for Easter holidays, they are bought especially for children.
Breed features
Eggs (araucana is a fairly egg-laying breed) of a greenish-blue color are the main feature of chickens. The next distinguishing feature of the breed is the absence of a tail (they do not have caudal vertebrae). And finally, feather head decoration in the form of a beard and mustache in various variations.
Heavenly Eggs
Chickens of the Araucan breed carry blue eggs - “heavenly”. There was a hypothesis that the color of the shell is an inheritance from wild pheasants, the distant ancestors of Araucan. But scientific confirmation of this was not found.
Modern studies have shown that this color of the shell gets due to the presence in the genital tract of chicken biliverdin (Biliverdin), a special natural pigment. It, in turn, is formed in bile and is a product of the breakdown of red hemoglobin.
Araucan is a breed of chickens (photo of eggs on the left in the text), which, when crossed with a bird laying brown eggs, gives offspring capable of laying eggs with an olive-green shell. When crossed with ordinary chickens, crossbreeds begin to lay eggs with a slight bluish tint. In the second hybrid generation, they acquire the usual white color.
Benefits
Araucan is a breed of chickens that stands out with a number of obvious advantages:
- excellent acclimatization;
- calmly gets used to various temperatures;
- excellent health;
- unpretentiousness to the conditions of detention;
- chickens mature early and start to rush,
- high egg production (up to 160 eggs per year);
- calm nature, allows you to get along with other animals;
- steady consumer demand for exotic eggs;
- a combination of exotic tiles and its productivity.
disadvantages
Along with the attractiveness of the breed, there are also difficulties:
- Firstly, there are problems with fertilization. The absence of a tail affects the fertilization process. In order to provide the rooster with physical contact with the female, feathers and fluff are cut out to individuals in the cloaca area. True, this will not save from high fetal mortality. Araucan chicken does not show any desire to incubate eggs.
- Secondly, the pugnacity of the cockerels. By their nature, they are more reminiscent of a fighting breed, this must be taken into account when keeping a large number of birds.
- Thirdly, the rarity of the bird. Araucan - a breed of chickens, quite expensive for the acquisition. Moreover, there are unscrupulous sellers trying to sell a hybrid bird. Outwardly, it may resemble an Araucan, but it is impossible to get turquoise eggs from it.
- Fourth, one must have very great patience and a sixth sense of the breeder in order to obtain the desired result by external signs. Parents with the most beautiful and symmetrical tanks can give offspring without any tanks at all.
Today already about many private farms there are these hens. Araucan (reviews of enthusiastic owners confirm this) behaves perfectly and feels on the farm, rushes well and, in addition to everything, is a magnificent decoration of the courtyard.
Demand for eggs of an unusual color (popularly known as Easter eggs) is only growing. In America and Europe, they are thinking about creating farms for breeding birds of the Araucan breed. The breed of chickens is very promising in terms of industrial production of blue eggs.