Building a Chicken Coop for Araucana Chickens

Araucana chickens are a sturdy breed of Chickens, exhibiting a friendly and trusting nature. They are known for being good producers of eggs, and their eggs are a light bluish green color.

The Araucana Chickens are often confused with Easter-Eggers or Ameruacanas, chickens who also lay colored eggs.

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What are Araucana Chickens?

Araucana chickens are a blend of 2 South American chicken breeds, the Collonca chicken that lays blue eggs and the Quetro chicken that lays pink-brown eggs and has feathery ear-tufts. The hybrid breed of Araucana chicken has ear tufts and lays the blue colored eggs.

What makes Araucana Chickens different?

They are large chickens who tend to forage for their own food.These chickens will lay 2 eggs per day and are very hardy. They exhibit a friendly nature and have an unusual ‘crow’ or voice.

Araucana chickens mix well with other breeds and are a fun addition to your chicken coop. Their beautiful coloring can range from chestnut, white, black and many other colors. They like to be pet and stroked, and are good with children. Plus, the colored eggs make a fun addition to your home.

The North American bred Araucana is missing its last vertebrae, and so does not have a tail. This is called ‘rumpless’ Other qualifications for the North American breed standard include the feathered ear-tufts. Over the rest of the world, standards for the breed require the chicken lay blue eggs, the chicken has a tail, and also feathered tufts on the face called muffs and beards.

Additionally, North American Araucana, while requiring ear-tufts to be a registered pedigree, cannot have the ear-tuft gene come from both its parents. This causes mortality in the chicks. Thus only one parent should have the ear-turf gene for a successful brood of chicks. Some of the Araucana chicks will be ‘clean-faced’ without ear-tufts. The North American Araucana also has small combs and red earlobes.

What is the best way to keep Aruacana Chickens?

When making plans to build a chicken coop for Araucana chickens, it is important to include an outdoor run in the plans. This is because the Araucana chickens are medium to large in size, and predicated to roaming and foraging for food.

They need an outside space for exercise and to remain happy and productive. The chicken coop plans should include a coop with a minimum of 2 square feet of floor space per chicken. The chicken run should include 10 square feet per chicken. These dimensions give adequate space for optimal roosting, laying, feeding and exercise.

The construction of the chicken coop should not be flimsy, which is often the case with using standard ‘chicken wire’. Use Hardware cloth, which is more durable and smaller, tighter mesh that keeps predators out.

What else can I do for my Arucana Chickens?

The Araucana chickens like attention, so be sure to visit them daily. Owning Araucana chickens is a fun way to experience these beautiful birds and add fresh, interesting eggs to your kitchen.

These friendly chickens will welcome your visits and are fun to watch and care for. Plus, you have Easter eggs ready to go every year, without dyes! Araucana chickens can be fun for your whole family. Good luck!

These are the plans I settled on:

They really worked for me and I got the chicken coop I wanted within my budget and my building skills. I highly recommend you check out Building a Chicken Coop.

The ultimate guide to planning and building your own coop in your backyard. In includes drafts of plans, dimensions, materials lists and sources to everything you need to build a sustainable chicken coop.