History of the Ameraucana Breed

A History of the Ameraucana Breed and the Ameraucana Breeders Club

During the 1970s and 1980s there were several breeders in various parts of the country producing their own strains of muffed, bearded and tailed poultry that laid blue eggs. However, they were for the most part working independently of one another, and the poultry lacked uniformity in type, color, and other significant points. In the summer of 1978, an effort was made to organize these breeders into a club and to standardize the breed to gain recognition for it. The charter members of the club, which became known as the Ameraucana Bantam Club, were Don Cable, Frank Gary, D.L Kenney, Dorian Roxburgh, Ken Carpenter, Mike Gilbert, Bernard Kellogg, Jerry Segler, Harry Cook, Jaime Ikeda, and Ron Klemmedson.

The first ABA qualifying meet for bantam Ameraucana was hosted by the Golden Gate Bantam Club in Pleasanton, California on November 17th -18th of 1979. Ten bantam wheaten Ameraucana were shown by three exhibitors. At the May 1980 semi-annual meet of the American Bantam Association, the ABA Board of Directors voted unanimously to accept the Ameraucana bantam and include it in the ABA Bantam Standard. Although no white bantam were shown at the first ABA qualifying meet, the ABA accepted them anyway, as the Standard Chairman, Frank Gary, was aware that recessive white Ameraucana existed and were being shown. The fifth edition of the American Bantam Association Standard, published in 1981, carried the complete Standard for the Ameraucana bantam as well as the descriptions for the wheaten and white color varieties.

At the Ohio National in November of 1983, the Ameraucana Bantam Club succeeded in having the black, blue, blue wheaten, brown red, buff and silver color varieties added to the American Bantam Association Standard for the Ameraucana breed. Seventy-five bantam Ameraucana were exhibited by six Ameraucana Bantam Club members. The buff color variety was accepted although none had been shown.

At the annual meet in Milwaukee in October of 1984, the American Poultry Association Board of Directors voted to accept bantam as well as large fowl Ameraucana into the Standard of Perfection using the bantam’s proposed Standard as a guide. The wheaten, blue wheaten, blue, black, buff, white, brown red, and silver color varieties were recognized. There had never been a qualifying meet for large fowl Ameraucana and they were not yet uniform in type and features. The Ameraucana Bantan Club name was changed to the Ameraucana Breeders Club in the Fall of 1986 following the approval of large fowl Ameraucana.

In early 2016, the Ameraucana Breeders Club petitioned the APA for recognition of the self-blue color variety in large fowl for the Ameraucana breed. The first prequalifying meet was held at the Oklahoma State Poultry Federation poultry show on December 10th and 11th of 2016. It was a success. The second prequalifying meet was held at the Dixie Classic on December 2nd and 3rd of 2017. It was successful. The first qualifying meet for the variety was held at the North American Poultry Breeders poultry show in Shawnee, Oklahoma in 2018. It was a success. The final qualifying meet for the variety was held at the Ohio National poultry show on November 9th and 10th in 2019. The self-blue color variety was officially admitted to the APA Standard in large fowl for the Ameraucana breed on January 24, 2020.

The self blue and splash color varieties were petitioned for acceptance with the American Bantam Association in 2020. The qualifying meet for bantam self-blue with the ABA was held at the Ohio National poultry show in 2021. The qualifying meet was successful and the self-blue color variety was officially accepted into the ABA Standard on 12/3/2021. The qualifying meet with the ABA for bantam splash was held at the Dixie Classic poultry show in 2021. The qualifying meet was successful, and the splash color variety was officially accepted into the ABA standard on 1/3/2022. A second prequalifying meet was held in 2022 at the Forsyth Fowl Fanciers poultry show in pursuit of APA acceptance for the self-blue color variety in bantam. The first qualifying meet for bantam self blue with the APA was held at the Ohio National poultry show in 2023.

The Ameraucana Breeders Club petitioned for acceptance of the splash variety in large fowl with the American Poultry Association in 2020. The first prequalifying meet was held at the Canadian Valley Poultry Club show in Norman, Oklahoma in 2020. It was a success. The second prequalifying meet was held at the Heart of the Ozarks poultry show in Fayetteville, AR on 11/6/21. It was successful. The first qualifying meet for large fowl splash was held at the Nebraska State Poultry Association poultry show on 11/19/2022. It was a success. The final qualifying meet was held at the 2023 Ohio National. It was a success and the splash variety was admitted to the APA Standard on 11/10/2023.