American Erminette Chickens
Preservation-focused breeding at
Cross B Hens & Heifers
Quick Look
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Temperament:
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Egg Color:
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Egg Production:
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Cold Hardy:
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Heat Tolerance:
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Broodiness:
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Purpose:
Calm, steady, people-aware
White to Tan Variation
Moderate
Yes
Moderate
Occasional
Dual-purpose
Why We Raise Erminettes
We raise American Erminettes because they represent a strong, practical American dual-purpose breed that deserves a secure future.
While the breed remains rare, modern Erminettes are not delicate. Through the work of dedicated breeders over the past several decades, the breed has been strengthened into a large, fast-growing, useful bird—well-suited for both egg and meat production at a heritage scale.
Our focus is on intentional preservation:
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Maintaining a viable population size
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Selecting for health, fertility, and growth
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Improving consistency while respecting breed type
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Prioritizing long-term usefulness over short-term output
This is not a volume program. We raise Erminettes to contribute responsibly to the future of the breed, offering hatching eggs and chicks when the flock—and the season—supports it.
Living With Erminettes
American Erminettes are large, fast-growing, practical birds that tend to settle well into a calm flock environment. They are steady in temperament and handle routine management easily, making them suitable for both experienced keepers and those new to heritage breeds.
One of the strengths of the breed is its dual-purpose utility. Males, in particular, grow quickly and are well-suited for families interested in harvesting their own birds. Hens are productive at a heritage-appropriate pace and maintain good body size.
Most modern variability shows up in egg color rather than structure or growth. While tan eggs are preferred, colors can range from white to tan, with many hens laying somewhere in between. Our selection work aims to increase consistency over time while preserving the breed’s overall health and utility.
Climate & Seasonal Performance
American Erminettes are generally cold-hardy, durable birds and perform well through winter under standard management. Roosters have taller single combs, which can make them more susceptible to frostbite during prolonged cold or wet conditions.
Heat tolerance is moderate. Like most large, dual-purpose breeds, Erminettes benefit from shade, airflow, and consistent access to water during hot weather. Seasonal shifts in laying and fertility are normal and expected as daylight length changes.
Overall, Erminettes adapt well across seasons and do not require specialized care beyond attentive, common-sense husbandry.
Is This Breed a Good Fit for You?
American Erminettes are a strong choice for keepers who want a large, practical dual-purpose bird and value steady growth, body size, and overall usefulness from their flock.
They are especially well-suited for those who are interested in being part of the ongoing preservation of a rare American breed.
This breed may not be the best fit if your primary goal is maximum egg production or a highly specialized production line. Erminettes are best appreciated for their balance, durability, and role in keeping a functional heritage breed viable for the next generation.
Stewardship & Breeding Work
A Brief History of the Breed Variety
In the late 1800s, multiple breeders in the United States worked independently to develop what became known as the American Erminette. At least four breeders exhibited and advertised birds under this name, and several made attempts to gain recognition through the American Poultry Association.
These early efforts, however, lacked consistency. While the birds shared a distinctive ermine color pattern, they varied widely in body type and overall appearance. No single, uniform type emerged, and no APA-recognized breed adopted the ermine pattern. Ultimately, the remaining birds—those closest to a Plymouth Rock–type body—were sent to a university for testing. After that point, the original Erminette lines were disbanded, and their whereabouts were largely undocumented.
The modern American Erminette exists because of a remarkable recovery effort. In the late 20th century, preservation breeder Ron Nelson encountered birds that closely matched historical descriptions of the Erminette. From those birds, he began the work of rebuilding the breed, selecting for structure, utility, and consistency while preserving the distinctive color pattern. Following his sudden passing, the birds changed hands several times before finding more permanent footing through dedicated preservation programs, including Sandhill Preservation Center, Curt Burroughs, and later Matt Hemmer.
Today’s American Erminettes reflect decades of careful rebuilding. While the breed remains rare, modern birds are far more consistent in type and performance than their early predecessors. Ongoing preservation work now focuses on maintaining those gains while continuing to refine clarity, structure, and long-term viability.
Preservation & Stewardship
While American Erminettes are solid, functional birds today, their long-term future still depends on intentional stewardship. The breed’s population remains relatively small, and preservation work requires more than simply keeping birds—it requires thoughtful selection, careful placement, and decisions made with future generations in mind.
Our role is to contribute responsibly to that effort. We focus on maintaining strong, usable birds while continuing to refine consistency, fertility, and overall performance. Decisions are made with the next generation in mind, not just the current season.
Preservation, for us, is not about freezing the breed in time. It is about ensuring that American Erminettes remain practical, productive, and relevant for future keepers who value dual-purpose utility and heritage genetics.
Why Preservation Still Matters Today
Although American Erminettes are stronger and more consistent today than in the past, the breed remains rare. Small population size means that progress can be fragile, and gains made over decades can be lost quickly without continued, intentional breeding.
Preservation today is less about rescuing a disappearing breed and more about maintaining clarity, consistency, and usefulness. That requires careful decisions around selection, breeding groups, and placement—especially as interest in the breed grows.
