What the chicks of a Araucana and a Delaware look like and lay, worked out from both breeds' standards.
A Araucana hen crossed with a Delaware rooster gives you what keepers call a first-generation (F1) cross. Every pullet should lay green eggs (some may be blue or olive): both sides pass the blue gene. Most chicks (50%) get a pea comb. Expect a large bird, a good layer, calm, the average of the two parents.
Preset to a Araucana hen and a Delaware rooster. Change either side to see how the blue gene and the brown coat move the shell colour.
He never lays, so his blue gene is read from his mother's eggs.
Probably Blue (possibly Green): 50–100% blue-based; otherwise White.
Brown shade shifts with a hen's age, diet and stress, so identical genes still lay a little differently. Speckling and bloom are cosmetic and not modelled.
| Trait | Araucana hen | Delaware rooster | Chicks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comb type | Pea | Single | Pea 50% · Single 50% |
| Barring | Not barred | Not barred | Not barred |
| Fibromelanosis | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Skin color | Yellow | Yellow | Yellow |
| Leg color | Willow | Yellow | varies: polygenic, parents differ |
| Trait | Araucana | Delaware | Chicks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frame height | medium | large | large |
| Egg production | fair layer | good layer | good layer |
| Broodiness | often broody | rarely broody | sometimes broody |
| Docility | easygoing | calm | calm |
| Bone density | medium | medium | medium |
| Foraging skill | good forager | good forager | good forager |
| Cold hardiness | fairly hardy | cold-hardy | cold-hardy |
Chicks land near the average of the two parents for these traits. Reaching one parent's extreme takes another generation of selection.
This is the breed-standard version. Add your flock, set a breeding goal, and the pairing engine ranks every hen and rooster you own against it. Free for up to 15 birds.
Checked September 2026. Hybrids and breeds no reference covers are marked approximate. Egg colour on these pages follows one rule: Brown is any shade a buyer would call brown; Cream/tinted is off-white.