Erminette Ameraucana Project
These true Ameraucana are bred in a new striking rare black and white feather pattern complete with muff and beard. They are reliable layers of large blue eggs.
Size: 5-6 lbs
Life Span: 7-8 Years
Comb: Pea
Disposition: Docile, friendly
Comb, Wattle and Earlobe Color: Red
Legs & Feet: Clean, Blueish Slate Colored
Egg Production: 170-200 per year (3-4 per week)
Egg Size: Large
Egg Color: Blue
Broody: No
Climate: Cold Hardy
True Ameraucana
For a breed to be true it must produce offspring that look like itself. It's characteristics are set. True Ameraucana have beards and muffs, pea combs, and always lay blue eggs. They come in recognized color varieties (such as black, lavender, brown red, or buff.)
Mixed breed easter egger chickens are often labeled "Americana" by large hatcheries and big box stores. These have a variety of characteristics and may lay a blue or green egg.
So what is an Ameraucana project chicken? It is the development of a new color variety of Ameraucana chicken. With enough breeders working on the project, and following the process correctly, one day new color varieties can be added to the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection. For example, after years of hard work by breeders, on January 24, 2020, the Lavender (Self-Blue) variety of Ameraucana was approved by the American Poultry Association.
Erminette
Erminette is a flashy feather pattern that has been around in a breed called Erminette in the 1800s. Erminette chickens have a white background with individual black feathers. It is the oppisite of a mottled chicken that has black feathers with a few individual white feathers.
Genetics explained
It is believed that erminette is caused by a partially dominant white gene. When a chicken has 2 copies of the erminette gene it is solid white (called white erminette) and the base color of the chicken is blocked out. If the chicken has one copy of the erminette gene it will express as the erminette color of a mostly white chicken with a some random of the base color through out. In traditional Erminette breed chickens that base color was black. If the chicken has no erminette genes it expresses its base color of black.
Origin
Becky Pelton had a rare spontanious genetic mutation in her flock of blue, black, splash variety of true Ameraucanas causing the first Erminette Ameraucana. Becky has been breeding her Erminette Ameraucanas and trying to establish them as an approved variety. Serious breeders who want to help this breed establish are needed. It will be many year and a lot of work before the American Poultry Association recognizes them.