For the American Erminette to remain viable long-term, it must continue to be bred as a functional dual-purpose bird, not simply as a color pattern or novelty. Ongoing preservation ensures the breed stays grounded in its original purpose while continuing to move toward greater consistency and stability.
A Closed Flock and Intentional Selection
Our American Erminette breeding flock is maintained as a closed flock. This allows us to better protect flock health, track performance over time, and make informed breeding decisions based on known outcomes rather than short-term gains.
Intentional selection is central to our program. We select for structure, growth, fertility, temperament, and overall usefulness, with the goal of continuing to improve consistency while preserving the defining characteristics of the breed. Progress is evaluated across seasons and generations, not individual birds alone.
Because the Erminette population is still relatively small, selection decisions are made conservatively. We prioritize stability and long-term viability over rapid change, understanding that responsible improvement takes time and restraint.
Understanding the Ermine Pattern
The ermine color pattern can be confusing, largely because there is a lot of conflicting or oversimplified information circulating online. It is sometimes described as a mottling or paint gene, but that framing does not accurately reflect how the pattern works in American Erminettes.
In simple terms, the ermine pattern (“Er”) is a co-dominant, heterozygous genetic trait. When two ermine-patterned birds are bred together, the results follow a predictable 1:2:1 outcome: one part dominant white, two parts ermine, and one part black. This means that not every chick from an ermine pairing will display the ermine pattern itself.
Because of this, breeding outcomes vary depending on how birds are paired. Dominant white birds bred together produce dominant white offspring. Black birds bred together produce black offspring. Pairing dominant white and black birds produces ermine-patterned offspring. Other combinations result in predictable splits between white, ermine, and black.
It’s important to note that this outcome is specific to the American Erminette and a small number of other breeds in which this color pattern has been identified. Pairing black and white birds together in most other breeds does not automatically produce the ermine pattern; more commonly, those pairings result in blue offspring instead.
Understanding how this pattern works is essential to preserving clarity and consistency over time and helps explain why careful pairing and evaluation are central to responsible Erminette breeding.
Breed Challenges & Ongoing Work
Preserving the American Erminette comes with a unique set of challenges that extend beyond routine flock management. Because the breed is still relatively rare, population size limits how quickly progress can be made and places greater importance on each breeding decision.
One of the primary challenges is continuing to refine consistency while working within a small genetic pool. The ermine pattern itself adds complexity, as not every breeding produces ermine-patterned offspring. This makes careful pairing and long-term evaluation essential rather than optional.
Ongoing work within the breed focuses on maintaining strong structure, reliable growth, fertility, and overall usefulness while gradually improving clarity and uniformity. Progress is measured across generations, not seasons, and responsible stewardship requires patience as well as restraint.
Why We Emphasize Hatching Eggs & Chicks
Raising birds beyond early stages requires time, space, and daily labor, and those resources are essential to maintaining an active breeding program. As birds mature, they are no longer simply being grown out — they are being observed and evaluated as part of the program. Space used to hold older birds is space that could otherwise support future breeder candidates.
Once birds reach the point where sex and pattern are clear, selection decisions begin. Some birds are identified early, while others are held longer to better understand how they develop. If a bird ultimately does not align with the direction of the program, it is absorbed into our own flock rather than offered for sale in an effort to recoup some cost.
Because of this structure, we are not set up to raise pullets or adult birds for others. For those hoping to work with our birds, hatching eggs and fresh-hatched chicks offer the most realistic opportunity. This allows the program to remain focused, sustainable, and centered on the breed itself rather than volume or turnover.
Following the Program’s Progress
As the program continues to develop, we share updates, photos, and seasonal progress through our social channels. This allows those who are interested to follow the evolution of the flock over time and see how long-term selection translates into visible improvement.
Pricing & Availability
Availability for Blue Laced Red Wyandottes is limited and varies by season based on breeding pen rotation and overall program needs.
Not all options are offered every year.
Hatching Eggs
• Available by the egg
• $ 6 per egg
• Pricing reflects the 2026 season
Availability is seasonal and finalized once breeding pens are established. Quantities are limited and may vary each week.
Eggs are marked with both breeding pen and collection date for buyer reference. As a courtesy, one additional egg is included for every five eggs purchased.
As noted above, currently there is a range in color of the egg from white to tan.
Availability is announced by email when eggs are offered. Subscribing to our email list is the best way to receive notification when ordering windows open.
Chicks
• Straight-run
• $15 each (0–2 weeks)
• $20 each (3–4 weeks)
• Pricing reflects the 2026 season
Chicks are offered in limited, seasonal batches. Availability varies by hatch.
This breed is not sexed at hatch, and because of how this variety is bred, chick orders may include black, ermine, and white birds based on hatch outcomes. Requests from specific breeding pens may be accommodated in limited situations.
All chicks hatched on the farm are wing-banded at hatch for identification and tracking.
Availability announcements are sent by email when ordering windows open.
