Meet the distinctive hen that lays... blue eggs
The Araucana chicken has some bizarre features: they are rumpless and have ear tufts.
I have a fancy for poultry, hens in particular. They are easily kept, quickly trained and repay good husbandry with a supply of eggs. What is there not to love about keeping a few hens?
I have maintained my interest over many years and have kept all kinds of breeds and, if the truth be known, a few mongrels as well. It was one of these mongrels that produced an egg, the likes of which I had never seen. There are large eggs and small eggs, double yoke eggs and eggs with no yoke at all but this egg was… blue!
The appearance of this blue egg in my Ox Mountain nest box sparked an immediate investigation. My quest for answers led me half way across the world and almost 500 years back in time. The story about how that blue egg ended up in my yellow omelette proved to be very interesting.
I applied the Chicken or Egg theory to see where the mother of this egg might have come from. She had been hatched by my own ‘clocker’ (broody hen), the previous spring. That clocker however laid white eggs and so my investigation turned to the father. The rooster in question had been sold to me by a local boy who knew I was on the lookout. What I didn’t know at the time, in a Robin Hood type move, the boy had robbed the rooster from his neighbour to supply my need. This meant I had no recourse to further investigation on that front, at least not without opening another can of worms.
I was left with the wondering: what kind of a rooster could possibly spawn a chicken that would later lay blue eggs? While I was aware of blue duck eggs, up to this, I had only ever heard of white or brown hen eggs. I am not sure, in the days before Google, how I got the lead, but I found out that such a hen egg colour did exist; there was a particular breed that did indeed lay blue eggs.
My search led me back to the Age of Discovery. A paper written by The National History Museum of Chile, entitled 'Chile’s First Inhabitants' (2009), sets the scene.
During the Age of Discovery, proper nutrition became a vital element of lengthy ocean voyages. Stories of sailors falling ill for the want of vitamins and minerals are well documented. Maintaining a chicken coop on board a ship became essential, the eggs produced providing most of what was needed to keep men healthy. It has been suggested that the first-time hens that laid blue eggs came to Europe was when they were brought home by returning mariners.
Catholicism was introduced by priests with the Spanish colonialists in the 16th century. Most of the native population in the northern and central regions was evangelised by 1650. The southern area proved more difficult and Catholicism only settled in the area after the occupation of the Araucania in the late 19th century. Araucanian describes any member of a group of South American Indians that are concentrated in the fertile valleys and basins of south-central Chile.
American poultry enthusiast, Loyl Stromberg, in his book, , outlines the origins of blue eggs and their subsequent discovery by Europeans. It seems this is how the breed got it name, Araucana.
The wide and varied selection of native Chilean birds that laid blue eggs eventually spread from their homeland to other parts of the world. The precise historical moment of introduction to Britain is not known, however it is reported that a Chilean nitrate ship foundered off the coast of Scotland in the 1930s and the descendants of Araucana hens that were aboard were scattered among the Inner Hebrides.
There has been a huge amount of cross breeding with more modern varieties in the twentieth century. George Malcom, of East Lothian, Scotland, created the modern standard that now exists, which maintains the unique blue egg along with the beard, ear tufts and crest. The Araucana was later named as an official breed. An article by Alan Stanford, Ph.D., Chair of The Araucana Club of America, tell us more about this very special poultry breed.
The Araucana has a few other endearing characteristics. Their eggs are higher in nutrients and lower in cholesterol than ordinary eggs. The birds themselves are more energetic than other breeds and are good flyers. If you ever manage to catch one, the meat of the Araucana is reputed to have a distinct gamey taste. Stanford goes on to explain the fun value of having such hens in your flock.
I later bought a few of the pure breed and they were such a welcome addition. While not as prolific as other egg-layers, their uniquely coloured eggs were a great talking point when passed on as gifts to neighbours and friends.
If you are getting into laying hens for the first time or if you are already a poultry keeper, you might like to add the Araucana to your collection. You will not be disappointed.
